Vladimir Atlantov - Eugene Onegin - Kuda Kuda

[opera1232010]

Wonderful Russian brillant voice...

Thanks for sharing

Pierre

[geoflo1024]

Not a fan of this interpretation. A little overdone. Personally, I prefer a more introspective approach to this aria. Agree with divachka007 - less is more for this aria.

[divachka007]

good art, but too much mastery, too embellished, too theatrical, simpler would be better.

sadly but nobody's like Sobinov and Lemeshev, not because they're legendary etc. the way Sobinov sings is true, you feel a real character and it resonates to the tears.

[coryisawake]

Speaks volumes that this has as many views as Lemeshev's version (though posted about a year apart). Gorgeous phrasing and tone.

[Agorante]

There are no bad performances of this rather easy aria on YouTube. But most of the tenors are lyrics or light lyrics. They coo. Atlantov roars.

Atlantov is a man's man of a tenor. He has this huge easy giant voice. Sort of a Slavic Corelli. Cool!

[Robertgrade]

Wow! What a voice. I love this air, especially when watching the opera complete.

[kolyan333]

Понравилось, но странно...Русский поет по-русски невнятно и в нос, какая-то "пижонская" каша. Рамон Варгас и Плачидо Доминго исполняют интереснее.

[sallpario]

драматическая окраска у лемешева-вот бредятина

[sallpario]

диджей костя вот что вы пишете? всякую хуйню. в итал школе как раз основной - это головной, особ для теноров, а носовой призвук он часто рядом, послушай хоть монако,хоть корелли, хоть доминго,хоть своего любимого-там есть нос, в той или иной степени

[bodiloto]

Spesso mi chiedo che cosa significa la parola perfezione?Atlantov con la sua bellissima voce e con questa stupenda interpretazione dà la risposta giusta!

Un Artista chi era stupendo come Otello e nello stesso tempo nel repertorio leggero con la emozione giusta e la sua magnifica interpretazione e migliore per me dal Gedda...trovo soltanto una parola,SUBLIME!

Grazie!

[kruk248]

А как же Фриц Вундерлих?

[mamontenok1976]

Мой самый любимый драмтенор!!!

[paulostroff99]

Lovely singing! TY.

[djkostya76]

Хороший певец, но к превеликому сожалению, ощущается злоупотребление носового и головного резонаторов, чего нет в итальянской школе, а в советской школе - это основная проблема. Если послушать Лемешева, то у него ярко слышна ровная драматическая окраска голоса во всем диапазоне, в т.ч. на верхних нотах. Со временем советская школа сползла на головной резонатор и красота пропала.

[dilnazar]

Geniale!!!!!!

[rebekkar1979]

Boing 747 skating!!! "Such delicate control of a massive, muscular and viscerally effecting instrument."

[JussidelMonaco]

Sublime!!!

[arpeggio1358]

What an extraordinary tenor voice. The beauty of vocal tone, technique, breathing, and interpretation are all there. 

[serenaluce]

@arpeggio1358 I agree with you. If only he were more promoted and more people could enjoy his oxtraordinary voice...

[arpeggio1358]

@serenaluce I understand he retired quite young, so I guess his career is over.

[serenaluce]

@arpeggio1358 Yeah, I heard it too... Oh well....

[jewelmarkess]

@serenaluce I think another problem was that most of his career was in Russia during the Cold War, so he only rarely was allowed abroad until late 80s. He was very famous in Russia, though.

[serenaluce]

@jewelmarkess Thank you. You are right about his career in Russia, that is in the former Soviet Union. It's a pity. I know that he was very famous as he is my favourite Russian countertenor with a very noble voice! Only on YT I discovered another stunning Russian tenor who is great in this Lensky's aria too. I wish I had known him before. Great noble voice too! Such noble voices are very rare in the world! Somewhat promoted Pavarottis could only dream of singing similar! Are you Russian too?

