Throughout the history of opera in Bulgaria, works composed in the Russian language and from the Russian tradition have shared the stage with those of Italy, Germany and Bulgaria itself. In this volume, "Russian Opera from Bulgaria", we explore that aspect with both standard and less familiar works from the vaults of Bulgarian National Radio.
Borodin: Prince Igor
Dargomizhsky: Rusalka
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina
Petrov, Andrey: Peter I
Prokofiev: Betrothal in a Monastery
Rachmaninoff: Aleko
Rimsky-Korsakov: Boyarinya Vera Sheloga
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden
Shostakovich: Katerina Ismailova
Stravinsky: Mavra
Stravinsky: Renard
Bulgarian opera has incorporated the influence of Russian music since the early twentieth century. The political, cultural and economic influence of Bulgaria's great neighbor to the north following the socialist revolution in 1944 cannot be overestimated and is reflected not only in the preference for Russian opera in the decades since but also in the training and careers of such artists as Boris Christoff, Ghena Dimitrova, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Raina Kabaivanska and Nicolai Ghiaurov. As Russian resources for opera had been devastated by World War II, interest in and evolution of performers for their music burgeoned in Bulgaria. In the decades following the war, Bulgarian artists and performances formed the core of recordings considered 'Russian' in much of the world. Indeed, in at least one case (Mussorgsky's Aleko) a seminal Russian opera was published by Russian Melodiya from Plovdiv with Bulgarian orchestra, chorus, cast and conductor.
In the previous volumes of the Audio Encyclopedia, we have examined more general aspects of Bulgarian opera. "Opera from Bulgaria" (AE 205) provided an overview of the history, artists and works of the country. "Bulgarian National Radio" (AE 210) selected Western operas from the vaults of BNR to illustrate the breadth of the country's musical taste in recent decades. Another volume, "Opera from Russia" (AE 206), focussed on the tradition of Russian opera from the motherland in the immediate post-war period; it relied largely on artists developed in the first half of the twentieth century, but could not go further because of the devastation of Russian culture by the conflict. Today, both Russian and Bulgarian arts and artists are integrated into the world's music, but until this volume the contribution of Bulgaria to the Russian tradition has lacked systematic exploration.
It may be worth a moment to reflect on the limited exposure of native Bulgarian opera. No Bulgarian composer has yet emerged internationally to bridge the gap from native folk and song history to the classical art forms. That may be due in part to the difference in ancient traditions and in part to the language problem, but regardless the works which are available, such as Siromachkinya, Gergana and Lud Gidiya (on AE 205) suggest that there is worthwhile material to explore as a national style emerges.
Bulgarian National Radio broadcast and preserved performances throughout its history. They have graciously opened their archives to us with excellent transfers of many operas from live performance. In order to provide the greatest scope practical in this volume, we offer all of the better known works in good monaural sound even where fine stereo masters are available. In the cases of Peter I and Boyarinya Vera Sheloga, the absence of another recording of these notable operas prompted us to produce the recordings in stereo to document their virtues fully. Of course, the fidelity offered in CD-ROM format is not that of the masters or of audio CDs which may be made from them. We hope that you will find these performances of sufficient interest to inspire BNR to seek conventional release of at least some of them.
NOTE: Where a biography is available for a singer, the name is highlighted in the cast list. On the page brought up in that fashion, selecting the (highlighted) singer's name will allow you to hear its pronunciation.
While the majority of operas presented here are familiar to the West, two merit special attention. At the suggestion of my colleague at Bulgarian National Radio, Svetlana Dimitrova, the offering of these operas will be a new experience to many outside the former Soviet Bloc.
Peter I, composed by Andrey Petrov in 1975, is a gem waiting to be discovered. The compositional style, while influenced by the traditional Russian style, is fresh, original and rich in orchestration. It is offered here in stereo sound. Boyarinya Vera Sheloga was originally composed by Rimsky-Korsakov as a prologue to his opera The Maid of Pskov. Heard in stereo it features the fine voices of Stefka Evstatieva and Alexandrina Milcheva.
This volume is the third in the Audio Encyclopedia series devoted to opera from Bulgaria and was produced in the creative concept of Mike Richter. All of this would not have been possible without the partnership of Bulgarian National Radio. The example set by BNR through their general director, Polya Stancheva; Senior Legal Advisor, Rossitza Kukusheva and the artistic guidance of Svetlana Dimitrova is a model for sharing the artistic treasures of a nation with the international community.
Frank McD. Fischer
939 N. Negley Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15206
Phone: 412-441-4222
Fax: 412-441-1239
E-mail: operfrank@aol. com
It has been a pleasure to work with Frank in development of this third disc in the review of Bulgarian opera in the Audio Encyclopedia. The scope and purpose of the Encyclopedia are identified at my WWW site at http://www.mrichter.com/
At this writing, I can be reached by e-mail at mrichter@mindspring.com,
through http://www.mrichter.com/ or at
Michael Richter
2600 Colby Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90064-3716
USA
310-477-7969
Macintosh users are urged to read macread.htm on this disc as well as the following.
The files on this disc are recorded in MP3 format. Players for such compressed audio are available for most platforms. Since most users of personal computers when this disc was published have 32-bit Windows installed on their systems, we include a licensed browser and a freeware player for their convenience.
Those running Windows who do not find that the browser begins automatically may start it by running I_VIEW.EXE from the root of the CD-ROM drive. Those running other systems, such as Mac and Unix boxes, will need both a browser and an installed MPEG player. Even Windows users may choose their preferred browsers equipped with MP3 players. Operation with any browser other than the one on the disc requires that you point it to the CD-ROM and WELCOME.HTM as the URL.
Every effort has been made to ensure that all files are accessible to all users. The prototype of this disc was tested on a variety of computers and all reasonably modern ones have worked in the configurations tested. There is little that can be done if your computer has problems with these files short of upgrading the computer. As an indication of its modest needs, the disc proved fully functional on a Pentium 100 laptop with a slow CD-ROM drive.
We have chosen to use the least possible processing of the sound which gives acceptable listening and preserves as much as possible of the original material. If you explore the features of the WinAmp player by right-clicking on it when it is active, you will find a Graphic Equalizer which lets you adjust the balance to your taste. Those controls must be set each time you start the disc. If you wish the changes to persist, you may prefer to adjust your playback equipment or to use your own browser.
Those using their own browsers will certainly need no assistance from me. That is fortunate, since it would be difficult to cover all the options of browsers and MP3 plugins and helpers. If you are running the I_VIEW browser on the disc, you should find all operations familiar. Simply click on a link to access it. If you have trouble seeing everything in the browser, please ensure that the page is maximized by clicking the icon one to the left and one down from the top-right corner. Unfortunately, the browser does not 'remember' that setting and you will need to click the icon each time you start the program.
The WinAmp player here is not the current version but a freeware release quite sufficient for our needs. We thank the developers at Nullsoft for permission to include this excellent program. WinAmp has been preset to the values needed for operation - which is fortunate, since those values cannot be recorded to the CD-ROM and therefore will return to the presets whenever the disc is first accessed.