MUSSORGSKY. Suniess_cycle*. SHOSTAKOVICH. Songst. Yevgeny Nester. enko (bass), *Vladimir Krainev, tYevgeny Shenderovich (pianos). HMV Melodiya ASD 3700 (5'40). Texts and translations Included.

Shostakovich: Ballad. King Lear—Songs of the Fool. Five Romances on tests from "Kroko dii" magazine, Op. 121, Preface to the complete collection of my works and brief reflections, Op.

123. Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkln, Op. 146.

Russian bass-singers have made their reputations in western Europe by the sheer quality of their voices and by their operatic performances and Yevgeny Nesterenko is no exception. His voice is characteristically rich and generous in quality, With a wide dynamic range and variety of colour. But here he also displays the sensibility to words and the attention to fine shades of expression that mark the natural Lieder singer. In Mussorgsky's Sunless songs he exhibits that combination of intensity and simplicity demanded by the meditative, selfcommuning character of GolenishchevKutuzov's texts, effective imtationS and borrowings of moods and images common in Pushkin. The clarity of Nesterenko's enunciation and his scrupulous matching of vocal colour to each word are particularly noticeable in the dactylic rhythms of the first song ("Between four walls"). The suggestion of a conversational tone, without ever descending to parlando, is exactly right in No. 2 ("You did not know me") and in No. 4 ("Ennui"—though this is no real equivalent for the Russian Skuka, which is something far more positive) where the final repeated "God be with you!" is perfectly characterized. Technically, the sustained pianissimo quaver-passage in No. 3 ("The idle, noisy day is ended") and the long sostenuto lines of No. 6 ("On the river") are beyond praise, as is Vladimir Krainev's piano accompaniment, which achieves a truly orchestral fullness and colour in No. 5 ("Elegy").

To turn from these songs to the bitter, sardonic humour and solemn mock-incantations of the Shostakovich songs is to enter another world. Here Nesterenko is equally successful, though he has little chance to display the full, true character of his voice and it is his histrionic use of it that is most impressive. Even with a translated text these songs are only very distantly intelligible, particularly as many of the references, moods, contrasts and parodies are specifically Russian. An exception is the Ballad, which is straightforward. The empty scale-chatter and the operatic parody in the Lebyadkin songs are familiar features of Shostakovich's writing in this mood. Hugh Ottaway's excellent notes are as helpful as it is possible for anyone to be who is not 'inside' the Russian world. M.C.