[jewelmarkess]

@serenaluce I grew up in Russia, but I've lived in the US fo may years. So yes I heard Atlantov a lot on TV and radio when I was growing up, had his records too. His career coincided with that. I've never heard him live though as I grew up in St Petersburg (then Leningrad) and he was singing at Bolshoi in Moscow. The other tenor you talk about, could it be Lemeshev? He was famous in the 50s before my time.

[serenaluce]

@jewelmarkess Sorry, I thought I typed his name:-) So stupid of me to miss it. Of course, Lemeshev is great , but actually I meant Denis Korolev:-)

[colabama]

substantially satisfyingly beautiful and with power, bravo!

[serenaluce]

@bodiloto Ne sono assolutamente d'accordo con lei. Questa interpretazione e' veramente migliore di Gedda e sublime!

[rustamplenkin]

Гениальный певец!!!!!!

[MichaelDalberg]

Just a genios !!!!

[MichaelDalberg]

Ohh ......my God !!!

The greatest ....ever.

[voce29]

How utterly beautiful!! My favorite was always Fritz Wunderlich, but to sing it in your mother tongue simply adds another dimension to it.

[Friedagroper]

Marvelous tenor- tends to push just a little, now and then and distorts the pitch a little, but not egregiously, and because he sings with such pathos, warmth and conviction, one can forgive a slight faux pas. Exquisite sotto voce.

[KissaMyEyes]

This is my favorite tenor concert performance in the Youtube annals. Such delicate control of a massive, muscular and viscerally effecting instrument. Incredible!

[malfada22]

I heard him in Boris at the Met when the Bolshoi visited. The voice was huge.

[twotrickponies]

oops. dyslexia wins... nureyev, not nurevey...

[twotrickponies]

second thought: vladimir atlantov is to opera what nurevey was to ballet. raw emotion and extraordinary expression and unbeatable talent!

[twotrickponies]

i saw atlantov bring the ENTIRE metropolitan opera house to tears as lensky! at first dead silence, no sound until a massive intake of breath and then non-stop standing ovation for over 20 minutes with men, women and children alike sobbing - as was atlantov.

he is the GREATEST lensky i have EVER seen! the emotion, the pathos, the overwhelming sense of loss - all his to give to us, his grief=stricken audience. lensky is his role forever! and one i can never forget seeing. the greatest lensky!

[spqrmor]

...continued.I think Vladimir for this role is rectilineal and rough and even a bit of self-satisfied in spite of his Italian school technique.He woul have been best here as Onegin.I think his best roles are German ,Otello,Cavaradossi,Canio etc.

[serenaluce]

Well, you can't speak for the millions of Russian operalovers. Again you can express only your opinion. How many people, so many opinions. I'm Russian too. Yes, Lemeshev was an icon, but Sobinov was an icon too, as well as Kozlovsky. And they had their own fans. You can't possibly know whose level EVERY singer dreams to achieve. Atlantov is one of my very favourite tenors of all time and I don't agree with you here. He is also very impressive in lyric repertoir. Perhaps millions will agree too.

[alex30481]

..мурашки по коже...

[serenaluce]

He had been my favourite Russian tenor long ago before he moved to Austria and since then I've heard nothing of him at all. I wonder if he still performs. It's great to listen to him again on YouTube. I like Gedda's rendition of this aria very much but think that Atlantov's version and Wunderlich's are the best though very different!

[aaronsande]

I need you Russian speakers to weigh in here...does Atlantov pronounce the words better (more properly Russian) than Gedda? I'm going to learn this aria and I need to know who is right! =D

[Liederfreund]

Both are right. :)

But, from a learning standpoint, Gedda's pronounciation, I think, is a little better.

However,  I'd recommend you to listen also (and maybe, in the first place) to the classical Russian versions of the aria — performed by Sobinov, Lemeshev and Kozlovsky.

[aaronsande]

Good advice!

I can hear Gedda in his recordings more clearly than this one of Atlantov, anyway.

