{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-the-snow-maiden-import","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden - Belgrade National Opera Chorus \u0026 Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eA first release on CD for the first recording in stereo of Rimsky-Korsakov’s enchanting springtime love-story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith this and six companion issues, Eloquence makes available for the first time on CD the seven complete Russian operas recorded in 1955 by Decca with the company of the Belgrade Opera.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFresh from a successful tour of Boris Godunov in Switzerland the previous year, the Belgrade Opera in 1955 was keen to make an impression on an international public. At the same time, the Decca company perceived a cost-effective but artistically assured opportunity to expand both its small but rapidly growing stereo catalogue and its opera discography with classics of the Russian opera repertoire in the original language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComposed in 1882, The Snow Maiden was Rimsky-Korsakov’s third opera, and he would go on to write another twelve but even late in life he thought it his finest. It brings nature to life with magical representations of the forest, of frost and spring and even a Shrovetide doll, alongside the villagers who come across the maiden and adopt her. The score is rich in flower songs, shepherds’ piping and even a restrained deployment of Wagnerian leitmotifs associated with the Snow Maiden, the trouser-role shepherd Lel and Mizgir, the merchant who is doomed never to take the Snow Maiden as his bride with the final arrival of spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in both mono and stereo but originally issued only in mono, the stereo versions were held back for the US market and finally released in Europe in the 1960s, by which time the Belgrade Opera had acquired an international reputation for excellence. The original stereo tapes have been remastered for the first time, and they are demonstration-quality examples of the renowned early Decca sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe booklet for this newly remastered release prints both a synopsis and an essay by Peter Quantrill giving full historical context to the Belgrade opera recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV\u003cbr\u003eThe Snow Maiden\u003cbr\u003eSnegurochka\u003cbr\u003eSpringtime tale in a prologue and four acts\u003cbr\u003eLibretto by the composer after the ‘springtime fairy-tale’\u003cbr\u003eby Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpring: Biserka Cvejić\u003cbr\u003eKing Frost: Miroslav Čangalović\u003cbr\u003eSnow Maiden (Snegurochka): Sofija Janković\u003cbr\u003eWood Spirit: Drago Dimitrijević\u003cbr\u003eLel: Milica Miladinović\u003cbr\u003eKupava: Valerija Heybal\u003cbr\u003eTsar Berendey: Stepan Andrashevich\u003cbr\u003eBermyata: Ilija Gligorijević\u003cbr\u003eMizgir: Dušan Popović\u003cbr\u003eBobil: Nikola Jančić\u003cbr\u003eBobilikha: Ljubica Versaykova\u003cbr\u003eShrovetide Straw-Dummy: Ivan Murgaški\u003cbr\u003eFirst Herald: Bogoljub Grubač\u003cbr\u003eSecond Herald: Krsta Krstich\u003cbr\u003ePage: Anita Yelinek\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBelgrade National Opera Chorus \u0026amp; Orchestra\u003cbr\u003eKrešimir Baranović\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DECCA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42192408609018,"sku":"028948269136","price":9.18,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0067\/4660\/3571\/files\/4826913_Rimsky-Korsakov_SnowMaiden_Baranovic.jpg?v=1726607649","url":"https:\/\/classicselectworld.com\/de-de\/products\/rimsky-korsakov-the-snow-maiden-import","provider":"ClassicSelect World","version":"1.0","type":"link"}