Bela Rudenko sings Glière's Coloratura Concerto (1st mvt.)

Bela Rudenko (b.1933)

Reinhold Glière: Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra, Op.82

Glière's two movement coloratura concerto of 1943 is, perhaps, his most frequently performed composition in the genre (his other concertos are for harp, violin, cello, and french horn), though commercial recordings are still relatively infrequent. This should come as no surprise, since the piece makes substantial demands on the soloist. Vocal agility, steadiness of tone, and accuracy of attack are required here, as is superior breath support (particularly in the first movement, where the singer must form carefully arched phrases while negotiating the endless passages of lyrical, wordless melisma).

Among the highly commendable versions on CD are recordings by Eileen Hulse and Joan Sutherland, who left us a fine performance with Richard Bonynge conducting the London Symphony. Another artist who successfully meets the abovementioned challenges is Ukrainian coloratura Bela Rudenko. A graduate of the Odessa Conservatory (1956), Rudenko was a leading soprano first at the Kiev Opera and then at the Bolshoi Theater, where she sang for 16 years (bowing there in 1972, in Glinka's "Ruslan and Ludmila"). Her voice was slender rather than huge, but it was also bright, vivid, and crystalline in its clarity. It is not an infallible instrument- while her singing is quite precise, the attentive listener will notice some harsh, scrappy attacks, as well as a slightly metallic core (especially as she ascends the staff), which lends to her instrument an occasional shrillness not present in Sutherland's highly refined reading. Nevertheless, Rudenko's basic sound is still lovely, and she manages the coloratura passages with gutsy aplomb, in a performance that, while lacking Sutherland's smoothness, is a bit more dynamic and headstrong. Stefan Turchak conducts the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra.