Dimitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Mikhail Arkadiev, piano
PROGRAM
Tchaikovsky
op.26 n.1; op.63 n.2; op.28 n.6; op.6 n.5; op.38 n.2; op.47 n.5; “My
genius, my angel, my friend"; op.73 n.6; op.47 n.6.
Intermission
Rachmaninov
op.4 n.3; op.4 n.1; op.14 n.9; op.26 n.13; op.4 n.4; op.26 n.2;
op.26 n.6; op.8 n.5; op.21 n.6.
SINTRA,
PORTUGAL - Every year since 1965, Sintra, a historic city
near Lisbon, organizes a Summer Festival. This year, the Festival
was mainly focused on pianists and brought to Portugal, among
others, the Labčque sisters, Piotr Anderszewsky, Grigory Sokolov,
Boris Berezowsky, as well as local Maria Joao Pires. However,
singers were not forgotten and, the 3rd of July, a recital took
place at the Music Room of the XVIII century neo-classic Queluz
Palace. It featured Russian baritone, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and
pianist Mikhail Arkadiev. The recital’s program was composed of
Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov songs as listed above.
The Music Room, recently restored, is an
extremely beautiful place, but a small one which gave the recital a
wonderfully intimate atmosphere as if it was a family or friends
gathering. Unfortunately, it prevented us from evaluating the volume
of Hvorostovsky’s voice and its ability to deal with a full
orchestra.
Knowing that the Russian baritone has been
tackling heavy Verdi roles, either Count di Luna at Covent Garden or
Rodrigo di Posa at the Metropolitan, we were curious to assess to
what extent that might have tarnished his voice and vocal resources.
At least on July the 3rd, it seemed no damage at all had taken
place. The voice was as beautiful as ever: velvety, rich, full, even
from top to bottom with an incredible ease in reaching the high
notes whether on fortissimo or pianissimo.
In fact, Dmitri dazzled the audience with every
possible "trick" in the business: crescendi, diminuendi, messa di
voce, mezza voce, pianissimi, fortissimi, filati. But, no, it was
not a mere vocal resources exhibition. Quite the opposite. Every
"trick" was used for an expressive purpose, either to highlight a
particular emotion or to create a specific mood. Take, for instance,
"Whether the day reigns" (op.47 n.6 by Tchaikovsky), in which the
growing volume of each fortissimo at "vsyo dlya tebye" gave the song
an extra emotional intensity. In this particular song, Hvorostovsky
was much helped by the superb playing of Mikhail Arkadiev who
matched the Russian baritone in expressiveness and commitment.
Returning to Dmitri, one could not ask for more moving a moment than
the last whispered pianissimi in "My genius, my angel, my friend".
Another feature of Hvorostovsky's singing is
his legato, known for its amazing length and fluidity. And, if
there is a song who demands it, it is Rachmaninov's op.4 n.3 (“In
the Mysterious Silence of the Night”). The song in question has one
most difficult phrase: "Zavetnym imenem budit nachnuyu t'mu". It is
first sung finishing in a fortissimo high note. When the song's end
approaches, the singer must repeat the same phrase, but, this time,
should finish it with a long pianissimo. Most singers are unable to
offer us both phrases in one breath, even Ewa Podles in her
wonderful "Mélodies Russes" recital. Or they just chop the final
pianissimo as soon as they can like Jennie Tourel. That was not the
case of Hvorostovsky. Not only did he sing both phrases in one
breath with the most pure legato, but he held the final pianissimo
endlessly provoking an enthusiastic and spontaneous wave of applause
from the audience. One should add that the fact of breathing or not
breathing within the phrase is not a superficial and merely
technical matter. Those who have heard the phrase sung with
non-ending legato know what magic, mystery and tenderness the song
gains.
If, in interpreting Tchaikovsky and
Rachmaninov, Hvorostovsky used his vocal qualities as means to an
end, in the first two extras, Dmitri was in exhibitionist mood. He
sang two Neapolitan songs showing off the best he could his high
register which was in glorious shape July the 3rd. Especially
impressive was his rendering of “Core ‘ngrato” which got the
audience near hysteria if one would count the number of bravos
shouted. In the third extra, Hvorostovsky returned to artistry with
a solemn and touching Russian liturgical melody sung a capella.
Recognizing a singer at the height of his powers, the public didn't
want Dmitri to leave and clapped, shouted until the baritone
appeared at the door of the Music Room acknowledging the audience's
warmth, but signaling the recital was, unfortunately, over.
Nuno Miguel
Marques is a
Classical
Voice correspondent in Lisbon, Portugal.
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