THE STONE GUEST + MOZART & SALIERI (Bolshoi 1981) (DVD)

An operatic double bill, featuring two rarely-performed works of the Russian repertoire, performed by leading stars of the Bolshoi Opera. Rimsky-Korsakov held Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest in high esteem, admiring especially his setting of recitative; after Dargomyzhsky’s death, it was Rimsky-Korsakov who completed the orchestration of the opera. Rimsky-Korsakov's own opera Mozart and Salieri is a brilliant exploration of the rivalry between those two composers which later provided the inspiration for Peter Shaffer’s play “Amadeus.” The texts for both operas are taken almost verbatim from works of Alexander Pushkin, without an intervening librettist. Sung in Russian, with optional subtitles in English, French, and Russian.
Color, 132 minutes, 4:3, All regions

THE STONE GUEST
Opera in Three Acts
Music by Alexander Dargomyzhsky
Libretto based on the play by Alexander Pushkin

Cast:
Don Juan - Vladimir Atlantov
Donna Anna - Tamara Milashkina
Leoporello - Alexander Vedernikov
Laura - Tamara Sinyavskaya
Don Carlos - Vladimir Valaitis
A Monk / Statue of the Commander - Vladimir Filippov
Laura’s Guests - Andrei Sokolov, Petr Glubokiy

Orchestra and Chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre
Mark Ermler, conductor
Live performance, 1979

Stage Director: Oleg Moralev
Production Design: Viliam Klementiev
Director for Television: Alexander Barannikov

MOZART & SALIERI, Op. 48
Opera in One Act
Music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Libretto based on the play by Alexander Pushkin

Cast:
Mozart - Alexei Maslennikov
Salieri - Artur Eizen
Violinist - L. Novikov

Orchestra and Chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre
Ruben Vartanian, conductor
Live performance, 1981

Stage Director: G. Pankov
Production Design: Valery Levental
Director for Television: Alexander Barannikov