Let me ask a specific question. There is a word used a couple of times in the aria which transliterates to "blogo". Which, to my mind (and to my Polish wife who does know some Russian), is pronounced "Bloh-goh".

But yet both Gedda and Atlantov say "Blah-goh". What gives? =D

[Liederfreund]

They both are perfectly right again. :)

Both "vsyo blago..." (all for better) and "blagosloven" (blessed) are pronounced in this very way: "blah-goh".

"Blago" corresponds to "good", it is especially customary for old and religious lexis.

As for "bloh-goh", this word exists in Russian only as a part of "blogosphere" or maybe of some other new words derived from "blog". :)

[aaronsande]

OK, thanks! The transliterations I've seen must be incorrect. Wouldn't surprise me...sometimes they used an "i" (such as in "vi") when my wife sounded it out for me and I thought "vy" was more appropriate...

[Liederfreund]

Well, a transliteration is an approximate thing. Even similar sounds are not exactly the same in different languages, let alone the sounds that exist in one language and doesn't exist in another (e.g. "ы" in "вы"("vy")).

So, to learn a foreign pronounciation you have to either to hit books and audio on phonetics or simply to listen million times to singing of native speakers. :)

[oidane]

Atlantov have very good modern russian. The people of old generation (borned in 1900-th, like Gedda) had pronounced some letters a little other-wise, not only in singing, in speaking, too.

[spqrmor]

There was and still is only ONE Lenskiy -

SERGEY LEMESHEV!

[serenaluce]

You forgot to say that t's only your personal opinion. How many people, so many opionions! Lemeshev is not only ONE Lenskiy. We are lucky to have so many wonderful interpretations and can choose what is closer to our heart. I prefer Atlantov. But he is not "only ONE Lenskiy"! Wunderlich's and Gedda's interpretations are great too! And I prefer Sobinov's version to Lemeshev's. Great sense of style and more nobility! It's my opinion.

[spqrmor]

No doubt Vladimit is excelent tenor. In this case it is not only my opinion but the opinion of millions of Russian opera fans as far as I know.Lemeshev is icon,adored model of Lenskiy which every singer dream to achieve his level!

[AndAllThatOpera]

@aaronsande I'd rather not compare Gedda and Atlanov. Gedda spoke 5 languages and was phoneticaly more precise then some Russian tenors, but One can say about Gedda's Russian:the best foreign accent.

as for Atlantov he rather modifies some vowels for vocal reasons I quess and it leaves a strange impression:some phrases have perfect Russian and some words sound like he doesn't even speak Russian.

May because he studied with another Bolshoi Opera star of Georgian origin tenor Zurab Sotkilava??:)

[AndAllThatOpera]

Gedda sang in Italian more precisely then Italians themselves(phoneticaly) but for some strange reasons Gedda was not an Italian tenor and in fact, those who sing Italian Opera with phonetic precision, don't sound like Italian Opera Tenors(Sopranos)

[zzzLUCIANOzzz]

Мдаааа... сказать то нечего, банально будет.

Потрясающие тембр и вок.техника.

[brazdipr]

Сколько таланта, какой голос. Лучший Ленский, Может быть и "Всех времён и народов"

[TheMrMinin]

Великий голос, великий певец, великий музыкант! Вокалиста такого уровня сейчас нет! БРАВО ВЛАДИМИРУ АТЛАНТОВУ!!!

[PIPZZZ02]

Who on earth claimed Atlantov's voice was SMALL?

His voice was -like so many Russian singers- about three times louder than normal . Singing softly has nothing to do with size of voice indeed it is all the harder for heavier voices as it requires absolute control.

[AndAllThatOpera]

@PIPZZZ02 It's ridiculous to say that his voice is small, but he had an intresting transformation from ultra-lyric tenor to a dramatic one. After hearing Del Monaco live, he said to his teacher, that doesn't want to be a tenorino

[PIPZZZ02]

@AndAllThatOpera I can't remember now who was saying his voice was small but I heard him in the Seventies & his voice was heroic & thrilling. It eventually got a bit wild but in the big Russian roles he was still wonderful.

