Sergey Rachmaninoff.(Sergey Rachmaninoff: The Miserly Knight)(Video recording review)

Sergey Rachmaninoff. The Miserly Knight. DVD. London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vladimir Jurowski. With Sergei Leiferkus, Richard Berkeley-Steele, Maxim Mikhailov, Viacheslav Voynarovskiy, Albert Schagidullin. Waldron, Heathfield, East Sussex: Opus Arte, 2005. OA 0919 D. $26.99.

Like his widely-hailed Aleko, Sergey Rachmaninoff's The Miserly Knight was based on a prose work by Alexander Pushkin and created as a vehicle for the great Russian bass Fyodor Chaliapin. Unlike his earlier work, however, Chaliapin rejected the role of the Baron--the avaricious knight of the title--and the work slipped away into obscurity soon after its premiere in 1904. In the summer of 2004, the Glyndebourne Opera Festival paired the dark and brooding work with Giacomo Puccini's comedy Gianni Schicchi in a performance that was celebrated by opera aficionados and newcomers to the work alike. For those of us who couldn't make it to the live performances, Opus Arte was on hand to record the striking new production, directed by Annabel Arden.

This is a stunning production in nearly every way. As a way of introducing the story's greatest but unseen character, Arden employs aerialist Mathilda Leyser as Greed, outfitted in a grotesque costume that conjures up images of medieval armor crossed with modern restraining devices. Her presence, at key moments in the opera, is an eerie and ghoulish one, and makes for a perfect addition to this otherwise male-dominated work. As the Baron of the title, bent on keeping his hoards of gold from his son, Sergei Leiferkus offers an authoritative performance. His twenty-five minute monologue at the heart of the opera is outstanding in technical detail, his delivery is precise and heartless, and he is able to descend into an ...