Rubensteins opera - The Demon

[yashin]

The Demon (Der Demon) by Anton Rubenstein is an opera i enjoy very much.
It is set to Lermontov's poem.

Anton Rubinstein's (1829-94) "The Demon." Rubinstein is best known as a virtuoso pianist and as Tchaikovsky's teacher, but "The Demon" is a stunning work, well-crafted and filled with big emotions. The plot concerns the obsessive love of a fallen angel for a princess, Tamara (whose husband-to-be Prince dies at the close of Act I) and his attempts to woo her; she enters a nunnery to escape his haunting/stalking, but he follows her. The last act is an extended seduction duet in which he pleads, cajoles and begs her to set him free of his misery by succumbing; she finally kisses him and the kiss kills her. The final moments show her redeemed in heaven. The score is true high German Romanticism, but its overall flavor is Russian. And its intensity is undeniable.

I have 2 recordings, one from the Wexford festival (live) and another live cd with Fedoseyev conducting.  The latter one i much prefer for the passionate singing.

Anyone else like this opera. I have not seen it myself and would like to-but it is probably fairly rare.

[BachQ]

Never knew this existed.

Thanks for the tip.

[Anne]

If anyone locates the opera, would you post the URL here?  Thanks

[yashin]

The 2 cds i have are:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubinstein-Demon-Anton/dp/B00000464M/ref=sr_1_8/202-5356020-9167851?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1186802662&sr=1-8

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubinstein-Demon-Anton/dp/B00000DMIC/ref=sr_1_20/202-5356020-9167851?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1186802941&sr=1-20

The latter has an excellent short essay about Demons in opera. This would be my preferred version. I have just found a review on it:

"A good, and rare, opportunity to hear an opera that has kept its place in the repertoire in Russia but has hardly yet gained a place to keep in the West. The title-role has been a coveted one, with names such as Lassalle, Chaliapin and Battistini in its performing history, and all the ingredients for popular success might seem to be present apart from the calamity of the tenor's death at the end of Act 1. This is a real infliction in the present recording, as Ilya Levinsky has the most attractive voice in the cast. Egils Silins has a fine and powerful middle register and lacks vocal charisma. Marina Mescheriakova floats some angelic pianissimi but is not ideally steady. The performance, from the Bregenz Festival of 1997, carries conviction and the stage atmosphere is well caught. The opera deserves a hearing and some thoughtful consideration: the music has its limitations but is neither cheap nor charmless.' 

Lots of great Basses have recorded exerpts from the opera including Hvorostovsky in his recital "songs and dances of death" .  One review suggests:

There are few operas I would rather see revived than Rubinstein's The Demon (first given in 1875). The three scenes for its eponymous anti-hero sung here by Hvorostovsky are known to collectors from recordings in the past by (among others) Chaliapin, who sang the title-role on stage. Hvorostovsky now makes them available to a new generation and thereby enhances the case for the work's revival. The baritone, superbly supported by Gergiev and his Kirov orchestra recorded in their own theatre, has done nothing better than his impersonation of the devil so ingeniously characterized by the composer. In the first extract, he is insinuating and inveigling, in the second he catches the ethereal atmosphere created by Rubinstein, in the third he projects the gloating demon to the life. This is splendid stuff.

[The Emperor]

this is a bit of topic, but i saw in tv a performance of a Rubenstein piece and i liked it very much, i think it was a cello sonata nº1(with piano accompaniment), i remember there was a theme with trills on the cello.
Anyway can provide the opus number? if i'm wrong correct me.

[pjme]

Rubenstein - it is a detail, but do write RUBINSTEIN !



From Wiki : Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein (Russian: Антóн Григóрьевич Рубинштéйн), (November 28, 1829 – November 20, 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival to Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the greatest keyboard virtuosos

[jurajjak]

I have that live recording of The Demon and found it impressive, even if much of Rubinstein's work (that I've heard) is lumbersome and bloated (like his 2nd Symphony).  Apparently Mahler considered "The Demon" to be a masterpiece.

[BachQ]

lumbersome and bloated 

Elgar?

[jurajjak]

Elgar?

hmmm...I would say Elgar is more bloated than lumbersome, and Rubinstein more lumbersome than bloated

[Anne]

Thanks to this thread I have found a new opera (The Demon by Anton Rubinstein) and really enjoy it.  Thanks for starting this thread, yashin, and the other posters who contributed.

I have the 2 recordings already mentioned by yashin plus this one on Opera d'Oro:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anton-Rubinstein-Demon/dp/B0000CNY17/ref=sr_1_39/026-3368183-5638855?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194307901&sr=1-39

Conductor: Alexander Melik-Pashaev
Performer: Alexander Khosson, Alexei Ivanov, Ivan Kozlovsky, Maria Kuznetsova, Sergei Krasovsky, et al.
Orchestra: Bolshoi Theater Orchestra

Although the sound could be a little better on Opera d'Oro, it is not bad at all.  The performance is great and is my preferred recording of the 3 recordings.

[Sarastro]

I wish the recording with George Ots was published abroad the former Soviet Union.