Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Ivari Ilja, piano

Sunday February 27, 2011, 3 p.m., Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts

Program:

Fauré
Automne
Sylvie
Après un Rêve
Fleur Jetée

Taneyev
Lyudi spyat (People Sleep) Op. 17, No. 10
Menuet Op. 26, No. 9
Zimnii put (The Winter Road) Op. 32, No. 4
Stalaktity (Stalactites) Op. 26, No. 6
Byotsa serdce bespokoinoye (The Restless Heart is Beating) Op.17, No.9

Liszt
I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi (from Tre Sonetti di Petrarca)
Pace non trovo (from Tre Sonetti di Petrarca)

Tchaikovsky
6 Romances, Op. 73
1. My sideli s toboi (We Sat Together)
2. Noch (Night)
3. V etu lunnuyu noch (In This Moonlit Night)
4. Zakatilos solnce (The Sun Has Set)
5. Sred mrachnyh dney (Amid Sombre Days)
6. Snova, kak prezhde, odin… (Again, As Before, Alone)

Encores
“Credo in un Dio crudel” from Verdi’s Otello

And a song that I would not be able to identify.

I attended a recital by Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky this afternoon at Symphony Hall in Boston. I guess that at least 15% of the seats were empty, but still the audience numbered far more than would have filled the smaller Jordan Hall. There may have been more Russians than Americans in the audience. The audience seemed to me to be well-behaved at all times.

Mr. Hvorostovsky wore a black single-breasted frock coat with spangled or sequined lapels, a black shirt, narrow-leg black trousers, and black shoes. His white hair is a little long for somebody of his age. Although he is capable of looking quite good, the effect of the outfit was to make him look a little silly, as if he were dressed to play a magician in an opera or ballet. I can accept the idea of a frock coat for an afternoon recital, but I see no need for sequins on the lapels, and the trousers would have looked better if less narrow.

The program began with four songs of Gabriel Fauré. Hvorostovsky’s French is not quite good enough for him to be singing French songs in recitals. It sounded at times almost as if he were singing Russian. He really brought very little to the songs in the way of interpretation, and there was nothing especially pleasant about the sound of his voice, and so I wondered why he chose those songs.

There followed five songs by Sergei Taneyev, a Russian composer who lived from 1856 to 1915. The singing was not bad, and the piano accompaniment was quite good, but the songs made little impression on me. I have no understanding of the Russian language, and the songs may have made more impression on those who do.

After the intermission came two songs of Franz Liszt in Italian. The songs are somewhat operatic, and Hvorostovsky seemed to be hitting his stride somewhat with these songs. He is by nature more of an opera singer than a song recitalist.

The program concluded with six songs of Tchaikovsky. They were more interesting musically than the Taneyev songs, and it was easier for me to appreciate them.

Throughout the performance Hvorostovsky occasionally looked at sheet music on a music stand about four feet in front of him. He must be somewhat far-sighted. A song recital always seems at least slightly diminished when it appears that the singer has not committed everything to memory.

The first encore, Iago’s “Credo in un Dio crudel” from Verdi’s Otello was the high point of the afternoon. Hvorostovsky ended it with a fiendish laugh, as if he relished playing an evil character. I was reminded of the character he played in the “Toi et moi” video.

The second encore was a song that I would not be able to identify. (UPDATE: The Boston Globe‘s review says that the second encore was Rachmaninoff’s “In the Silence of the Night’.”)

On the whole, I enjoyed the recital, but not enough that I would go to another one of his recitals in future.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky in “Toi et moi” video

Dmitri Hvorostovsky will be giving a recital in Boston next Sunday. Will he wear a tacky outfit? Will the audience behave badly?

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Chicago Classical Review reviews Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s recent recital in Chicago.

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