Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was the composer of no fewer than 15 operas. But how many of them are known in the West?
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll have a chance to sample one of them, as we welcome spring with selections from “The Snow Maiden.”
Based on an allegorical fairy tale of humans, quasi-mythological creatures, and the eternal forces of nature, it’s the story of a star-crossed love that brings about the end of a 15-year winter. The orchestral suite – which climaxes with the “Dance of the Tumblers” – is fairly popular, but the opera itself is seldom done, at least outside of Russia.
The recording we’ll sample, on the Capriccio label, features the Bulgarian Radio Symphony conducted by Stoyan Angelov. It may not hold a candle to the best Rimsky opera recordings by conductors like Nikolai Golovanov, but it’s enough to give a taste of what American opera lovers are missing.
I hope you’ll join me for “The Thaw of the Wild,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
And lest anyone doubt my motives in celebrating a Russian composer since the invasion of Ukraine, Rimsky was no fan of authoritarianism, or imperialism, for that matter. If you’re interested to learn more, I wrote about it in this post about another one of his operas, last year:
