Dargomyzhsky, Alexandre: The Stone Guest

The Stone Guest by Alexander Dargomyzhsky
Cast: Vladimir Atlantov, Tamara Milachkina, Alexander Vedernikov, Tamara Siniavskaya, Vladimir Valaitis & Vladimir Philippov with the Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, conducted by Marc Ermler.
Libretto by Alexander Pushkin
Label: Le Chant du Monde
Catalogue number: LDX 78661/2
Country of Issue: France
Date: 1977
Stereo
Analogue
Format: LP Boxed Set (2 discs plus booklets)
Label design: Melodiya-licenced terracotta red label printed black
Discs: visualy Mint, unmarked
Outer box: Near Mint  apart from shelf scuff on bottom edge thus EX+ overall
Inner sleeves: original, polylined, as new
Booklet: full size 12pp, perfect:  notes and libretto in French only  (opera sung in French)

PLUS  we are giving a photocopy of small booklet about Dargomyzhsky and the opera,  and the libretto in English.

This item appears as new throughout except as mentioned above. Acquired by us in 2007 as part of a large collection but never played since.

Dargomyzhsky wrote:  "I am trying something that has never been done before. I am writing music for scenes from Pushkin's The Stone Guest, just as they are, without changing a single word. Of course, no one will come to hear it."

Indeed the composer broke new ground with this work, which followed his most successful opera, Rusalka, which itself demonstrated a move away from traditional aria / ensemble construction, to a more narative dramatic style.   Dargomyzhsky began work on The Stone Guest in 1866.  Its whole conception was 'avant-garde' for its day; he planned an unbroken musical development in which the notes convey the meanings and nuances of the words: words and sounds would be equal and the musical phrasing would express the scene's drama accurately.  The work was daring musically - there are no key-signatures,  and there is widespread use of whole-tone harmony. The vocal lines are lyrical, but assymmetrical and never repeated. 

Dargomyzhsky died in 1869 leaving the work unfinished. However he left instructions for Cesar Cui to complete the work and for Rimsky-Korsakov to orchestrate it.  Their final version was completed in 1870 but not premiered until 1872.  It has never gained a foothold in mainstream repertoire  due perhaps to its intimate, chamber-like sound world, which was overshadowed by the spectacle of  Italian and German grand opera.