Well-suited to the small, intimate opera house, Vladimir Rebikov's work, based on Turgenev's novel, was marked by several standout performances in its premiere Tuesday, even if the first act sometimes dragged.
Composer Rebikov was well known at the turn of the century and enjoyed a reputation as a modernist, although one critic called him "the empty flower of Russian modernism."
The opera "A Nest of the Gentry" is an odd creation, a tender romance in the spirit of Glinka and, sometimes, Tchaikovsky. It is written to be part spoken and part sung, so it is an ideal show for people who find a full-length opera too overpowering.
The story is classic Turgenev. A pure spirit, the young heroine, Liza, conceives a forbidden love for a married man, Lavretsky, and in her despair retires to a monastery.
It is a tale verging on the sentimental, but do not walk out after the first half: The drama and humor of the second part saves the day.
The talented opera director Boris Pokrovsky evokes the atmosphere of the Turgenev novel with a pretty set of a country house, the heroine carrying vases of lilacs, family and friends drinking tea and listening to music.
His cast, with both old experienced masters and young, up-and-coming singers, are well-rounded professionals. Used to variety, they can turn their hand to anything, several of them accompanying the singing on the piano on stage with aplomb.
Some of the roles are difficult, and it is to the actors' credit that they give weight to the slight material. The young Olga Senkevich achieves a sincere, trembling Liza, and Yevgeny Boluchevsky, a long-standing member of the troupe, skillfully builds up the drama of Lavretsky.
Lyudmila Genika is the star of the show, bursting unexpectedly onto the scene as the sparkling, painted character of Lavretskaya, the actress wife of Lavretsky. No less engaging is the bitter irony of Vladimir Rybasenko as the old music teacher, Lemm.
The successful premiere is no doubt a shot in the arm for the Pokrovsky Chamber Musical Theater. Once renowned as the center of cultural life in the city, it was a gathering place for Moscow's musical elite -- and is still a meeting spot for lesser known contemporary composers.
Opened 20 years ago by Pokrovsky, Russia's foremost opera director of recent decades, it gained a reputation for startling experimental and contemporary productions. Pokrovsky's versions of Shostakovich's "The Nose," Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" and Dmitri Rostovsky's "Rostovskoye Detstvo," toured internationally.
Pokrovsky, director at the Bolshoi Theater until his acrimonious departure 15 years ago, was responsible for bringing operas by Prokofiev and Shostakovich back to the Russian stage.
But the theater that he founded has fallen on difficult times. The fashion is for grand-scale opera with huge casts and chorus, rather than modest productions suited to the chamber setting.
It was Mstislav Rostropovich who inspired the revival of "A Nest of the Gentry." He recalled the opera as forming one of his most vivid childhood impressions, and recommended it to Pokrovsky.
"A Nest of the Gentry" will be repeated Thursday and on Feb. 2, 8, 10 and 28 at 7 P.M. The theater is at 71 Leningradsky Prospekt. Tel 198-7204. Nearest metro: Sokol.
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