Classical Keeping Score

RUSSIAN AROUND: There is perhaps no more feted (or fatigued) classical music organization in the world than St. Petersburg, Russia's Kirov Opera, which has seen a globe-trotting renaissance over the past decade under artistic director/conductor Valery Gergiev. The famously tireless Gergiev is the Kirov in many ways, as his energy and charisma keep the Kirov Orchestra and its huge company of singers and dancers going against all odds‹not only at St. Petersburg's historic Mariinsky Theatre but at such homes away from home as New York's Metropolitan Opera and houses in San Francisco, London, and Paris. In between such residencies and tours from China to South America, Gergiev also directs several international festivals featuring the Kirov, including the Stars of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg and annual events in Finland, the Netherlands, and Israel.
In tandem with all this activity, Gergiev has yielded a rich Kirov discography for Philips Classics that has filled great holes in the catalog for powerfully performed Russian opera on record and video, from Glinka's "Ruslan And Lyudmila" to Prokofiev's "The Fiery Angel." Gergiev has also essayed Borodin, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich symphonies with the Kirov Orchestra, as well as accompanied such star singers as soprano Galina Gorchakova and bass Dmitri Hvorostovksy on recital albums. Plaudits galore have come for this work, yet Gergiev and company have produced their most impressive calling card to date with their latest recording: a deluxe five-disc set containing both the 1869 and 1872 versions of Modest Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov."
Issued in Europe in the fall and out Jan. 12 in the U.S. (as five discs for the price of three), the Kirov "Boris Godunov" was recorded with two separate casts in an Amsterdam studio, featuring Nikolai Putilin in the title role for the 1869 version and Vladimir Vaneev for the 1872. It is a gripping achievement, capturing all the visceral beauty of the opera in Mussorgsky's lean, mean first incarnation (rejected by Moscow's Imperial Theatres) and his more dramatic, expanded version (which was produced once before the composer died in 1881). Smoothing out Mussorgsky's rough-hewn naturalism, Rimsky-Korsakov refashioned his friend's masterpiece for an 1896 revival, and it was in this more romanticized rendition that "Boris Godunov" earned renown. In the 1940s, Shostakovich arranged his own version of the work; of late, though, it has been Mussorgsky's 1872 "original" that has come into favor.
The 45-year-old Gergiev has conducted "Boris Godunov" all over the world in its sundry incarnations‹including in a magnificent Andrei Tarkovsky production that was filmed at the Mariinsky for a 1990 Decca/London video (with Robert Lloyd as the Tsar). After 10 years with "Boris," Gergiev has concluded that the work "isn't just one of the greatest Russian operas but one of the greatest of all operas of the 19th century," he says. "You must consider Mussorgsky not only with Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov but with Wagner and Verdi. Mussorgsky's role in the progress of opera internationally was as big as anyone's. He was a revolutionary. Without Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich would have been different composers. And he influenced Debussy and Janácek as much as he influenced any Russian."
A prime attraction of "Boris Godunov" is that "it is one of the few operas that allows the performer to overwhelm the audience," Gergiev says. "I'll never forget watching the old masters singing "Boris' on Russian television‹incredible. And the choral parts in the opera are the most powerful in all operatic literature. Many other operas you can enjoy, but "Boris' is an experience.
"Of course, there is no one "Boris' that everyone can agree is the "Boris,' " Gergiev continues. "I think Mussorgsky's orchestration is finally the best‹it was ahead of its time. But even with Mussorgsky's work, there is no agreement about what is best. And I am the first to question. Perhaps the 1869 version is the strongest theatrically, because it is like a film‹straight through, no interval. Yet the 1872 has the Polish act, the female presence, the different ending‹some good things. That is why I wanted to record both at once, so people could choose for themselves."
Winner of Herbert von Karajan's conducting competition in 1976 in Berlin, Gergiev debuted with the Kirov Opera two years later with Prokofiev's "War And Peace." He was chief conductor of the Armenian State Orchestra and assistant conductor to Yuri Temirkanov at the Kirov before taking the reins as artistic director and principal conductor of the company in 1988. When Gergiev won the first annual Philips Excellence in Arts Award last year, he divided the $100,000 charitable prize among the Kirov, the Met (where he is principal guest conductor), and a new music academy in his hometown of Vladikavkaz, in the Caucasian republic of Ossetia. Like such compatriots as violist/conductor Yuri Bashmet, Gergiev remains rooted in Russia, despite increasingly hard times.
"It is difficult in Russia but not impossible," Gergiev says. "The Kirov itself is organized, and it has become a global operation. But things can be a bit chaotic because of the country. The Mariinsky is one of the most beautiful theaters in the world, but it speaks the language of the 19th century and must be renovated for the 21st. We can forget about help from the government, but perhaps there will be another way. I hope. And I never consider leaving. A big newspaper just called the Kirov "a unique ensemble.' What would be left of this unique ensemble if you moved it? You don't have to stay put for 12 months, but you must ultimately belong to a place.
"The Kirov is important, I think, because it doesn't sound like any other orchestra," Gergiev adds. "We inherited a certain tradition, and we have spent a long time together. Really, this orchestra, now, doesn't know what other conductors think. This could be a big minus perhaps, but it can be a big plus, because rather than being able to play every way, it plays this way. And my players don't consider the Kirov just a job. They understand that they are defending a tradition and that they have to work hard to do this. Orchestras all over the world play Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique' Symphony. Why bring the Kirov to play it? Because our "Pathetique' speaks in its own language."
Prior to "Boris," Philips released Tchaikovsky's "Mazeppa" and Prokofiev's "Betrothal In A Monastery" this past fall, and in time for a 12-city U.S. tour of Tchaikovsky's late works in November, the label issued Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" plus a fervid disc pairing Stravinsky's "Firebird" and Scriabin's "Prometheus." The Scriabin recording and the Tchaikovsky tour featured pianist Alexander Toradze, who was also the exhilarating soloist in the recent Kirov set of Prokofiev's complete piano concertos. Gergiev should have another busy year on record in '99, with his take on the "Pathetique" due in the spring. Recordings of Shostakovich's "The Gambler" and Prokofiev's "Ivan The Terrible" should be out by the summer, with a trio of Rimsky-Korsakov operas set for the future, including what should be a highlight of the Gergiev/Kirov catalog, "The Legend Of The Invisible City Of Kitezh."
In February, Gergiev leads the New York Philharmonic for two weeks of Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Borodin, and Bartžk; he follows that up the next month with Met productions of Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina" and Tchaikovsky's "Queen Of Spades," as well as his Philadelphia Orchestra debut. Gergiev's whirlwind European schedule for the spring includes a tour with the Rotterdam Philharmonic (of which he is the principal conductor), as well as a new Kirov production of Wagner's "Lohengrin" back at the Mariinsky. Future recording sessions may include Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4, as well as a new Viola Concerto written for Bashmet by Sofia Gubaidulina.