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Transcending the Storm: The Kirov OPera Triumphs
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20589 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
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10 / 1992 |
1,993 Words |
| Author
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Philip Kennicott
Philip Kennicott, based in New York, is a writer on
performance arts. |
Although artists form the former Soviet Union have been appearing in Western concert halls and opera houses with dizzying frequency during the past few years, the arrival of two opera companies from the same city in the space of less than half a year took New York audiences by surprise. The world-renowned Kirov Opera, based in St. Petersburg, made its long-anticipated U.S. debut in July, but a few months before, the virtually unknown St. Petersburg Opera had arrived rather unexpectedly. Both ensembles brought two of the cornerstones of the Russian operatic repertoire--Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Mussorgsky's Boris Gudonov--thus affording audiences the opportunity to compare two very different ensembles with two very different approaches.
By the end of the Kirov Opera's triumphant New York performances, received enthusiastically by audiences and critics alike, there was no doubt which group presents the highest standard in Russian music. But while Kirov in effect thrust the St. Petersburg Opera into oblivion, it certainly put Boris and the Queen of Spades back on the map as well and compelling opera.
Artistically the contrast between the two companies could not be starker. The St. Petersburg is a provincial ensemble, without large budgets for scenery and technical effects. The Kirov, on the other hand, exhibits a tastefully luxurious style that is neither gaudy nor deficient by international standards. While the orchestras both companies demonstrated a stylistic confidence and assurance, the Kirov orchestra went far beyond mere competence and idiomatic command. Indeed, the Kirov's orchestra, under the baton of artistic director and chief conductor Valery Gergiev, immediately invited favorable comparisons with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, which has been touted by some critics as the best ensemble performing in the United States today.
Although reports from Europe had created keen interest in the Kirov' Opera, and they were preceded by a reputation for excellence established in such venues as London's Covent Garden, it was still a pleasant shock to have high expectations fulfilled. Looming over all Russian arts organizations is the specter of economic collapse, and the disastrous side effects of the transition to private and commercial funding. But while political and economic images of the former Soviet Union limited to bread lines, civil unrest, and growing ethnic strife, the Kirov seemed completely free of such turmoil.
Its having successfully weathered the storm--at least for now--is probably the doing of the young and
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