Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Valery Gergiev, Elena Zhidkova, Sir Willard White & London Symphony Orchestra
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Customer Reviews
Excellent especially Zhidkova
Kertesz's recording from the 1960s has been the first choice for Bluebeard since it was released - nothing else has come close. But this is very serious competition. White was born to be Bluebeard and the LSO sound magnificent, even better than they did with Kertesz (you can actually hear them here whereas the sound on the old Kertesz recording is dated and far too washy). But then there is Elena Zhidkova. This young singer is going to be a huge star. She is simply staggeringly good. An awesome voice.
You Could Do So Much Better
I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with the previous reviews here. I would only recommend this recording to those who insist on live recordings - I suppose it does have something of that indefinable aura about it. However, in terms of the performance itself, you could do so much better. Gergiev seems to have a reasonable sense of the score, but everything that's done well here has been done equally well (if not better) on other recordings. Similarly, the soloists simply manage their roles rather than make them believable. Zhidkova has a rather faceless timbre that seems to illustrate every stereotype of Slavic voices - garbled on the bottom, reedy in the middle, and wobbly on top. She does sing the high C at the fifth door, but it is both unpleasant and short, nothing like the thrill Ludwig, Varady, or Troyanos deliver on their recordings. White seems to have some ideas of what kind of man Bluebeard is, but his voice is incapable at this stage of materializing them - he sounds pressured at both vocal extremes and often descends into a hectoring bark. If you are at all interested in experiencing this fantastic opera, best look elsewhere. The Alsop recording on Naxos has spectacular sound and idiomatic (if rather B+) singing, but the older recordings, such as those conducted by Kertesz and Sawallisch, still hold interest for their superior singing and orchestral detail.
Great new recording
What a great match Gergiev and Bartok are. The LSO play with fire and bring out the drama in this excellent piece. White is excellent as always but the mezzo is a revelation! Time for a search to find out more.
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