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Title: Excellent!
Review: This is the third recording I have heard of this neglected work, the two others being the Melik-Pashayev and the Rozhdestvensky recordings .This recording has the advantage of the excellent conducting of Fedoseyev and the wonderful sound from his orchestra, the string sections reflecting a bright tone and an almost mahlerian approach. The soloists are each fine in their own rights, but as is the case with every recording something works better in one or the other version, and one might prefer some of the soloists from other recordings, however, here the parlando-scenes between the witch and her suitors are really funny, and the duet between Vakula and Oksana clearly conveys the frustrations of the two lovers, who cannot handle their mutual attraction.I warm enormously to this fairy-tale opera, which reflects so much of Tchaikovsky's russian spirit. It is full of beautiful music and funny scenes and delights both the ear and the mind.
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