“He looked like Elvis and sang like a God” The Times
When Dmitri Hvorostovsky won BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 1989 it was immediately obvious that the opera world had a new star: handsome, charismatic, blessed with an extraordinarily beautiful voice, the artistry and the charisma to bring audiences to their feet. And he did just that, over the course of the next quarter-century, until a diagnosis of brain cancer brought his career to a sudden halt and led to his tragically early death in 2017, at just 55 years old.
However, the Siberian baritone stood out among his contemporaries for his commitment to recital repertoire and his determination to bring his native genre of Russian Romances to audiences around the world, both in concert and on record. He could have filled football stadiums with operatic medleys, but he chose instead to sing of spring torrents and dark nights to tiny recital audiences. Much of this repertoire he also recorded for Philips, and in tribute to his memory on the fifth anniversary of his passing, Eloquence has brought together all the recital albums he made for the label during the glorious spring of his career in the 1990s.
To begin with, there is the selection of Verdi and Tchaikovsky arias which confirmed that Hvorostovsky’s Cardiff triumph had been no flash in the pan. Critics and audiences alike were taken aback by the baritone’s artistic agility as he jumped back to the 18th century with a classic album of ‘arie antiche’ such as would have been standard fare for his vocal heroes, Bastianini and Lisitsian. Though further orchestrally accompanied discs followed, the core of the set lies in Hvorostovsky’s acutely sensitive response to the song repertoire of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky and (coming up to date) Gyorgy Sviridov. He also forged a profound connection with the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir on albums of folk songs and Orthodox hymns.
To accompany the set, Hvorostovsky’s Philips producer Anna Barry contributes a new, extensive and personal memoir of working with the baritone and going behind the scenes of each recording. One of the great voices of recent decades comes to life once more in this original jacket collection.
CD 1
Tchaikovsky & Verdi Arias
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
1 Vi mnye pisali … Kogda bi zhizn’ domashnim krugom (Eugene Onegin)
2 Uzhel ta samaya Tatyana … Uvi, somnyenya nyet (Eugene Onegin)
3 Vy tak pechalny (Pique Dame)
GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813–1901)
4 Di Provenza il mar, il suol (La traviata)
5 Perfidi! … Pietà, rispetto, amore (Macbeth)
6 Sacra la scelta è d’un consorte (Luisa Miller)
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
7 Dela, pravlenija … A obraz toj prigozhnitsy (The Sorceress)
8 Kto mozhet (Iolanta)
9 O, Marija, Marija! (Mazeppa)
GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813–1901)
10 Tutto è deserto … Il balen del suo sorriso (Il trovatore)
11 Son io, mio Carlo … Per me giunto … O Carlo, ascolta (Don Carlo)
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Valery Gergiev
CD 2
Russian Romances
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
1 Once again, as before, I am alone
2 Nightingale
3 Heroism
4 I threw open the window
5 Don Juan’s Serenade
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
6 The dream
7 She is as fair as day
8 Oh, do not sing to me
9 Oh no, I beg you, forsake me not
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
10 Reconciliation
11 A tear quivers
12 None but the lonely heart
13 The frightening moments
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
14 Yesterday we met
15 In the mysterious silence of the night
16 He has taken everything from me
17 Fragment from A. Musset: ‘Why does my aching heart’
18 Christ is risen
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Oleg Boshniakovich, piano
CD 3
Dark Eyes
Russian Folk Songs