You sound as if you know about him -so thanks for the insight about his development! Del Monaco was another great wonder. Amazing singers both.

[Glenmed]

Wow! New name for me. Very impressed with the singer and conductor. In one or two places I almost felt this is how Mario Lanza might have sung this - a strange thought, I suppose!! I was led to watch this by having just heard him singing Pagliacci with Lucia Popp (an upload by "viktorkievUA"). Thanks for this.

[admiral969]

Definitely better than that monkey clown Villazon.

[laonirica]

Bellísimo!!!Como se extrañan artístas de esta Magnitud!!!

Gracias!!!*Gabba02* por compartirlo desde youtube al Mundo!!!

[KissaMyEyes]

Such control of that giant voice! love it.

[karljeff14]

first time i ever heard this tenor. he sang lensky's aria with tremendous sensitivity and beauty. wonderful nuances to the words he was singing. the falsettis added more variety and richness to this aria,which is lacking in a lot of other performances i have heard in the past.the conductor and orchestra did a great job,especially not to rush the middle, more animated section-the strings soared. bravo.

[enricodicapri]

he is great!!!!!

A pitty I never got to her him live.

My favourite russin tenor with any doubt.

Non of the actual dramatic russian tenors compares to him.

[Webarton]

reminds me of domingo!

[IvanBashakin]

Beautiful! strange he made couple mistakes in Russian like ten' zabot instead of Den' zabot, or slezu prolit' nad rannem urnoj instead of rannej urnoj, and some wierd accent in "Proletit" Ta"h"instvennuiu instead of tainstvennuiu, still beautifuly sung, bravo

[m134e5]

With as big a country as Russia is, and considering he is actually from Georgia (a small country in the Caucasus mountains), I would expect subtle differences in pronunciation. Just as many people in the U.S. sing British songs without imposing a British accent, I imagine singers from other countries let their regional pronunciations creep into their performances just a bit.

[IvanBashakin]

I did not know he was from Georgia?!

[Liederlieber]

Atlantov is not from Georgia (you must have confused Atlantov with another Soviet dramatical tenor Zurab Andzhaparidze, who was really from Georgia). Atlantov was born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

As for pronounciation mistakes, I think they are small defects of a big voice's vocal technique.

[AndAllThatOpera]

@Liederlieber No he is not from Georgia, but his coach Zurab Sotkilava is:) He is a great singer with the great voice but Sorry he makes rather significant mistakes for the Russian ear. I'm gonna put some obvious ones in Russian

[AndAllThatOpera]

Поет прекрастно, с чувстом и красивым голосом но делает непонятные для Русского ошибки

Тахистя он- таится он 1:36

Иль мимо пролэтит(пролетит) 2:02

Забудэт - Забудет 3:22

почти всегда путает "е" с "э"

Слезу пролить над раннем урной(над ранней урной)-grammatical mistake

Грузинкое влияние Соткилава?

[divachka007]

@AndAllThatOpera

kogda poesh myagkie glasnie vsegda staraeshsya pet" sootvetsvuuschuu otkrituu glasnuu (to est. A,U,O etc vmesto YA, YU, YO), oni daut luchshe projection. sorry for the latin font.

[AndAllThatOpera]

@divachka007 No u Lemesheva ili Kozlovskogo etogo ne chuvsvuetsja, and as far as I know Atlantov study with Sotkilava(Georgian tenor)

[AndAllThatOpera]

@divachka007 No u Lemesheva ili Kozlovskogo etogo ne chuvsvuetsja, and as far as I know Atlantov study with Sotkilava(Georgian tenor) what about над раннем урной(над ранней урной)-?

[67viktormaximov]

@AndAllThatOpera

because Atlantov studied in la Scala. He was really italian graduate.

