Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko, Op. 81

Pavlovskaya makes a bright-voiced heroine among a strong supporting cast ... it gains from Gergiev’s crisp direction. — BBC Music Magazine, December 2016, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 9th Sep 2016
Catalogue No: MAR0592
Label: Mariinsky

Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2016

Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days

Viktor Lutsyuk (Semyon Kotko), Gennadi Bezzubenkov (Tkachenko), Tatiana Pavlovskaya (Sofya), Varvara Solovyova (Frosya) & Evgeny Nikitin (Remenyuk)
Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus
Valery Gergiev (conductor) & Yuri Alexandrov (stage director)

About
Reviews
Explore

About

Film Director: Anna Matison

"Valery Gergiev is a born Prokofiev interpreter" The Guardian

2016 marks the 125th anniversary of Sergei Prokofiev’s birth and Valery Gergiev is widely regarded as one of the composer’s greatest interpreters. Joined by a fine cast of soloists, Gergiev and the Mariinsky celebrate the great Russian’s genius with a world-first DVD & Blu-ray release of his raw, thrilling and utterly engrossing opera, 'Semyon Kotko'.

Based on the novel 'I, Son of Working People' by Valentin Katayev, who also wrote the libretto with Prokofiev, the perceived propagandist nature of the story meant its inherent musical quality was initially overlooked. Though not by all, as celebrated pianist Sviatoslav Richter remarked: "The premiere of the opera was a momentous event in my life [...] That evening, when I first heard Semyon Kotko, I understood that Prokofiev was a great composer." Directed by award-winnning stage director Yuri Alexandrov, and filmed by celebrated Mariinksy director Anna Matison, this staging of 'Semyon Kotko' originated in 1999 and has been awarded two key Russian prizes, both the Casta Diva and the Golden Mask awards. Semyon Kotko is now a key work performed regularly in Russia, as well as internationally, and is presented here as a stunning DVD & Blu-ray package, featuring HD audio (inc. surround sound) and with a wide range of subtitles including English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and the original Russian.

Disc 1 BD50 16:9 HD1080

Disc 2 DVD9 REGION O 16:9 NTSC

filmed at Mariinsky II, St Petersburg 2013, duration 148m

Reviews

December 2016

Pavlovskaya makes a bright-voiced heroine among a strong supporting cast ... it gains from Gergiev’s crisp direction.

October 2016

Catch [Gergiev & the Mariinsky Opera] firing on all cylinders in one of the lesser-known peaks of the Russian repertory and the experience can be overwhelming…there’s a characterful performance from Gennady Bezzubenkov as the villainous ‘kulak’ Tkachenko, while Viktor Lutsyuk…comes across as credibly strong and caring. Evgeny Nikitin is luxury casting as the inescapably one-dimensional Party man, Remeniuk…indispensable

Classical Net

There isn't a weak singer in the cast...But the star here is Gergiev, whose sense for the dramatic ebb and flow of vocal music (and orchestral music, for that matter) is growing stronger with each new recording.

Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko, Op. 81

DVD Video + Blu-ray

Contents

Download queue