Bolshoi

Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra, Mark Ermler, Soloists - P.I. Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) (1974)

P.I. Tchaikovsky - Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) (1974)
Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra, Mark Ermler, conductor
Vladimir Atlantov, Tamara Milashkina, Vladimir Valaitis, Andrey Fedoseyev, Valentina Levko
Andrey Sokolov, Valery Yaroslavtsev, Vitaly Vlasov, Yury Dementyev, Galina Borisova

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 718 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 365 Mb | Scans ~ 37 Mb
Genre: Classical, Opera | Label: Philips | # 420 375-2 | Time: 02:40:13

This version of The Queen of Spades was originally recorded in 1974 and made available as a special import; it was then generally released by Philips in 1988. Reviewing it at the time, AB gave a level account of its strengths, but had little difficulty in preferring the Tchakarov set when it was issued in 1990. Deleted by Philips, the Ermler performance has now been restored to the Melodiya catalogue. I cannot see anyone dissenting from AB's view: certainly I do not, except perhaps to regard him as being over-generous in his account of Atlantov's Herman in calling it ''loud and unsubtle''. Stronger words would also be appropriate, especially when Atlantov is compared with the sensitive Wieslaw Ochman on the Tchakarov set. Valentina Levko is a good Countess in what is a well-established Russian tradition of responses to the role: AB thought the old lady's reminiscences not so pointedly delivered as by some other singers, and I would add that she would certainly have acquired a better French accent during her long sojourn as the Venus of Paris.
Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra & Alexander Vedernikov - Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (2024) [Digital Download 24/96]

Bolshoi Theatre Choir & Orchestra & Alexander Vedernikov - Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Front Cover | Time - 11:41 minutes | 252 MB
Classical, Choral | Label: Pentatone, Official Digital Download

Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from his opera Prince Igor are among the most-cherished ballet pieces, with lush oriental melodies and colourful orchestration. They are presented here in an acclaimed interpretation by the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra under the baton of the late Alexander Vedernikov.
Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, Andrey Chistiakov - Alfred Schnittke: Sketches (2011)

Alfred Schnittke - Sketches (2011)
Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, conducted by Andrey Chistiakov

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 208 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 131 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Brilliant Classics | # 9215 | Time: 00:52:09

In 1978 Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) wrote the incidental music for a production of The Inspectors Tale, an adaptation for stage of Gogols Dead Souls. It was to have been directed by Yuri Lyubimov, but the Soviet government banned the production. A suite was assembled from the score by Gennadi Rozhdenstvensky, and two leading colleagues of Schnittke - Gubaidulina and Denisov contributed a jointly composed march, which opens this CD. In 1985 the music was choreographed, the ballet, called Esquisses was performed at the Bolshoi. Schnittke composed a number of new pieces for this production. The characters in the action are all from Gogol, but in addition to The Dead Souls, we meet Tchitchikov, Major Kovalyovs Nose, and Ferdinand VIII from Notes of a Madman. A passage from the book is recited in his piece, and is read by the conductor on this CD. The music is a poly-stylistic, with a huge orchestra (2 electric guitars, flexatone, prepared piano with coins inserted between the strings), quotations from Beethoven, Haydn, Tchaikovsky - all with a sense of devilish mischief which suites ideally the grotesque nature of many of Gogols characters.
Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre - Highlights from Russian Operas, Vol. 1 (2006) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre - Highlights from Russian Operas, Vol. 1 (2006)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time - 75:45 minutes | 1,73 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time - 75:45 minutes | 1,6 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital booklet

Alexander Vedernikov leads the orchestra, soloists and chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on this first volume of Highlights From Russian Operas, including works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Glinka and others.
Vassily Sinaisky, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Svetlana Zakharova, David Hallberg - Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty (2012)

Vassily Sinaisky, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Svetlana Zakharova, David Hallberg - Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty (2012) [Blu-Ray]
BluRay | BDMV | MPEG-4 AVC Video / 27997 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps | 137 min | 32,8 Gb
Audio1: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 16-bit | Audio2: DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2526 kbps / 16-bit

BluRay-rip | AVC | MKV 1920x1080 / 6215 kbps / 29,97 fps | 137 min | 7,43 Gb
Audio: DTS / 6ch / 48.0 KHz / 16 bits
Classical | Bel Air Classiques

