Khovanshchina Bychkov Mussorgsky Prom

Outstanding Modest Mussorgsky Khovanshchina with Semyon Bychkov at the Proms . Outstanding because Bychkov is brilliant, translating the music itself into drama.  For my review of Prom 63 Bychkov Taneyev Tchaikovsky Manfred please click here).  Khovanshchina isn't really opera. The libretto is confusing : you need to know what's "not" there to understand what it might be about.  It I s anti-historical, anti-narrative, adapting the past to comment on the present.  The singers sing parts which aren't characters so much as symbols.  Bychkov reveals Khovanshchina as a panorama exploring the Russian soul through music.  That glorious orchestration expresses the glory of the idea of Russia, an entity far greater than Tsars, streltskys and whoever might be competing for control.
Significantly, Khovanshchina is very much a work where grand choruses dominate: the people as enduring community, rather than individuals, who come and go.  Thus the expansive orchestral prelude with which the opera begins: lush strings, lyrical woodwinds. Though the first scene is set in Red Square in the seventeenth century, the countryside isn't far away. Without those fields and rivers, the people wouldn't prosper, there'd be no point in rebellions or suppressions. The crowd in Red Square boast and threaten. The music here moves back and forth in rhythmic patterns, impressive and dramatic, but leading nowhere.  The drama really starts when Emma (Anush Hovhannisyan)  enters, pursued by Andrei Khovansky (Christopher Ventris).  She's German, part of a large community who'd settled the Baltic for a thousand years. When boors beat up on women all the time, why use a German, not a Slav ?  Emma's not a historical figure, but she symbolizes something. Andrei Khovansky and his father Ivan (Ante Jerkunica) fight over Emma, who wants neither of them.  Luckily, she is saved by Marfa (Elena Maximova).. Marfa was once Andrei's fiancée.but is now an outsider, having joined the Old Believers. Think on that. Thus the First Act ends with religion, not war, with the tolling of huge, ominous bells, hushed, reverential choruses and the resounding calls of Dosifey (Ain Anger), leader of the Old Believers, whom the Tsar and powers that be would like to destroy.
In the Second and Third Acts, the soloists take the foreground.   The constant to and fro in the score evokes the turbulence of the plot.  The text fills in some of the background, but essentially the singers are acting out a wider drama of which  their roles are only a small part.  Intrigues and paranoia: everyone at cross-purposes, grabbing for power. Though heroic trumpets ring out round them, the Strelsky are grubby opportunists, and Golitsin (Vsevolod Grivnov ) princely by title, not by nature.   The choral lines swirl, whipped to frenzy by wildly rhythmic, yet angular orchestration.   Part folk dance, part military march.  Even among the Old Believers, there is dissent : Marfa is denounced by Susanna (Jennifer Rhys-Davies).  Thus Dosifey and Marfa represent the moral heart of the drama, the writing for their parts the strongest of all.  Among a good cast, Ain Anger and  Elena Maximova stand out out. Breathtaking singing, with fervour and committment.  Marfa's part is even better developed, with a greater emotional range.  Though the Old Believers are paternalistic regressives, Marfa symbolizes Mother Russia, their true soul.
For a while, though, Ivan Khovansky feels secure. In Act Four Mussorgsky writes exotic "Oriental" dances, but a mournful solo woodwind melody suggest the luxuries might come to an end.   Although Mussorgsky set out to write "Russian" opera in resistance to Wagner, the mournful melody could suggest (to Wagnerians, at least) the shepherd's flute in Tristan und Isolde.  The chorus sings of Khovansky as a "white swan". Perhaps the melody is his swan song.
Intrigues are crushed.  We're back with the crowds in Red Square, but now the mood is foreboding, the choirs singing in fearful hush. Golitisin is marched into exile, his followers marched to their deaths.  Yet again, Dosifey is the spokesman who describes the action, in tones so sombre that you can imagine what's happening though you see nothing literal.  Trumpet  fanfares, thundering timpani: marches lead the rebels and to the scaffold. Or rather to immolation.  The choral lines stretch, as if fanned by flames and swirling smoke.  The brass and percussion explode.  The Tsar has triumphed.
So, too, must the Old Believers be annihilated.   The Final Act begins in gloom, long string lines suggesting desolation.  Dosifey's last sermon seeks solace in God : the orchestral colours around him shrouded, the choruses singing a solemn hymn.  The childrens' voices rise upwards, suggesting angels.  Though the percussion beats violent staccato, the choral line ascends, as if the Old believers were being lifted upwards by prayer.  Beautifully modulated singing, which seems to shimmer brightly against the darkness around it.  Although Mafra has saved Andrei, he still loves Emma, and she him. Mafra's love isn't tied to earthly things She and Andrei will die like "two candles in flames" for the glory of God, not alone, but with the community of Old Believers.  In the finale, the orchestra erupts, brasses blazing. The choruses sing, Mafra's voice soaring above. But heavy percussion pounds a funeral march, and suddenly - silence. 


