'Aleko' and 'Miserly Knight' Join Bolshoi Repertory

New opera productions have become rare events at the cash-strapped Bolshoi Theater. Indeed, none at all appeared there between Gounod's "Faust" in the spring of 1992 and the long-delayed staging of Borodin's "Prince Igor" earlier this year.Now, as the current season comes to a close, the Bolshoi Opera has added to its repertory a double bill of hour-long works by Sergei Rachmaninoff entitled "Aleko" and "The Miserly Knight." While neither of these operas can be called a great masterpiece, and their appearance at this point probably owes as much to their relatively low budgets (one simple set for each, no lavish costumes, few solo roles) as to the desire of Alexander Lazarev, director of the Bolshoi Opera, to emphasize the Russian side of the repertory, "Aleko" and "The Miserly Knight" still add up to an unusually fine and satisfying evening of musical theater."Aleko" has enjoyed a fair degree of popularity, in Russia at least, since its premiere in Moscow just over a century ago. Composed by Rachmaninoff at age 19, while a mere student at the Moscow Conservatory, the opera nevertheless found its way at once to the Bolshoi's stage. It takes as its text a play by Nemirovich-Danchenko based on Pushkin's poem "Gypsies." The character Aleko himself is a man who has renounced ordinary life to join a band of gypsies. There he finds and marries the beautiful Zemfira. The action begins two years into the marriage. Zemfira has grown tired of Aleko and openly entered into an affair with someone identified only as Young Gypsy. Aleko comes upon Zemfira and Young Gypsy in a state of deep intimacy and stabs them to death. The gypsy band, instead of punishing Aleko in some conventional way, simply ostracizes him. The opera ends as Aleko laments "I am once again alone."Rachmaninoff clothed this slim tale in a sensuously lyrical score. Although the music borrows from a variety of national styles, what emerges from it all is remarkably coherent, and extremely beautiful.Of two Alekos heard during the initial run of performances at the Bolshoi, baritone Yury Nechayev was the clear winner, with a strong, well-produced voice and a fine command of the stage. The veteran Yevgeny Nesterenko, on the other hand, left a very pale impression, with a voice obviously worn from three decades of hard use and an utter lack of real stage presence."The Miserly Knight" first appeared in 1906, 13 years after "Aleko," and has enjoyed much less acclaim. Appreciating its virtues requires close and careful attention. For his text, Rachmaninoff turned to Pushkin's own words, a "verse tragedy" telling of an old knight who spends his time storing up gold while depriving his son of the funds needed to buy a suit of armor. The son complains to the local duke. The knight challenges the son to a duel. But before the duel is fought, the knight is struck down by some sort of illness. His dying words are a cry for the keys to his treasure chests.The principal roles in "The Miserly Knight" all contain extraordinarily difficult music, much of it lying quite high for the voices involved and requiring great precision of attack and intonation. It is a rare pleasure to report that all of the singers heard during the Bolshoi's initial run of the work gave truly first-class performances.Production of the two operas fell to the Bolshoi Opera's usual team of Nikolai Kuznetsov (staging) and Valery Levental (set design). All was handled at least competently. Both operas were conducted by Bolshoi Opera Director Lazarev himself, who seemed in fine command of the scores, which were played with both precision and beauty by the often unruly Bolshoi orchestra. The Bolshoi's chorus, sometimes the only real pleasure of an evening at the opera, takes part in "Aleko" alone and sang there in its accustomed glorious manner."Aleko" and "The Miserly Knight" may appear again before the current season closes in July. If not, they will certainly be taken up during the season ahead. Whatever the Bolshoi's plans may be, and they are often a mystery until the last moment, the new pairing of Rachmaninoff operas represents a significant addition to theater's meager operatic repertory. It should not be missed.