1 The little box
2 A snowstorm blows
3 Masha has been told
4 Farewell, happiness
5 Kamarinskaya
6 Ah, little darling
7 At the time when the stars
8 I walk out onto the path alone
9 Dance
10 When, my soul, you wanted
11 Oh, if only words could convey
12 Dark Eyes
13 The lime tree
14 Not just one path
15 Oh, sweet night
16 How dismal
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Ossipov Russian Folk Orchestra
Nikolai Kalinin
CD 4
Bel Canto Arias
GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868)
1 No. 2 Cavatina: Largo al factotum (Il barbiere di Siviglia)
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
2 Vien, Leonora (La favorita)
3 Nei miei superbi gaudi (Il Duca d’Alba)
4 A tanto amor, Leonora (La favorita)
5 Di tua beltade immagine (Poliuto)
VINCENZO BELLINI (1801–1835)
6 Si, vincemmo (Il pirata)
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
7 Come Paride vezzoso (L’elisir d’amore)
8 Bella siccome un angelo (Don Pasquale)
GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868)
9 Resta immobile (Guglielmo Tell)
VINCENZO BELLINI (1801–1835)
10 Or dove fuggo mai? … Ah! per sempre io ti perdei (I Puritani)
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
11 O Lisbona, alfin ti miro (Don Sebastiano, Re del Portogallo)
12 Cruda, funesta smania (Lucia di Lammermoor)
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Philharmonia Orchestra
Ion Marin
CD 5
Songs and Dances of Death
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908)
1 Gorat kamennyj, garadam fsem mat (Sadko)
2 Gluhaja noch (Kashchei the Immortal)
3 Na t’oplam sinem more (The Snow Maiden)
4 S uma neydot krasavitsa (The Tsar’s Bride)
ALEXANDER BORODIN (1833–1887)
5 Ni sna ni otdyha izmuchennaj dushe (Prince Igor)
ANTON RUBINSTEIN (1829–1894)
6 Ne plach dit’a (The Demon)
7 Na vazdushnam akeane (The Demon)
8 Ja tot, katoramu vnimala (The Demon)
9 Paju tebe, Boh Gimenej! (Nero)
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
10 Ves’ tabar spit (Aleko)
MODEST MUSSORGSKY (1839–1881)
11–15 Songs and Dances of Death
Orchestrated: Shostakovitch
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Kirov Orchestra, St. Petersburg
Valery Gergiev
CD 6
My Restless Soul
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
1 Oh, if only you could for one moment
2 Amid the noise of the ball
3 I should like in a single word
4 My protector, my angel, my friend
5 It was in early spring
ALEXANDER BORODIN (1833–1887)
6 For the shores of your distant homeland
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908)
7 The clouds begin to scatter
8 The octave
9 The wave breaks into spray
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
10 I bless you, forests
11 Not a word, beloved
12 The Love of a dead man
13 On the golden fields
14 Whether the day reigns
15 We sat together
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
16 Morning
17 Child, you are beautiful like a flower
18 How I languish
19 Spring waters
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Mikhail Arkadiev, piano
CD 7
Credo
PAVEL NILYCH TOLSTYAKOV (1880–1938)
1 Come to me, all you who labour
MIKHAIL BURGAMIN
2 The good thief
DOBRI IVANOV KHRISTOV (1875–1941)
3 Praise ye the name of the Lord
APOSTOL NIKOLAEV-STRUMSKI
4 Great doxology
YURI SAKHNOVSKY (1866–1930)
5 Cherubic Hymn
ALEKSANDR ARKHANGELSKY
6 Symbol of Faith (Creed)
YURI SAKHNOVSKY
7 Our Father
PAVEL GRIGORIEVITCH TCHESNOKOV
8 Blessed is the man
9 From my youth
10 Let my prayer
11 Gabriel appeared
ALEXANDER KOSOLAPOV
12 Strengthen, O Lord
PAVEL GRIGORIEVITCH TCHESNOKOV
13 We praise Thee
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
St. Petersburg Chamber Choir
Nikolai Korniev
CD 8
Russia Cast Adrift
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
1 ’Tis pleasant here
2 Everything passes
3 The answer was given
4 A song for my cornfield
5 Heed me not, dear!
6 I wait for you
7 Night
8 The night is sad
9 I am alone again
GEORGY SVIRIDOV (1915–1998)
10–21 Russia Cast Adrift
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Mikhail Arkadiev, piano
CD 9
Kalinka
Russian Folk Songs
1 Kalinka
2 Barinya
3 Ah! Do you hear, my dearest friend?
4 On the little mountain
5 Round dance
6 Why have you misted over, clear sunset
7 I met you
8 The little widow
9 How was I, a tender young maiden?
10 Rhyming song
11 Ah, you field
12 As never white birch tree
13 The noise of the town cannot be heard
14 In the dark forest
15 Already the fog has descended
16 Ah, shady spot
17 Birch-broom
18 I set off alone down the road
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
St. Petersburg Chamber Choir
Nikolai Korniev
CD 10
Arie Antiche
GIACOMO CARISSIMI (1605–1674)
1 Vittoria, mio core!
ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741)
2 Se il cor guerriero (Tito Manlio)
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK (1714–1787)
3 O del mio dolce ardor (Paride ed Elena)
TOMMASO GIORDANI (1730–1806)
4 Caro mio ben
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)
5 Dignare o Domine (Te Deum in D major, ‘Dettingen’)
ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741)
6 Orribile lo scempio (Tito Manlio)
ANTONIO CALDARA (1670–1736)
7 Selve amiche (La costanza in amor vince l’inganno)
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK (1714–1787)
8 Che farò senza Euridice? (Orfeo ed Euridice)
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)
9 Frondi tenere e belle … Ombra mai fù (Serse)
10 Sorge infausta una procella (Orlando)
ANTONIO CALDARA (1670–1736)
11 Come raggio di sol
FRANCESCO DURANTE (1684–1755)
12 Vergin, tutto amor
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)
13 Chi sprezzando (Brockes’ Passion)
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI (1660–1725)
14 Già il sole dal Gange
ANONYMOUS
15 Nina
FRANCESCO DURANTE (1684–1755)
16 Danza, fanciulla gentile
GIULIO CACCINI (1551–1618)
17 Amarilli mia bella
ANTONIO CESTI (1623–1669)
18 Si mantiene il mio amor
ALESSANDRO STRADELLA (1643–1682)
19 Pietà, Signore
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Sir Neville Marriner
CD 11
Arias & Duets
GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868)
Il barbiere di Siviglia
1 Cavatina: Largo al factotum (Act I)
2 Duetto: Dunque io son … tu non m’inganni? (Act I)*
3 Una voce poco fa … Io sono docile (Act I)*
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
La favorita
4 Ebben, così sì narra … Quando le soglie paterne (Act II)*
5 Fia dunque vero … O mio Fernando (Act III)*
6 Ma de’ malvagi invan … Vien, Leonora (Act II)
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908)
The Tsar’s Bride
7 Zachem ty? Znat’ nye lyubish*
8 Vot da chevo ya dashla, Grigori*
9 S uma neydot krasavitsa
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835–1921)
Samson et Dalila, Op. 47, R.288
10 J’ai gravi la montagne (Act II)*
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Olga Borodina, mezzo-soprano*
English Chamber Orchestra
Patrick Summers
CD 1
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Erdo Groot
Recording Engineer: Stan Taal
Recording Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands, February 1990
Original Philips Release: 426 740-2
P 1990 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 2
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Onno Scholtze
Tape Editor: Thijs Hoekstra
Recording Location: Henry Wood Hall, London, UK, July 1990
Original Philips Release: 432 119-2
P 1991 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 3
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Erdo Groot
Recording Location: Bolshoy Hall, Moscow State Conservatory, Moscow, Russia, June 1991
Original Philips Release: 434 080-2
P 1992 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 4
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Erdo Groot
Recording Engineer: Chris Ludwinsky
Tape Editor: Gosia Jankowska
Recording Location: Abbey Road Studios, London, UK, July 1992
Original Philips Release: 434 912-2
P 1994 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 5
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Erdo Groot
Recording Engineers: Erwin de Ceuster, Jean-Marie Geijsen Jaap de Jong
Tape Editors: Jean van Vugt, Jan Wesselink
Recording Location: Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia, January 1993
Original Philips Release: 438 872-2
P 1994 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 6
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Mike Sheady
Recording Engineer: Charles Smith
Tape Editor: Gosia Jankowska
Recording Location: The Hit Factory, London, UK, February 1993
Original Philips Release: 442 536-2
P 1995 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 7
Recording Producers: Anna Barry, Hermine Sterringa
Balance Engineer: Onno Scholtze
Recording Engineer: Jean-Marie Geijsen
Recording Location: Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, St. Petersburg, Russia, 31 July–3 August 1994
Original Philips Release: 446 089-2
P 1994 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 8
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Erdo Groot
Tape Editor: Gosia Jankowska
Recording Location: Henry Wood Hall, London, UK, 28 September–1 October 1994
Original Philips Release: 446 666-2
P 1996 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 9
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Artist & Repertoire Production: Hermine Sterringa
Balance Engineer, Tape Editor: Jean-Marie Geijsen
Recording Location: State Academic Capella, St. Petersburg, Russia, May 1996
Original Philips Release: 456 399-2
P 1998 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 10
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Jean-Marie Geijsen
Recording Engineer, Tape Editor: Thijs Hoekstra
Recording Location: Henry Wood Hall, London, UK, 5–8 January 1997
Original Philips Release: 456 543-2
P 1997 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
CD 11
Recording Producer: Anna Barry
Balance Engineer: Jean-Marie Geijsen
Recording Engineers: Everett Porter, Roger de Schot
Tape Editor: Tjeerd Veeger
Recording Location: Henry Wood Hall, London, UK, May 1997
Original Philips Release: 454 4392
P 1998 Universal International Music B.V.
