Rodion Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer (2010)

Loren Maazel commissioned Rodion Shchedrin to write The Enchanted Wanderer for concert presentation with the New York Philharmonic and gave it its premiere in 2002. Valery Gergiev conducted the first Russian performances in 2008, also in concert form, and this recording grew out of that project, but the opera was soon after given a fully staged version, also led by Gergiev, demonstrating its viability as a gripping theatrical experience. Shchedrin is hardly a household name in the West, but the originality, vitality, and ... Read More

Loren Maazel commissioned Rodion Shchedrin to write The Enchanted Wanderer for concert presentation with the New York Philharmonic and gave it its premiere in 2002. Valery Gergiev conducted the first Russian performances in 2008, also in concert form, and this recording grew out of that project, but the opera was soon after given a fully staged version, also led by Gergiev, demonstrating its viability as a gripping theatrical experience. Shchedrin is hardly a household name in the West, but the originality, vitality, and sheer beauty of his music make him a composer who deserves to be widely known. The Enchanted Wanderer is based on a story by 19th century writer Nikolai Leskov (whose work was also the source of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) and has the mysterious ambiguity and primal mythic spirituality of an ancient legend. It has called forth from the composer music of exceptional evocative power, inventiveness, and sensuous lyrical appeal. Shchedrin writes for the voice with consummate skill and... Read Less