To commemorate the 175th anniversary of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Firma Melodiya presents for the first time on CD the archival recording of the opera Kashchey the Immortal.
This first studio recording of the opera Kashchey the Immortal was made 70 years ago, in 1949. The leading parts were performed by truly outstanding musicians – Natalia Rozhdestvenskaya, a legendary soloist of the All-Union Radio, concert singer, and the mother of conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Pavel Lisitsian, one of the leading soloists of the “golden era” of the Bolshoi Theatre, and Pavel Pontryagin, an owner of a unique tenor timbre. The recording features the symphony orchestra and the choir of the All-Union Radio. In the 1940s and 1950s, the orchestra put in a lot of effort to perform and record rare opera masterpieces of the Russian and foreign repertoire. The performance was conducted by Samuel Samosud, who had been chief conductor of the USSR Bolshoi Theatre and stood at the conductor’s desks of the largest opera houses in Moscow and Leningrad.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Kashchei the Immortal, autumn tale
Scene 1
1. Days without gleam, sleepless nights ............. 9.22
2. I see the maiden of beauty wonderful ............ 2.12
3. Goy! You, magician-sluggard! ......................... 4.35
4. The secret of nature is comprehended ........... 5.07
5. White blizzard, snowstorm ............................. 7.58
Scene 2
6. The night falls, and gently wind lulled ............ 7.06
7. The dead of night, there is no road farther .... 3.16
8. Welcome, my guest! ....................................... 3.36
9. On the golden shallop, in the
delightful dream ............................................. 4.12
10. In arc bending thick twigs ............................. 4.43
Scene 3
11. Bai, Bai, Kashchei gray-haired ....................... 4.17
12. It seems? ....................................................... 3.29
13. Stop, my hero ................................................ 4.58
14. Farewell, the favourite Prince ....................... 4.15
15. End of evil Tsardom ...................................... 2.19
Total time: 71.34
Kashchei the Immortal – Pavel Pontryagin, tenor
Tsarevna Beloved Beauty – Natalia Rozhdestvenskaya, soprano
Prince Ivan-Korolevich – Pavel Lisitsian, baritone
Kashcheyevna – Lyudmila Legostayeva, mezzo-soprano
Burya-Bogatyr – Konstantin Polyaev, bass
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra All-Union Radio Choir
Conductor Samuil Samosud
Recorded in 1949
Restored by Tamara Pavlova
Remastering – Nadezhda Radugina
Project supervisor – Andrey Krichevskiy
Label manager – Karina Abramyan
Release editor – Natalia Storchak
Design – Ildar Kryukov
Translation – Nikolai Kuznetsov