Kozlovsky and Lemeshev went thru russian classical vocal scool so naturally they sings in different way

[OrdosGeneral]

I always like it when Americans display their deep knowledge of geography and where people come from.

[cjondoran]

isnt he russian?

[IvanBashakin]

I think he is, Atlantov is not a georgia name, may be not Russian either, but he has a southern accent for whatever reason

[fabrizzzio48]

Advice, watcvh Gedda's live performance, where feeling leads the singing machinery.

[fabrizzzio48]

Very even technique, but must allow the control and attention

to leave feeling abide. Did not sink deep.

[Meljana]

Just as a note... Small voices are impressive in recordings, but awful in live performances in large halls or at opera stages :))

[EddieH19]

Are you saying that Atlantov has a small voice?

[Meljana]

Small voice? Atlantov's voice is giant! When I wrote about small voices I talked about other singers - just for comparison... When you listen to high quality recording, that doesn't mean that the singer is a master. The smaller voice you have, the easier to achieve a nice sound and good techniques. The big voices need more work, and usually in recordings they are not so impressive and "pretty" as in live performances. For me Atlantov is the greatest tenor - he is true opera singer.

[OrdosGeneral]

I agree. That's what people usually don't get, they think that if a singer sounds good on recording he is as good or even better in real. It's the opposite, for example Hvorostovsky sounds like shit in real. And don't forget that most recordings are a result of many many many fragments put together to make it sound like it is one continuous time that singer performed a song / aria.

[twotrickponies]

his voice filled the met in ny with absolute clarity - he is incredible!

[Meljana]

Just as a note... Small voices are impressive in recordings, but awful in live performances in large halls or at opera stages :))

[Meljana]

Atlantov is one of the best dramatic tenors. Here you are listening his recording but not him. It's just a projection of his voice. The fact is that a huge voice which he did have cant'be well recorded without losing the timbre quality. The force of his voice reduces microphone and recording capacities. It's so pity, but such kind of voice is the property of contemporaries. And now we can only imagine what is true Atlantov.

[maxhansendk]

If you have ever listened to Lemeshev...

This version is simply put, awful!!

Awful,awful in every sence of the word awqful.

[Agorante]

What a surpise! When I heard him live twenty years later he was probably the best true drammatic tenor on the stage. The voice was huge. I never suspected he could sing this piece like this.

[Liederlieber]

He sang not only one piece but the whole opera. (There is a beautiful record of "Eugen Onegin" with Atlantov, Mazurok, Nesterenko and others.)

[1337tea]

Who Directed that recording, I would love to get my hands on it!

[Liederlieber]

The Director was Mark Ermler.

[stefakamelpash]

Super tenor! Great! I am fascinated by the fact that the voice classifications of the West don't seem to apply so much in Russian music. This aria sounds great sung by a big tenor like Atlantov, or a very lyric tenor like the great Lemechev. I have heard Russian basses (like Reizen)whose voice color is whiter and more open than a tenor like Atlantov. Some tenor and bass voices don't seem all that different (except the range.)Perhaps the language has something to do with it.

[tenorismo]

He is truly a great tenor. I saw him about 10 yrs ago as Otello at a met mattina . Better otello than Domingo

[tomasjuhasz]

Kuda,kuda!!!Beautiful Lensky aria with big tenor Atlantov.

[BrucknerEnthusiast]

Great aria. Has anyone else ever noticed that the opening phrase of the vocal part is remarkably similar to the opening of Liszt's 'Vallee d'Obermann'? If you examine the literary quotation which inspired the Liszt piece (one of the greatest he wrote, but it's usually played badly) there seems to be a parallel with the text of Tchaikovsky's aria. Was Tchaikovsky (who normally disliked Liszt's music) influenced by Liszt here?

[MrCafiero]

Nice pianissimi! Very falsettic.

[stchoukine]

wonderfull voice !

[lightbarytone]

Bravo!!!