Bychkov drew from the BBC Symphony Orchestra playing of ferocious richness: you';d think this was a Russian opera orchestra rather than our much-loved familiar London band.   Perhaps they were inspired, too, by the exceptionally vivid singing of the choruses, the BBC Singers supplemented by the Slovak Philharmonic Choir, and later the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School Schola Cantorum and the Tiffin Boys Choir.  Mussorgsky creates drama through the intensity of writing . By bringing this music so passionately alive, Bychov created drama from sound.

Bryn Terfel nails Boris Godunov Prom 2

 

Bryn Terfel, astonishingly persuasive as Boris Godunov, in Prom 2 a semi-staged reprise of the Royal Opera House production this March.  Bad Guys in history fascinate, for some reason, but  Terfel's portrayal suggests that Boris (Godunov, that is) was perhaps more sympathetic than tabloid villain.  Can anyone who can sing with such richness be entirely bad  Haha ! But much of the appeal of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov lies in the extreme contrast between power and tragedy. Whether the historical Boris killed the historical Dimitri, we shall never know, but the Tsar, despite his power, is haunted.  Terfel's singing is magisterial. so authoritative that that you're glad you're not standing too close. Tsars recognized that a dominant persona was a political weapon.  Yet  Terfel can create such nuance, such subtle shades of expression that he makes you feel close to the "inner Boris" behind the fearsome imagethat  boyars and peasants cannot see through.  

A performance as intense and as intelligent as this confirms the merits of the original 1869 version of the opera, almost certainly Mussorgsky's primary interest.  But in Tsarist times it wasn't smart to question the sanctity of Tsardom. The revision thus gave the censors, and the public, what they wanted: circuses and smokescreen diversions.We lose some good music in the process, but there';s no reason why we can't enjoy Boris Godunov as opera and listen to the extras in orchestral concerts where they can be heard without competition from the central drama.  

Terfel was supported by excellent singing all round him, if the orchestral playing was a shade overwhelmed in the Royal Albert Hall.  Special praise for Ain Anger's Pimen. The stronger a Boris, the stronger Pimen needs to be to stand as counterfoil. Also praise for the small comic roles, like Varlaam (Andrii Goniukov), Missail ( Harry Nicoll), Dimitri (David Butt Philip) and Yurodivy (Andrew Tortise).  In a performance as intense as this, these characters are important, serving to remind us that the shennaigans of the rich and famous reflect the foibles of human nature on a more humble scale.  Please read the review of the Royal Opera House performance HERE and my background piece HERE.

Boris Godunov REVIEW Royal Opera House

Mussorgsky Boris Gudonov at the Royal Opera House with Bryn Terfel. Here is a link to Claire Seymour's review in Opera Today, the most detailed and perceptive of all.

"Terfel’s Boris is no histrionic monster. And if, initially, he seems to hold something in reserve emotionally, this later seems to be part of a carefully judged slow-release of growing torment, which builds unstoppably to tragic confrontation and catharsis. Terfel finds the man beneath the stateliness; this is a father whose love for his children is tactile, intense and unwavering. He trades the simple attire of a boyar for the glittering glamour of his creme and gold coronation robes, but at the close Boris is a dishevelled, pitiful figure — body and mind in disarray: grey-haired, fur-coated, bare-footed, staggering and swaying like a wild Old Testament prophet. The contrast between Terfel’s physical stature and psychological vulnerability is deeply poignant. -"

 See more at: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2016/03/boris_godunov_a.php#sthash.FzGU12C5.dpuf "
photo credit : C Ashmore, Royal opera House

Bread and circuses - Boris Godunov, ROH

Modest Mussorgsky Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House, London with Bryn Terfel, in the original 1869 version rather than the tarted-up 1872 version revised by Rimsky-Korsakov.The second version is popular because it adds pretty girls,  kids, battlefields  which is fine. Opera "is" circus, meant for thrills and spills. But opera is also theatre, where drama is part of meaning.   Mussorgsky's original is dark and claustrophobic, like Boris's mind, closing in on itself, grappling with self doubt. The revision has show tunes, ballet interludes  and other distractions to draw attention away from Boris's predicament, and away from the very tension that makes the drama so disturbing.

Barely a year ago, Valery Gergiev brought Boris Godunov to London with the Mariinsky Opera, who might, one assumes, know what they're doing with Russian opera. They did the original version, adding the Innkeeper's song which adds fun to the proceedings without changing the fundamental impact of the original.  Vladimir Putin rules with an iron fist, like Tsars of old, but he, like Boris, has to watch his back. No-one comes to that kind of power by being cute and cuddly.  Gergiev and the Mariinsky are where they are because Putin supports them. Go figure, then, when they do Boris Godunov.  It wasn't a surprise at all that Gergiev turned up late for the Barbican performance (and even later for the next evening's concert).   Whatever held him up must have worked, for Gergiev's conducting was astonishingly uninhibited, fuelled with courage and disdain for time-serving trivia. Though there were technical blips in Gergiev's conducting, the orchestra and the singers know the opera - and their charismatic boss - so well that they, too, became inspired  by Gergiev's devil-may-care verve.  Circus audiences wouldn't understand.

Eight years ago  the ENO did Boris Godunov in the original version at the Coliseum. Edward Gardner conducted. Much as I love him, he couldn't match Gergiev's almost demented bloody-mindedness.  The production was by Tim Albery. The set was grey and barren, like the shelves of a Stalin era supermarket, perhaps, where the populace were grateful for any scrap they could scrounge.  That’s why the Tsars and the Church were able to overwhelm the peasants. Their authority was built on being able to dazzle the serfs into submission.  No wonder the peasants are terrified that somehow the world will collapse if they aren’t dominated by a Leader.  Of course their piety is enforced by  brutality, but the confluence of credulity and servitude tells us something about totalitarian regimes. If people want to believe, they’ll believe anything.  This is why False Dimitris figure so much in Russian history. The dead Tsarevich can't actually wield power but symbolically  becomes a saint and thus connecting to the power of the Church. Like the Church, this  isn’t rational, but it scares the wits out of Boris.I don't usually like Tim Albery's work, but his Boris Godunov was effective because it concentrated colour with power.  Give the public "bread and circuses" to keep them cowed.

Ideally, good opera would balance substance and showmanship, but fundamentally circuses without bread aren't nourishing. (bread can be fun if it's good)   Consider the "Nabucco syndrome" with its austere set reflecting the invisible One True God. It's just as well that some of the London audience weren't Hebrew slaves. They'd have apostated quicksmart to graven images and golden calves   Full review HERE in Opera Today.

Mussorgsky Songs and Romances Stone Records

New from Stone Records , Mussorgsky Songs and Romances. There are several good reasons for getting this recording. Mussorgsky songs have traditionally been the preserve of full-throated deep voices, though they have been essayed by sopranos, including Galina Vishnevskaya, so it's good to hear another. Katherine Broderick's timbre brings out interesting lighter textures. Secondly, the pianist is Sergey Rybin who writes good programme notes which  add immensely to the pleasure of listening.

"Without  diminishing Debussy's own gift and a myriad of other potential  influences on him", writes Rybin, "it is possible however to perceive a profound relation between Musorgsky's innovations in the sphere of sonority  and expansion  of his harmonic  landscape (use of non-third based chords, juxtaposition of unresolved dissonant harmonies) and the main features of Debussy's sound world". Debussy knew and admired Mussorgsky's work and said that "Mussorgsky's music  would be renowned as an art that suffers from no stultifying rules  or artificialities"  (Incidentally, the composer's name in Cyrillic can be transcribed into English with one "s"  or with the more familiar two)

 Impressionism avant la lettre?  In the fantasia  "Night", for example,  to a poem by Aleksander Pushkin, the rapid notes of the piano create the image of the  flickering candle in the poem, which shines bravely despite the oppressive darkness of the night.  The voice part mentions love, but the piano part tells us that love is fragile and could be extinguished at any time.

As early as 1864, Musorgsky is  reaching out for a new sound world, which we'll come to recognize as 'impressionism. He cites the song " Darling Savishna" , in which Mussorgsky uses a "limping meter" (to suggest) "the simpleton's continued stumbling, and bowing, while a tongue-twister of a text portrays relentless muttering-begging" in this song, Mussorgsky "transitions from'Romance' to a 'Scene' - a pictorial, situational approach". Rybin plays firmly, highlighting the robust human drama inherent in the scene. Perhaps the girl will reject the boy because he's backward, but in his heart, he's a hero.

Indeed, Rybin's playing throughout this recording is vigorous, adding forthright liveliness and colour. While a native Russian speaker would shade the singing with more idiomatic intonation, Broderick's singing is clear enough that non-Russian speakers can follow the printed text without difficulty.

Although this recording includes the famous Songs and Dances of Death, the true highlight is the song cycle Sunless, Bez solntsa, to poems by Arseny Golenischev-Kutuzov.The first song "Within  Four walls" describes a small room, cloaked in impenetrabe darkness. Claustrophobia, physical and emotional. Yet the words suggest an inward focus that's almost hypnotic. Vowel sound repeat, as if in religious chant. "Komnatka tesnaia tikhaia, milaia........vor ona, noch moia, noch odinokaia". the mood is sombre, melancholy yet oddly sensual. Here, Broderick's light timbre is heard to advantage, enunciating each syllable, which with a richer voice might shade towards more gradation.
"Over is the idle and clamorous day" describes the sleeping city, shrouded in mist. An impressionist painting in sound.  Is the scene magical, dream- like or malevolent?  Liisten to the dominance of the piano part against the slowing seeping lines inn the voice. The poet hears the "pensive power" in the muttering of the waves in the river beneath the bridge, lit by moonlight. When the depths call out, the poet can't resist. "V glub Ii zov'r - bez ogl'adki bia kinuls'a" Does she/he jump in and drown?

Ambitious Royal Opera House 2015/2016 season

The Royal Opera House 2015/2016 season is one of the best for a long time. Eight new productions in the main auditorium alone, and a florescence of new work at the Linbury, before it closes for refurbishment.  An ambitious range from the baroque to the modern.   Juan Diego Flórez sings his first Orphée, and Bryn Terfel his first Boris Gudunov. Even some of the revivals are "new", like Tannhäuser and Il trittico, revived for the first time.  And even more intriguing, ROH is going musically in depth, enhancing appreciation of opera repertoire by developing themes which connect operas and by doing opera-related orchestral music. Even the revivals of more regular repertoire are given star treatment. Jonas Kaufmann and Bryan Hymel, no less. Joyce DiDonato and Vittorio Grigolo make their role debuts in Massenet's Werther.

ROH starts 2015/2016 in grand style, with Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice, in the 1762 French revision, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner with Juan Diego Flórez's Orphée and Lucy Crowe, and his own specialist musicians, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists. Hofesh Schechter, the acclaimed choreographer, will direct. An interesting fusion of period performance and modern dancing. An even earlier telling of the Orpheus legend will be Luigi Rossi's Orphée (1674), with Christian Curnyn conducting the orchestra of the Early Opera Company at Shakespeare's Globe, where ROH staged L'Ormindo: very different from the Roundhouse Monteverdi Orfeo (1607) .earlier this year. A hat trick of early Orpheus operas, which, when heard in close succession enrich and inform, so we get more from what we experience. This is intelligent, joined-up thinking! This summer, ROH is presenting Birtwistle's The Corridor, also based on the same story. Could we dare hope for a new production of  his The Mask of Orpheus? Above, Orpheus with his lute, in a 17th century painting by Benedetto Gennari.

Bryn Terfel makes his long-awaited role debut in Mussorgsky's Boris Gudunov.. Richard Jones directs, so expect surprises, but also very musically informed insights.  This production is based on the 1869 seven-scene version of the opera, dramatically more taut and tense. Antonio Pappano conducts. Terfel will clearly be the draw but Ain Anger will be singing Pimen: an interesting contrast of voices. Anger is highly regarded, so his Covent Garden debut will be something to look forward to.  John Tomlinson, so closely connected to the opera, will appear in the vignette role of Varlaam.  

In November, the world premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas's Morgen und Abend, a co-commision between ROH and Deutsche Oper Berlin. Haas's In Vain created a sensation when it was heard at the South Bank last year. Read my article Invisible Theatre : George Haas In Vain  to get an idea of what Haas's music is like. It's intensely dramatic. Morgen und Abends is based on a Norwegian novel about the life of a man from birth to death, morning to evening. Graham Vick directs, Michael Boder conducts. 
  
A new Cav and Pag for Christmas!  Eva-Maria Westbroek should be a superb Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, to Aleksandrs Antonenko . He's also singing Canio in Pagliacci,, plus Dimitri Patanias.  Very solid casting. It will be directed by Damiano Micheletto, who's directing Rossini Guilliame Tell.this summer.

Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor, with two different casts in April (Diana Damrau) and May (Alexandra Kurzak) 2016, directed by Katie Mitchell, who is approaching Lucia as a woman forced into madness..  

Georges Enescu's Oedipe (1936) continues ROH's exploration of 20th century opera, following on from Szymanowski's Król Roger.(1926).  This production, by Alex Ollé and Valentina Carrasco of La Fura dels Baus, was first heard in Brussels three years ago, with Leo Hussain, who will again be conducting. 

Stars for  Emmanuel Chabrier  L'etoile, a macabre comedy. Incidentally, Laurent Pelly directs this opera in Amsterdam in October. In London, we'll be hearing a completely different production directed by Mariane Clément, who'll be directing Donizetti's Poliuto at Glyndebourne next month.  In London, Christophe Mortagne will be singing King Ouf I.

Verdi Il trovatore next year, a co-production with  Frankfurt Alte Oper, directed by David Bõsch with Gianandrea Noseda making his ROH conducting debut.

Plenty of other interesting things, especially in the Linbury before its closure, after which performances will shift elsewhere, such as to the Lyric Hammersmith.   The now regular co-operation between ROH and Welsh National Operas  brings Iain Bell's In parenthesis, directed by David Pountney. Among the many British composers being presented is Philip Venables, with his 4.48 Psychosis,  about the playwright Sarah Kane, and Mark Simpson's Pleasure co-commissioned by ROH, Opera North and Aldeburgh. For more, peruse here.

Live aus Wien Bychkov Khovanshchiina Saturday

Mussorgsky LIVE from the Wiener Staatsoper this Saturday, 15th November, 1930 Vienna time, on OE1@ORF.at . Semyon Bychkov conducts Mussorgsky Khovanshchiina with Mit Ferruccio Furlanetto (Iwan Chowanski), Christopher Ventris (Andrei Chowanski), Herbert Lippert (Golizyn), Andrzej Dobber (Schaklowity), Ain Anger (Dossifei), Elena Maximova (Marfa), Norbert Ernst (Schreiber)

Gergiev Mariinsky Boris Godunov Barbican

Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (original version) with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Opera, starting their residency at the Barbican, London. Gergiev loves the Mariinsky, which has scaled great heights under his direction. Boris Godunov is key Mariinsky repertoire, and brings out the absolute best in Gergiev. Total, passionate  committment from all involved, a reminder that artistic values are paramount. Whatever else one might think of Putin, the Mariinsky is a gem worthy of a Tsar.

From the first cries of the bassoon, it was clear that this performance was going to be a powerful experience. The Mariinsky Orchestra can create the rich, burnished sounds we associate with Russian opera: intoxicating dark strings,  resonantly deep brass and winds that sing as if they embodied the ghosts of past masters like Chaliapin. I felt as though we weren't just hearing the players in the here and now, but the spirit of centuries of tradition, remade and created with modern clarity. This is a superlative orchestra, playing with precise economy, aware of the violence behind the surface beauty in the score. The off-stage bells sounded hollow, and cacophonic, a sensitive and thoughtful touch. Gerrgiev's driving tempi created dramatic thrust, like Fate itself. Powerful tutti, suggesting vast hordes, controlled in strict discipline.Yet, most telling were the moments of transient beauty. Gergiev's fingers fluttered with delicacy, moderating volume, allowing flashes of a more luminous, elusive brightness - allusions to peasant music, the rhythms of simple lives, in the fields and in monasteries, the very "soul"of Russia. .

Boris Godunov fascinates because he's a divided character with contradictions and spiritual angst: a thoroughly contemporary personality. His conflicts are relevant to all power-brokers today. Peasants and boyars put so much faith in strong leaders that they get what they want. Some things don't change. Maybe the world isn't ready for leaders who do a different kind of strong. It's to Godunov's credit that he cares about the soul of Russia, and about the Orthodox values that shaped it. Many leaders - all over the world - don't have consciences like that.

Exceptional singing and playing,  a balm after the shamefully inept Tannhäuser at the Vienna State Opera on Sunday - no wonder Welser-Möst quit!  Silly costumes would have been a distraction in  a performance as good as this. For the Mariinsky, Gergiev gets the very best. Even before they started singing, the male  singers lined up in front of the orchestra conveyed a remarkable image. Mikhail Kazakov sang Boris. He created the part with such vigour and dignity, suggesting a Tsar who genuinely would be a father to his people but has to play the power games of state to survive.  Hence the warmth in Kazakov's voice, and the ferocity with which he responds to Gudonov's dilemma. Kazakov's last big aria will haunt me for a long time., for he sang with exceptional vivid colour and feeling. But I will also remember the way he interacted with the Holy Fool, brilliantly created by Andrey Popov. Popov wails, his voice twitching as if the character had a physical impediment. He whines, he's bullied by children and he's powerless, but he knows that the Virgin Mary won't like it if he sins. Kazakov is such a good actor that he commands the stage even when he's not singing.  As Kazakov listens, you hear, inaudibly, that the tsar is shaken.

Mikhail Petrenko, singing Pimen, didn't need to look old and monastic, for his voice carried authority. The effortless elegance in his voice suggested that his God armed him with eternal purity, against which intrigue has no domain., Prince Suisky is a fixer, but Pimen triumphs because he can penetrate past the corridors of power. Evgeny Akimov sang Shuisky, negotiating the tricky twists in the vocal part with aplomb. Sergei Semishkur sang The Pretender with such vocal presence that he stood out clearly from the others in the Inn scne.  His pursuers should have spotted him  right away because he sang so well.  No weak points in this performance at all, even the voices in the crowd, who, suitably, remained in the crowd. The choruses shone as gloriously as the soloists, the female voices particularly lustrous. 

