The inauguration of a complete Chaliapin edition on CD is news. There have been plenty of recital-discs (EMI, Nimbus, Pearl, Preiser) but even with a generous selection of these on the shelves a collector is still likely to find that the very thing wanted at some particular moment is missing, and of course a systematic chronology is desirable in itself. Most generally lacking up to now have been the earliest recordings, and on that account this first volume is doubly welcome.
Chaliapin’s printed discography opens with a series of 10 wax cylinders from around the turn of the century, and some of these are promised for the final volume of the edition (which, on a rough computation, will run to 12 or 13 discs, depending partly on how many alternative ‘takes’ are included). The Moscow sessions of 1902 were reckoned a great success, both artistically and commercially, but shellac is not war-and-revolution-proof and copies of what were once best-sellers are now exceedingly rare, rarer still in good condition. All, as reproduced here, are fine in clarity, though some have fairly heavy surfaces. The unpublished tests of 1907 have more, but the very existence of these subtle, impassioned performances is a bonus.
As for the repertoire, most of the items were recorded again later with more freedom to expand, the exceptions being Tchaikovsky’s Disenchantment, Korganov’s Elegy and the arias from Lakme and Ruslan, all valuable additions. The style is fairly consistent with later versions, if rather more scrupulous in the Faust solos. Most interesting are the matters of timbre and the proportion of bass to bass-baritone. What most distinctively impresses in the earliest records is the free resonance of the upper register; then, rather surprisingly, it is in the Paris 1908s that the bass quality emerges (note, however, that the first of these, Farlaf’s rondo, runs slightly below pitch). I wish it were possible to add that the sound quality is a joy, but it may be best to reserve judgement till the second volume when more will be available for comparison with other transfers. Meanwhile all gratitude to the Gurvich collection which has provided the rare originals