Michael Biel wrote:
> I don't know about keepng Reizen a secret and exporting Pirogov, because
> BOTH of them are on the Borodin Prince Igor set I have sitting here!! I
> don't know when Igor was recorded, but this LP release is numbered in
> the late 1950s. For the Boris you mention, you are talking about 1948
> and 49 which is the 78 era and the Stalin era. Anything is possible to
> have happened under Stalin, but I don't think they were keeping Reizen a
> secret because he kept on recording and his records were issued.
>
> Looking things up a little, it does seem that the two Boris recordings
> were made a year apart, Reizen in 48 and Pirogov in 49
The 1948 and 1949 recordings are identical except where Boris is heard.
The first - with Reizen - was available only in the USSR; the second was
available only outside the USSR.
Where Pirogov was a very fine singer, Reizen was among the greatest
basses ever to record. A favorite of Stalin, his technical and musical
abilities were remarkable. His last appearance on the Bolshoi stage was
in a signature role (Prince Gremin) the day after his 90th birthday.
My question is only whether MK had a hand in the decision to remake the
scenes with Boris for export - i.e., to keep Reizen secret. I believe
other recordings had similar modification and there is also a mystery
about Reizen not singing Wotan in the performance of Walkuere for the
Nazi visit when he so magnificently recorded the Farewell.
Mike
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