DDD
“This is a full and rich baritone voice, glamorous in sheen, its chief glory being its middle register, which the singer proudly unfolds in one long cantilena after another.” Opera, September 1990 (Tchaikovsky and Verdi arias)
“The finest new baritone voice and the most impressive first operatic recital heard on records for some years.” Gramophone, October 1990 (Tchaikovsky and Verdi arias)
“No matter where you choose to begin, you will feel compelled to listen to the entire sequence. The voice, first of all, is phenomenal in its beauty and amplitude … What confronts us is not just an exceptional voice but a noble artist.” Stereo Review, October 1990 (Tchaikovsky and Verdi arias)
“Hvorostovsky sounds like the genuine article. His voice is full, rich, darkish, and vibrant.” Fanfare, September 1991 (Russian Romances)
“Hvorostovsky sings with unaffected sincerity; there is no artiness in his delivery. You feel his belief in these songs and his desire to communicate their meaning.” Stereo Review, October 1991 (Russian Romances)
“Siberia’s greatest recent gift to opera … performs with authenticity, vocal beauty, relish and masculine strength.” Stereo Review, April 1993 (Dark Eyes)
“The baritone has done nothing better than his impersonation of the devil so ingeniously characterised by [Rubinstein] … undoubtedly Hvorostovsky’s most enjoyable recital to date, immeasurably helped by the support and the excellent recording.” Gramophone, May 1994 (Songs and Dances of Death)
“Hvorostovsky sings with such enthusiasm and intensity that one is soon won over.” Opera, October 1994 (Bel Canto Arias)
“The artist is on great form … Despite the prevailing mood of almost unrelieved gloom, this is a splendid recital enriched by Mikhail Arkadiev’s virtuosic pianism.” Stereo Review, March 1996 (My Restless Soul)
“What sets him apart from the majority of operatic singers is his wish to give about half his time to recitals, specializing in the Russian literature .. These performances are filled with elegance. Flowing lyric phrases are shaped with exquisite sensitivity for nuance and expression.” Fanfare, May 1996 (My Restless Soul)
“Sviridov couldn’t have hoped for a more accomplished and committed champion than Hvorostovsky.” Stereo Review, December 1996 (Russia Cast Adrift)
“Hvorostovsky sings his relatively brief solos with rich tone and ringing fervour, warmly blending with the choral body but delivering a stunning A natural in the penultimate section.” Stereo Review, May 1997 (Credo)
“The cut of the music suits him well enough and he brings with him the style that he has acquired from the bel canto repertoire. That means beauty of tone and elegance of phrasing … Hvorostovsky’s many admirers have no reason to hold back.” Gramophone, March 1998 (Arie antiche)
“Philips is lucky to have two gifted Russian artists under contract, and they make an exciting combination. Both reach their zenith in the scenes from The Tsar’s Bride; it is hard to imagine a better rendition.” Stereo Review, November 1998 (Duets with Olga Borodina)
“‘The Little Willow’ [is] sung with soaring intensity by Hvorostovsky… An unusual, enjoyable anthology.” Gramophone, February 1999 (Kalinka)