1908 VLADIMIR KASTORSKY RUSSIAN VINYL Prince Igor/ Ruslan & Ludmilla Farlafs 78

$

38

WEEK 2 of two weeks of great auctions ending May 11.

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A series of great Opera records from 1902 G&T to mid-thirties rare European records on lateral, Edison and Pathe disks.

One of the greatest Russian Basses, with an incredible carreer spanning until after WWII, Vladimir Kastorsky is a singers  singer.

Here in an 1908 ST PETERSBURG recording vinyl pressing on Historic Masters

HMB 26 – Vladimir KASTORSKY (Bass 1871-1948)
Farlaf’s Rondo (Ruslan and Ludmilla)
Igor’s Aria (Prince Igor)

Wonderfully secure and imposing bass voice and an artist of unexaggerated power – his records were only ever published inside Russia and they are of the greatest rarity and desirability.

12" 78 rpm record

Condition:

EXCELLENT, rare scuff. Igor has a tiny 4 mm blister will cause a few clicks

Plays exceptionally quiet

Vladimir Kastorsky (1871 - 1948)

Note by Alan Bilgora









Vladimir Kastorsky was one of a number of outstanding singers associated with the Imperial Russian Opera in St. Petersburg, and, like so many other Russian artists active at that time his records (made in the first decade of the 20th Century) have always fascinated the collector. Possessing an exceptional voice he was one of an important quartet of basses - the others being Feodor Chaliapin, Lev Sibiryakov, and Konstantin Serebriakov - who saw the commencement of an artistic and vocal line that extended into the late 20th century with Alexander Kipnis, Mark Reizen, Maxim Michailov, Ivan Petrov, Artur Eizen, Boris Stokalov, Evgeny Nesterenko and Paata Buchuladze. What they had in common was the ability to sing the demanding roles requiring gravitas that has for the most part dominated the Russian operatic scene.

Russian repertoire had not always been so common: at the turn of the century native singers and distinguished colleagues from Italy and France, who frequently appeared as guests* more often sang in the popular Italian, French and German repertoire which had been the main core of performances since Catherine the Great. However, it was the generation of artists of which Kastorsky was a part who pushed the cause of a national school of Russian opera, excelling in what have now become the familiar works of Tchaikovsky, Dargom?zhsky, Musorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rubenstein. Had he performed outside Russia Kastorsky himself might well have become even more universally acclaimed than his great colleagues and rivals Chaliapin and Sibiryakov, for it is reported that in certain roles he surpassed them both.

Vladimir Kastorsky was born on 14 March 1871 in Bolschoi Soly the twelfth son of a country priest. The young Volodya was given the nickname Konfetka by his father. The family was very poor and Konfetka helped the family income by singing in a church choir. He developed an outstanding treble voice and was sent to a church school at Kostroma and later to the seminary at Penza. He managed to continue singing whilst his voice was breaking, and, like most trebles, his voice eventually developed as a bass. Kastorsky had a deep commitment to improving his vocal technique and went as often as possible to see touring opera company performances and vocal recitals. Aged twenty he travelled to St. Petersburg where in spite of real poverty he joined MelnikovÆs choir: the position was unpaid but gave him the opportunity to hear many of the greatest singers of his era from the wings of the Marinsky Theatre. There he learnt by example something about vocal technique; he constantly questioned the singers, even asking to feel the movement of their diaphragms and trace the resultant position of the larynx on the expelling of the breath. Once it became clear that serious study was necessary he started to take vocal instruction from Professor Gabel, one of RussiaÆs best teachers. The relationship was not successful: the former singer turned critic Sergei Levik wrote in his memoirs** that Kastorsky did not agree with his maestroÆs methods of constantly directing the sound into the æmaskÆ (the forward sinus cavities of the skull). He was told that he had æneither the capability nor voice to continueÆ and was dismissed from the class. GabelÆs decision by was probably the best thing that could have happened to Kastorsky. He joined a tour given by the senior students of the Conservatory, making his debut in the small role of the Baron in La Traviata. He was also given the opportunity to sing Gremin in Eugen Onegin, the Miller in Rusalka Mephistopheles in Faust and other roles, but unfortunately he was taken ill and his colleagues left him in the care of a local hospital in Mogilev. He eventually returned home where his distressed father made him promise that he would stop singing the role of the Devil - a promise Konfetka really had no intention of keeping.

Kastorsky became the choirmaster of a chorus sponsored by a rich textile manufacturer named Krasilschikov, in Rodnik. This earned him some money and became a turning point in his career. Krasilshchikov had been a singer. He was impressed with his choirmasterÆs voice, gave him lessons, and, after one year sent him to audition at the Marinsky. Sadly the composer Nßpravn?k, who was a staff conductor there and was on the audition panel, was not impressed. Kastorsky also auditioned at the Bolshoi where, to his consternation, he was turned down again. Undeterred, and after a further brief period of study with Krasilschchikov, he presented himself to the Marinsky once more. This time the audition was held in public and the young bass received an ovation.

Kastorsky made his professional debut as the priest in SerovÆs Rogneda. Despite his total lack of theatrical experience his talents were recognised and he progressed to Zlatogor in Queen of Spades and the Chaplain in CuiÆs The Saracen. For the role of the chaplain he studied both the priests in the local churches and the costumes of the period in which the opera was set. Such careful preparation gave confidence to his performances and he enjoyed a fine artistic success. Before long he gave his first performances as Susanin (Life for the Tsar) and Ruslan (Ruslan and Lyudmila). They were enthusiastically received and became the signature roles for which he would always be best remembered at the Marinsky. Kastorsky was now considered a star performer and took part in many local premi?res - all the more remarkable for a singer with no formal Conservatoire training. Apart from the short time with Gabel and Krasilshhchikov he had developed his own voice by constant practice, discussions with colleagues, and a selfimposed regime to develop his breathing. Kastorsky considered management of the breath to be the most important aspect of vocal technique. He followed the axiom of those famous Italian maestri who claimed æSai respirare, sai cantareÆ (If you know how to breathe, you know how to sing).

Kastorsky also followed more purely intellectual pursuits; he enrolled as an external student at the St. Petersburg University where he studied philology and natural sciences, both subjects becoming a vital asset in his constant search for perfect articulation and a beautiful vocal sound.

On 19 May 1908 at the age of only 37 it was Kastorsky, as a member of the Moscow Imperial Opera Company, who created the role of Pimen in Boris Godunov at the sensational first performance in Paris. It was an all star cast that included Chaliapin as the Tsar. Dimitri Smirnov sang the false Dimitri, the Marina was Natalie Yermolenko, Ivan Alchevsky sang Shuisky, Vasili Sharanov was Varlaam and Mitrofan Chuprinikov sang the Innocent. Throughout his professional career Kastorsky would always be so fortunate and talented to appear with singers of international repute, particularly at the Marinsky.

The r?les that Kastorsky undertook sometimes crossed over with those sung by a bassbaritone; Gudal in The Demon, Dosifey in Khovanshchina, Tomsky in Pique Dame, Ivan Susanin, the Miller in Rusalka, Nilakantha in Lakm?, Hagen in G÷tterd?mmerung, King Mark in Tristan and Isolde, the Count in Marriage of Figaro and as already noted Pimen in Boris Godunov. His voice was blessed with an individual timbre, something that every singer hopes for, and his secure, self-taught technique enabled him to sing for over four decades. He even embraced those heaviest Wagnerian r?les which are known to have been the cause of early decline in some notable singers. Indeed KastorskyÆs vocal method and his style of singing was frequently compared with that of Mattia Battistini, - the universally acknowledged epitome of Italian æBel CantoÆ - and with such a comparison made, no greater praise was considered possible.

Kastorsky was appointed Professor of Singing at the Leningrad Conservatory after the Russian Revolution. Although no famous singers emerged from his classes, many benefited from his wise council. He was still singing major roles in the theatre in 1930, and when he retired from the stage he formed an operatic quartet with Mitrofan Chuprinikov and the Kedrov brothers. Kastorsky became a committed exponent of folk music, always including the national songs of his native land in his recital programmes. For almost another decade he divided his time between teaching and touring the provinces with the vocal quartet. He was still performing well in his seventy-fifth year, and shortly before his death he was invited (as a special guest) to sing a small role at the Bolshoi in TchaikovskyÆs Pique Dame, a wonderful testament to his longevity as a singer of the front rank. One of the most admired artists of his generation Vladimir Kastorsky died in Leningrad on 2 February 1948.


In MeyerbeerÆs once very popular opera Les Huguenots Kastorsky is provided with an opportunity to show the wide vocal range which enabled him to sing music written for both baritone and bass. We hear an attractive but not over obtrusive vibrato û one that would effectively project the voice in a large opera house. He sings the arias of Count Nevers (baritone) Benediction and QuÆen ce riche, and of Marcel (bass) Piff Paff. His voice is resonant and effective from top to bottom with the different characters well delineated by thoughtful variation in vocal colour.

 

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