Dimitrij Smirnov, "Pourquoi, mon triste cœur?", Mussorsky: La Foire de Sorotchintzi (rec. 1924)

The great Russian tenor Dimitrij Smirnov (1882-1944, other existing transliterations of his name include Dmitri Smirnov or Dmitri Smirnoff) in "Pourquoi, mon triste coeur?" from Mussorsky's La Foire de Sorotchitzi (The Fair at Sorochinsk). The recording was made in June 1924 for Cie Française du Gramophone. The aria was recorded soon after performances of the opera at Monte Carlo and for this reason it is sung in French.

Many thanks to Natalie@Younglemeshevist for her kind generosity in sharing her vast expertise and knowledge on Russian operas and opera performances by providing the synopsis of the opera, the context of the aria and the historical background of the opera:




A good article could be found at Wikipedia about the story of this opera:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fair_at_Sorochyntsi

Smirnov sings (brilliantly) the role of Gritsko - a young handsome man, a Cossack. Gritsko and Parasya fell in love from the first sight. Though Gritsko was from a wealthy family, he couldn't marry Parasya without her parents' blessing. And if Khivrya doesn't want to give Parasya to him, the marriage never happens. Khivrya is a typical nasty step-mother from fairy-tales, her husband is afraid of her. ( by the way, the name of a character 'Kum' can be translated as 'godfather'. It's not a name, actually).
In the aria Gritsko sings , "Why are you moaning, my heart? How can I comfort you?" He is depressed, because his heart needs only Parasya's love, but evil Khivrya will not permit them to get married.

The opera was not finished by Mussorgsky and it was rare in Soviet theaters. Around 1955, the opera was staged in the Bolshoi with Irina Maslennikova as Parasya, Anatoly Orfenov as Gritsko, Lemeshev as Afanasy Ivanovich, a priest's son. It was his only purely comical role, and he chose it himself.

The following biographical notes on the singer by Harold Barnes comes from the insert note for "Singers of Imperial Russia, Volume 3" (Pearl): "Born in 1882, Smirnov sang in his youth in church choirs. As a young law student, he sang with an untrained voice in a semi-professional group that actually produced operas from time to time. This led him to undertake serious vocal studies with Madame Pavlovskaja, and to take part in a competition at the Bolshoi in 1904, as a result of which he was given a two-year contract. He made his debut as Bayan, the Bard, in Glinka's Ruslan and Ljudmila and continued his career singing Jontek in Halka, the Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La Traviata, Faust, Prince Sinodal in The Demon, Lensky in Eugen Onegin and, on 11 January 1906, he created the role of Dante in Rachmaninov's Francesca da Rimini with Nezhdanova and Baklanov and with the composer conducting. He made his first appearance in 1907 in Mariinsky in a guest performance as the Duke in Rigoletto, and in the atumn of the same year joined a group of Russian conductor-composers: Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov and Glazounov, the pianist Josef Hoffmann and singers like Félia Litvine and Chaliapin, who gave concerts in Paris, organized by Sege Diaghilev, presenting Russian music "through the ages". The following year, in 1908, he again joined the Diaghilev company in Paris, and sang Dmitry in Boris Godunov at the Opéra on 19 May 1908 with Chaliapin in the title role. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 30 December 1910 as the Duke in Rigoletto, but his success was limited and he remained for little more than a month. He became a member of the Mariinsky from 1910 to 1917, with guests appearances in three continents, including a series of performances of Rimsky-Korsakov's May Night organized by Sir Thomas Beecham in the summer of 1914 at the Drury Lane Theatre, London. After 1919 he sang widely in Europe and between 1926 and 1930, his concert tours took him on several occasions into the Soviet Union. His last years were spent chiefly in teaching. He died in Riga on 27 April 1944."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Dimitrij
• Smirnov
• Mussorsky
• La
• Foire
• de
• Sorotchintzi
• 1924

[Petro645]

A great tenor!

[vstasov]

Beautiful. There is also another very gorgeous recording of this aria with Georgi Vinogradov.

[SuperLuckydream]

A beautiful and fascinating performance!

[RoyKa2010]

Enchanting piece and performance!

Thank you for sharing it

[65attila]

Tim

Another gem.

Tthanks -John

[mayatatyana1]

@younglemeshevist Natalie, thank you ver much for the background of this opera. Maya

[younglemeshevist]

Thanks for this rarity. This opera is not often performed in Russia, and I never heard this aria in French. Smirnov's performance is brilliant.

[mayatatyana1]

Tim, thank you very much for Smirnov's exquisite recording. Maya

[Herur22]

Wonderfully sung. This is an extremely beautiful aria.

[EdmundStAustell]

Another superb bit of singing. His upper register, especially the piani, is just wonderful. That final Bb is exquisite. Congratulations on finding these rarities, and many thanks for presenting them!