khankonchak's video: Boris Shtokolov- The Miller s Aria from Rusalka Dargomyzhsky

Boris Timofeevich Shtokolov (1930-2005) is a name unfamiliar to most music aficionados in the West. Although he was an extremely popular singer in the former Soviet Union (and my personal favorite bass), his exposure to audiences beyond the Iron Curtain was limited- his tours abroad were not frequent, and recordings are relatively sparse for an artist of his stature. A graduate of the Ural State Conservatory in Ekaterinburg, he was THE leading bass at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg for much of his 30 year tenure there (1959-89) and is still considered the finest interpreter of old Russian romances and folk songs. His voice was a genuine basso profondo-very dark, rotund, and powerful, but at the same time perfectly controlled, even, and flexible throughout its entire range, with an effortless top. The timbre is smooth as velvet, never harsh, and instantly recognizable (a characteristic of many great singers, it seems), and Shtokolov's trademark diminuendos and floated pianissimos are nothing short of miraculous, unmatched by any other bass in my listening experience. In the early 1970's, Shtokolov made a number of aria recordings with conductor Fuat Mansurov and the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. One of these was a delightful version of The Miller's Aria from Alexander Dargomyzhsky's opera "Rusalka" of 1856 (not to be confused with Dvorak's work!). Although the composer is generally considered to be one of Russia's lesser musical lights, he stands alongside Glinka as an important forerunner of the group of nationalist composers known as the "Moguchaya Kuchka" ("The Mighty Handful"). Of his half dozen or so operas, "Rusalka" ("The Water Nymph") is the best known and is still regularly performed in the former USSR, although it has been ignored in the Western world since Chaliapin took on the role of the Miller at Covent Garden in the early 1930's. Based on a dramatic poem by Alexander Pushkin, the work tells of a prince who woos and then abandons a miller's daughter in order to marry his betrothed. The grief-stricken maiden drowns herself in the Dnieper river, the miller goes mad, and the callous but remorseful Prince is drawn to a watery death by his former lover, now a vengeful and unhappy water nymph. The tuneful Miller's Aria is easily the most popular excerpt from the opera, and I am rather surprised that this is its first appearance on Youtube. Its melody is quite catchy, and I am sure that many listeners will have heard it before, even if they were unaware of its provenance. The aria, extracted from the opera's first act, presents a rather bothered and exasperated Miller. Concerned primarily with the state of his own purse, he admonishes his daughter for her lack of urgency in seeking a commitment from the Prince: "Ah, all you young girls have precious little sense...you must be told the same thing one hundred times over!" Shtokolov brings just the right degree of vexation to the piece and is one of very few singers to cap it off with a hilarious "Ekh ty!" ("Ah, you!"). As with many of his recordings, this is my favorite version of the piece. I've mentioned this many times before, but it bears repeating that Shtokolov's artistry simply defies criticism, and I hope that the recording proves to be a wonderful discovery for those unfamiliar with his singing.