The Tsar’s Bride is a venerable staple in Russian opera houses, yet the work hasn’t exported well. Perhaps the reason lies with its convoluted plot, which in turn is thickened by a wordy, sometimes static libretto. A succession of set pieces governs the musical structure, at the risk of dramatic diversion. There’s plenty of musical variety, though, served up in brilliant, colorful instrumental garb, as one would expect from a nonpareil orchestrator like Rimsky-Korsakov. Gryaznoy, the opera’s villainous protagonist, bears the brunt of the opera’s narrative weight, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s multi-dimensional portrayal abounds in sonorous felicities. Olga Borodina brings equal proportions of defiance and delicacy to the role of Lyubasha, Gryaznoy’s lover. Her nemesis Marfa gets a rather unyielding, but intense performance from Marina Shaguch, and the suave Evgeny Akimov stands out as Marfa’s paramour Lykov. Valery Gergiev has this score in his bones, and communicates its musical and dramatic potency to the hilt through the good graces of his responsive Kirov musicians. All told, this is one of the finest releases in Gergiev’s important Russian opera survey. Full texts and translations are included.
