All of these selections starring the late Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov are taken from performances with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, but under a half-dozen different conductors. The remarkable thing about this compilation is that it represents 30 years of a singing career, and while you can hear a vague drying of tone and slight lack of ease on high notes from the 1998 aria from Onegin, Ghiaurov’s utterly distinctive, beautiful, rolling bass remained intact. It was dark brown, with a legato as smooth as velvet (perhaps chocolate), easily produced, huge, and capable of tapering back to a seductive, dramatic piano.
Ghiaurov made his debut in 1955 and hit his prime about 10 years later; he remained in his prime throughout the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. I doubt that a recording exists or anyone can recall a live performance by Ghiaurov in which he didn’t sound just fine. Here, his Fiesco is grand if lacking in last-word grief; his King Philip is as mellifluous as it is tragic; a brief aria from Attila is smooth; Banquo’s aria is handsome and foreboding; “La calumnia” lacks wit but is otherwise colorful. But it is the Boris excerpts–including the Clock and Death Scenes–that are overwhelming, both colossal and shattering. Ghiaurov was a great singer, and this is a superb collection.
