Tsar Sultan

Are there any recordings of the entire Tale of the Tsar Sultan, by Rimsky-Korsakov? I am familiar with the wonderful suite of music from the opera and of course, 'The Flight of the Bumblebee'. However I can't find any references to a recording or even a recent performance of the opera.

According to Steiger, two: 1959 - Nebolsin on Artia and Chant du Monde LPs; Chant du Monde CDs 1960 - Gebre on Philips LP from Zagreb

Vassily Nebolssin was a MAJOR conductor and a specialist in opera. He recorded The Tale of Tsar Saltan in 1955 and it was issued on Melodiya (three LP's I think). I cannot compare it with other versions because I have not heard other versions. As well as recording a wonderful Kitezh, he also recorded Kaschei The Immortal and May Night.

I think Mr Fedoseyev has also recorded Tsar Saltan but he often makes cuts in the Rimsky operas. I don't know if he makes cuts in Saltan but he does in Kitezh. So far as I remember there are not any cuts in the Tsar Saltan of 1955.

Kind regards, Alan M. Watkins

We certainly need a modern version in stereo - is the 55 version available??? Richard Loeb

I just checked my stuff and found the Melodiya recording number: GOST 5289-61 D-05010-05015 (i.e., 6 sides for 3 LPs). I'd have to go upstairs to pull out the LPs themselves; maybe later...

I'd like to hear a Fedoseev recording of 'Saltan'; the sound on the his Rimsky things I've heard is wonderful (especially given that they're more recent than the 50s!). His performances of 'May Night' and 'Snowmaiden' are complete, as I remember, so there wouldn't be any reason to cut 'Saltan.' I'll have to look up Victor Borge's quote about the length of the full title for 'Saltan' compared to how quickly the opera proceeds...

I have no idea what the wonderful Mr Borge had to say about it but I would bet that even he would have been stumped by the full title of Kitezh: 'The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia.'

Kind regards, Alan M. Watkins