Paris Mussorgsky Khovanshchina

Two competing productions of Modest Mussorgsky Khovanshchina. on from 22 January 2013 at Opéra Bastille, the other now on at the Met, which was broadcast Saturday on BBC Radio 3. Rather solid performance (Kiril Petrenko) good enough singing, best being Borodina's Marfa. But look at the Paris version - Mikhail Jurowski,  and an all-Russian cast (Galouzine, Diadkova) and a very interesting set, not that you should really tell by photos  (Richard Hudson, diector Andrei Serban). Gut instincts good.

The clincher is price. Eurostar about £200 return, and only 2 hours from St Pancras. It's practically local. Decent hotels and food, of course and you can bring back fresh bread. I was looking at costs for Edinburgh, for Charpentier and Les Arts Florissants. I'd much rather hear extraordinary performances of unusual music than familiar pieces, however worthily done. (and you can hear the Wagner in Wales). Eleven hours by train for £300, plus hotels etc. No wonder I haven't been back for years. There are people who could live for weeks on that kind of money, which matters to me. Besides, the Paris Mussorgsky may be on French TV and much of Edinburgh will almost certainly be on BBC Radio 3, saving on carbon emissions and conscience. .

Moderate Mussorgsky, Modest Schumann, Messiah

Squirrels hoard nuts to see them through winter. I go out in early December so I won't get withdrawal symptoms during the musical drought over the holidays. So sometimes I hoard more than I should.

Sergei Leiferkus can be very good indeed. A few years ago he did an excellent programme of Shostakovich satirical songs which had the predominantly Russian speaking audience cracking up with delight. They didn't need texts to get the wry humour! Leiferkus is a vividly expressive singer, who can get his message across even if you don't speak Russian. Even on recordings, he sounds animated, drawing you into the story.

Mussorgsky is another of Leiferkus's specialities, so I was looking forward to hearing him sing The Songs and Dances of Death at the Wigmore Hall. He delivered well, appreciating that full force isn't necessarily the way to do horror. The cycle starts with a lullaby, but the baby is dead. In Trepak, a drunken peasant is lulled into falling asleep in the snow: he'll never wake again. So when the Field Marshal appears, he's come to harvest dead soldiers. Leiferkus chose a moderate approach, though its dramatic impact may have been lost on those unfamiliar with the cycle. Only with the last songs, The Seminarist and the immortal Mefistopheles's Song did Leiferkus ignite into his best mode.

Perhaps he should have gambled on an audience interested in Russian song and done a whole programme of what he does best. There's plenty of repertoire, and Leiferkus has sung most of it, from Rachmaninov to Prokofiev and more. If he did want to sing in German, he might have done better to stick to songs that lend themselves to dramatic declamation, like the zanier songs of Wolf or Loewe. His Schumann Liederkreis op 39 might have been OK elsewhere but in the Wigmore Hall echoes of exceptionally beautiful performances lie heavily on the memory. This simply wasn't his thing - odd phrasing, intonation, lack of nuance. A pity because he could have had more fun singing what he really enjoys, and given the audience good value, too.

Afterwards at dinner, I was assaulted by the sort of Xmas-themed muzak that's generated by machine. Yow! One song about "the Holy Bible", as if there's an "Unholy" Bible. So if you need escape there's a very interesting performance of Messiah on Wednesday 16th at 7.30 at St Johns Church, Downshire Hill, Hampstead NW3 1NU. It's going to be different because it's transcribed for string quintet, trumpet, organ and choir, and the soloists are good - Matthew Rose, Sophie Bevan, Andrew Staples and Catherine Hooper. Normally you'd pay more than £10 to hear them and you wouldn't get mulled wine and mince pies thrown in.

Moreover, it's in a good cause. It's been organized by Vignette Arts (it's the Vignette Choir) which is the brainchild of young professionals working in music, media, architecture & the civil service. It aims to give both financial aid and high profile performing opportunities to promising young artists. So this is a Messiah to get to if you can.