Rachmaninov: Aleko / Svetlanov

Artur Eisen, Lyudmila Sergienko: vocal soloists Vasily Lanovoy: narrator USSR Academic Chorus of Radio & TV USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra Evgeny Svetlanov: conductor

In 1892 the Moscow Conservatory graduated a group of talented young musicians, among them the 19-year-old Sergei Rachmaninov. His amazing gift did not go unnoticed by the professors of the composition department. The object of their amazement was Rachmaninov’s diploma work, a one-act opera named Aleko that he created in just 17 days! Despite being his first test in the genre, Rachmaninov’s piece was distinguished by a surprising integrity of plot, the vividness of the major psychological issues, and the freshness of intonation and melodic patterns. Rachmaninov took a fancy to Pushkin’s story about the self-willed Zemfira, her dispassionate father, and the savage stranger Aleko, who made a remarkable triangle of characters.