Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.(Video Recording Review)

SHOSTAKOVICH: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Secunde, Ventris, Vas, Clark, Kotcherga, Mikhailov, Nesterenko; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Anissimov. Production: Winge. EMI DVD DV8 5 99730 9, 187 mins.

Shostakovich's wrenching masterpiece gets a striking performance in Stein Winge's uncompromising, occasionally overbusy Barcelona staging from May 2002, soundly directed for DVD by Toni Bargallo. An American heroine is surrounded by British, Spanish, French, Finnish and Georgian principals. Yet Russians are cast in the three key bass roles, anchoring the performance linguistically as Alexander Anissimov anchors it musically. His knowing conducting of the fine Liceu orchestra captures the churning, blaring, mournful and raucous idiom that makes this challenging score exciting.

For many Americans, this release may provide an impressive introduction to the estimable Nadine Secunde, a dramatic soprano mainly seen abroad these days. If at first she seems too mature for Leskov's twenty-something heroine, Secunde aptly appears to blossom as Katerina awakens to lust, giving a sly, resourceful, ultimately shattering performance that engages our sympathy, as the composer intended. Her Sieglinde-weight soprano encounters occasional raw moments, particularly at low dynamic levels, but by and large, she produces a far more ...