The choreographer, Yuri Grigorovich presents a new version of one of his most famous choreography for a breath taking experience in splendid sets designed by Ezio Frigerio and more than 400 new costumes designed by Franca Squarciapino. The american superstar dancer David Hallberg is Prince Désiré. Hallberg is the first main american soloist ever to be hired by the Bolshoi Ballet. Princess Aurora is danced by the principal Svetlana Zakharova, well known by Parisian audience thanks to her many performances at the Palais Garnier. She is also the soloist of the best seller “Pharaoh’s daughter ” DVD released by Bel Air Classiques in 2004. They are joined by a great cast : Maria Allash (Lilac Fairy) , Artem Ovcharenko (Bluebird) and Nina Kaptsova (Princess Florine).
Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre - Highlights from Russian Operas, Vol. 2 (2009) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre - Highlights from Russian Operas, Vol. 2 (2009)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time - 60:19 minutes | 1,37 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time - 60:19 minutes | 1,19 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital booklet

Alexander Vedernikov and soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow follow up their acclaimed first volume of highlights from Russian operas with this second volume, released in 2009. This album from PentaTone Classics is an excellent "highlight reel" of Russian opera hits of the Romantic era. This volume features the works of Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky. Snippets of Mussorgsky's "Khovanschina" and "Borid Godunov", a portion of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Legend of the invisable city of Kitezh" and the second act of "Sadko", and a part of Tchaikovsky's opera derived from classic Russian literature "Eugene Onegin".
Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre - Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila (2004) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre - Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila (2004)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time - 203:31 minutes | 4,68 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time - 203:31 minutes | 4,09 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital booklet
Fairy opera in 3 parts, 5 acts

Alexander Vedernikov and a large cast of musicians, soloists and chorus singers from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow deliver Glinka's masterpiece Ruslan and Lyudmila in the original authorial version. This triple album was recorded live in Moscow over four nights in April 2003, the live performances and now this recording garnering international acclaim.
Yuri Simonov, The Bolshoi Opera - Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades / Pique Dame (2005/1983)

Yuri Simonov, The Bolshoi Opera - Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades / Pique Dame (2005/1983)
NTSC 4:3 (720x480) | Русский (Dolby AC3, 2 ch) | 7.07 Gb (DVD9) | 174 min
Classical | Kultur | Sub.: English

It is rare when four of the Bolshoi’s greatest stars appear together in their home theatre in one of Russian opera’s masterpieces. The opera was Tchaikovsky’s, The Queen Of Spades, (Pique Dream), and Kultur is proud to present it here, complete, for the first time on DVD. With a libretto written by the composer’s brother, Modest, this tale of terror, with a plot involving obsessive love and gambling, hallucinations and descent into madness never fails to have a profound effect on its audience. The Bolshoi’s production is riveting, with sumptuous sets and costumes, and the famed Bolshoi chorus and corps de ballet are at their most elegant and spectacular.
Maxim Shostakovich, Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre - Dmitri Shostakovich: Film & Ballet Suites (1999)

Maxim Shostakovich, Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre - Dmitri Shostakovich: Film & Ballet Suites (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 806 Mb | Total time: 76:42+67:03 | Scans included
Classical | Label: BMG Melodiya | 74321 66981 2 | Recorded: 1966

This 2 CD set of Shostakovich's Ballet Suites and film music is a treasure. If you have yet to hear the Ballet Suites, do give this a listen. This is Shostakovich at his most genial and witty. Much credit must be given to the man who compiled and arranged these suites: Levon Atovmyan. Atovmyan is the man responsible for not only arranging these ballet Suites. He also arranged most of Shostakovich's film scores into concert suites. As much as I love Shostakovich's original work, these Atovmyan arrangements are even better. Much of the material used in the Ballet Suites was salvaged from one of Shostakovich's most unipsired works, the ballet The Limpid Stream.
Boris Khaikin, The Bolshoi Opera Chorus and Orchestra - Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (2005/1978)

Boris Khaikin, The Bolshoi Opera Chorus and Orchestra - Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (2005/1978)
NTSC 4:3 (720x480) | Русский (Dolby AC3, 2 ch) | 7.10 Gb (DVD9) | 175 min
Classical | Kultur | Sub.: English

Universally acknowledged as the greatest of all Russian operas, this is a faithful and often dazzling production of the standard Rimsky-Korsakov version taped ³live² at the Bolshoi in 1978. As Boris, the renowned Yevgeni Nesterenko is as justifiably identified with the role in his generation as Chaliapin, London and Kipness were in theirs. Nesterenko gives a remarkably vivid, human portrait of the tormented half-crazed Tsar, and is supported by a first rate ensemble in a richly designed and costumed production that represents opera at its grandest.