Rachmaninov: Aleko

Aleko was Sergei Rachmaninov’s first opera, and his earliest success. He composed the one-act melodrama in 1892 at the age of 19 in less than three weeks, and was awarded the Moscow Conservatory’s Gold Prize. Even more importantly, perhaps, the vocal score was published and a first performance arranged at Moscow’s prestigious Bolshoi Theater, where it shared a double bill with Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the elder composer’s insistence. In 1897, Aleko was premiered in St Petersburg, the title role being taken by the famous bass Feodor Chaliapin. Chaliapin would go on to record the cavatina, endearing it to generations of record collectors. Russian bass Evgeni Nesterenko joined the roster of Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Opera in 1971. He has taken on all of the major Russian bass roles and has recorded widely. In 1976, Dmitri Kitaenko was named chief conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 1990, when he left Russia for the West.