Word: puccini
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...vocal writing bobs and weaves, rises and falls to the natural conversational flow of the Russian words. Boris' realistic-in a sense unoperatic-style of recitative is perhaps Mussorgsky's greatest innovation and contribution to future operatic composers. Says Conductor Schippers: "Boris influenced so many composers-Puccini, Stravinsky, Janacek, even Gian Carlo Menotti. Without it we might not have had a Pelleas et Melisande. That's how important I think Boris is." -William Bender
...great work. It does not introduce any innovations in musical or dramatic style. It could in fact as easily have been written in 1910 as 1941. It has the directness (though not the genius) of Verdi, the misty orchestral hues of Delius and a soulful melodic style that both Puccini and Sigmund Romberg might have liked. Given the longstanding American addiction to the new and different, how could any U.S. opera company take such a throwback seriously...
...story is a natural for opera, set by the composer in a style that can only be called Egk-clectic. The blues, dashes of Strauss and Puccini, an occasional roll of voodoo drums-all these are woven into a skillful pastiche. If hardly innovative, it is easy to listen to and, at key moments, appropriately bravura. Never mind such questions as why Egk chose the blues to evoke a Caribbean mood, instead of a music more indigenous to the West Indies. Music Director Igor Buketoff led a crisp, idiomatic performance that drew the most from Egk's acrobatic orchestral...
...PUCCINI: LA BOHÉME (London, 2 LPs). Conductor Herbert von Karajan and friends make the bohemian life worth living-and listening to-all over again...
...Puccini: Turcindot, with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballe, Nicolai Ghiaurov (London Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta conducting; London; 3 LPs; $17.94). Puccini's last opera is filled with bold orchestral touches and ravishing arias made to order for an all-star cast like this. Though she does not erase memories of the Nilsson Turandot (especially in the RCA set with Tebaldi and Bjoerling), Sutherland is now the only coloratura around with the right tessitura and sufficient vocal weight-at least on records-to bring off the role of the riddle-happy princess. A delight...