Slippedisc comfort zone (6): Dima’s prime
mainA remembrance of Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Russia’s greatest baritone.
Just watch those audience handkerchieves.
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Hvorostovsky was an extremely communicative singer, as well as being in possession of a very beautiful voice. I heard him in recital in San Francisco, and he was the real deal.
Imagine what a wonderful partner he would have been with Callas in her prime (yes, we vocal fans do fantasize about such things).
https://basiaconfuoco.com/2021/04/19/dmitri-hvorostovsky-in-two-live-recitals/
What a loss. His recorded Sviridov songs “Russia Cast Adrift” and others with texts by Blok, &tc, are evidence that there is great modern vocal music still being written, published, and dedicated to him as late as 1995. His Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky songs with genius-pianist Mikhael Arkadiev are also first-rate.
I saw two recitals in Chicago, Greg, one with Arkadiev including Shostakovich, the other with a folk ensemble. He sang Onegin with Lyric Opera. The Sviridov especially impressed.
Mikhail Arkadiev’s not a genius, very mediocre musician. DK switch to better quality pianist latter. I heard them live.
He had everything… Stunning…
With all due respect to ‘Dima’, I’m old enough to remember ‘Pasha’ Lisitsian who was also a very fine Russian baritone.
Lisitsian was a ‘soviet’ baritone, he was not Russian but Armenian. But I agree Hvorostovksy is not “Russia’s “greatest baritone but one of….The Great Ots, the great Lisitsian indeed, Gulyaev, joachim Tartakov, all at least as great as Dima
I wrote to invite others to hear Hvorostovsky Sing Gyorgy Sviridov’s songs and judge for themselves. Shostakovich called Sviridov a genius. I have heard pianist Mikhael Arkadiev live and on records. I consider him a genius. A Russian academic tells me Arkadiev is a difficult person not on good terms with his own son, which is regrettable, but I find him a genius when he accompanies Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
At their recital here that I attended, Hvorostovsky and Mikhael Arkadiev performed Shostakovich’s “Michelangelo Suite” ideally.