CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov

starring: Robert Lloyd, Olga Borodina, Alexei Steblianko, Sergei Leiferkus
directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky, Valery Gergiev

Release Date May 14, 2002
Reviewing my comments and those written by others about this extaordinary opera, I do not think I can better what has been written in THE GRAMOPHONE
magazine, "This is masterly on almost every count, musical and visual, and would now be the outright choice for this work in all media...Front stage, as it were, are some of the best of the current generation of
Russian singers...Gergiev is another of the recording's heros. Seldom, if
ever...has the score sounded so hauntingly beautiful and apt for this huge
panorama of seventeenth-century Russia.. Don't miss this riveting experience."

Pesonally, I experienced the comment by my father, Dr. D W Stomberg, many years ago that a San Francisco staged production was ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Tchaikovsky - Pique Dame / Gergiev, Grigorian, Leiferkus, Kirov Opera

starring: Gegam Grigorian, Sergei Leiferkus, Olga Borodina, Valery Gergiev

Release Date July 16, 2002
Recently I bought some DVDs of Russian operas from Amazon. I have been quite happy with most of them; but there is something wrong with the DVD of Pique Dame. Apparently, act 1, scene 1 is damaged in my copy. Sometimes the music fades away, or there are jumps in the performance. This is not the case with the rest of the DVD, but here there are other technical failures. Sometimes, but not always, the picture and sound are not synchronized which clearly can be seen by the moving of the lips of the singers. Sometimes, but not always, the arias cannot be heard for the orchestra, so one has to make the sound louder just to be blown away when the chorus comes. I had for several reasons been looking forward to this DVD, and it has mostly been a disappointment, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Saint-Saens - Samson et Dalila / Domingo, Borodina, Leiferkus, Fink, Levine, Metropolitan Opera

starring: Saint-Saens, Placido Domingo, Olga Borodina, James Levine, Sergei Leiferkus

Release Date September 14, 2004
I wavered between three and four stars for this one. I have a personal love of this production, as it is one of the very first I ever saw at the Met (in the 97-98 season). Dalilah was played in those first productions by Denyce Graves, who is a wonderful opera actress, and very beautiful. Though Borodina's voice easily trumps hers, I found Graves' portrayal to be superior. This production was created for Borodina, who skipped the first year because she was pregnant. The performance on this DVD is the opening night of the 98-99 season.

There are some great moments here--when Dalilah makes her first appearance emerging from the impressionistic fields, dancing in the short but well-choreographed ballet scene--then sings "Printemps qui commence." ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Prokofiev - War and Peace / Gergiev, Othotnikov, Kirov Opera

starring: Viacheslav Trofimov, Mikhail Chernozhukov, Svetlana Volkova, Mikhail Yegorov, Igor Yan
directed by: Humphrey Burton

Release Date July 10, 2003
This staging of "LfTO" is spare and modernistic, with minimal (but often inventive) sets and costumes, but the singing is first-rate and Nagano's conducting makes for an excellent handling of the music. The cast is young and vibrant (and even a bit sexy!) and the camera work helps keep you involved. A must if you are a Prokofiev fan; but it might be an eye-roller for someone looking for more traditional opera.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Borodin - Prince Igor

starring: Nikolai Putilin, Galina Gorchakova, Olga Borodina
directed by: Valery Gergiev, Yevgeny Sokovnin, Irkin Sabitov

Release Date September 09, 2003
I prefer the Provatorov version on VHS. This Igor is not convincing. Energy is missing. Gergev is just good...not terrific.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Great Singers of Russia, Vol 2 - Petrov, Andzhaparidze, Arkhipova, Vishnevskaya, Mazurok, Rudenko, Nesterenko, Obraztsova, Atlantov, Kasrashvili, Borodina, Hvorostovsky, Kazarnovskaya

starring: Various Artists, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Olga Borodina, Kirov Opera

Release Date December 02, 2003
It may be arguable that for Dmitri Hvorostovsky a better version of "Largo al factotum" could have been chosen than the one (concert in Moscow in 1992) in this DVD, but the previous reviewer apparently doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Cilea - Adriana Lecouvreur / Dessi, Larin, Borodina, Guelfi, Brignoli, La Scala

starring: Olga Borodina, Sergei Larin, Giorgio Giuseppini, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Adelina Scarabelli
directed by: Daniela Dessì

Release Date March 16, 2004
Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea, is definitely "verismo" at its best. Any time I embark in the adventure of listening or watching this opera I feel its vibrant strength and passion. Do not expect well-defined arias as the ones you would find in more classic operas. However the melodic thread is always there with passages of great beauty and a nostalgic mood that pervades the whole opera from beginning to end. Such is the case of "La dolcissima sfige..." (followed by a fantastic duet with the soprano) and "L'anima stanca" both sang by the tenor at the first and second acts respectively. Most of Adriana parts are also memorable, including the aria of the flowers in the last act and the stunning Fedra's monologue at the end of the third act. A second love duet wit Maurizio in ... Read More: