Russian Opera Classics Box Set

With Boris Godunov Mussorgsky sets the stage, managing to embody Mother Russia in his monumental tale of Nation and Tsar at an eventful turn in history. Two more texts by Pushkin see achingly lyrical realisations by Tchaikovsky, who first tells of the callous, young Eugene Onegin and his tragic story of illusion, disaffection and frustrated love, and then, in Pique Dame, of the soldier Hermann, who is obsessed with the aristocratic Lisa and with coaxing a winning secret from her gambling grandmother, the Queen of Spades. In Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, his finest work for the stage, the master orchestrator spins a supernatural tale with the mystical flavour and steady unfolding of a legend of redemption, while Shostakovich runs the gamut of love, lust, power and oppression in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, a drama exploring the shadowy boundaries between victim and perpetrator. Orlin Anastassov, Bo Skovhus, Ewa Podleś and Eva-Maria Westbroek shine in the title roles, as does Svetlana Ignatovich as the forest maiden Fevronia, in vivid, opulent productions from De Nederlanse Opera and Barcelona’s Liceu.

Contents:

Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (Teatro Regio, Torino)
- Boris: Orlin Anastassov
- Xenia: Alessandra Marianelli
- Fyodor: Pavel Zubov
Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Regio, Torino
Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda
Director: Andrei Konchalovsky

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin (De Nederlandse Opera)
- Eugene Onegin: Bo Skovhus
- Lensky: Andrej Dunaev
- Prince Gremin: Mikhail Petrenko
- Tatyana: Krassimira Stoyanova
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Conductor: Mariss Jansons
Director: Stefan Herheim

Tchaikovsky - Pique Dame (Liceu)
- Hermann: Misha Didyk
- Liza: Emily Magee
- Count Tomsky: Lado Ataneli
- Prince Yeletsky: Ludovic Tézier
- Countess: Ewa Podles
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Conductor: Michael Boder
Director: Gilbert Deflo

Rimsky-Korsakov - The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh (De Nederlandse Opera)
- Fevroniya: Svetlana Ignatovich
- Grishka Kuterma: John Daszak
- Prince Yuriy Vsevolodovich: Vladimir Vaneev
- Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich: Maxim Aksenov
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra / Chorus of Netherlands Opera
Conductor: Marc Albrecht
Director: Dmitri Tcherniakov

Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth Mtsensk (De Nederlandse Opera)
- Katerina Lvovna Ismailova: Eva-Maria Westbroek
- Sergey: Christopher Ventris
- Aksinya: Carole Wilson
Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Conductor: Mariss Jansons
Director: Martin Kušej

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS
Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/IT/ES/NE
Running time: 919 minutes