# Sergei Lemeshev Tribute



## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

In occasion of 9 May, celebrated in Russia as Victory Day over Nazi Germany, I'd like to dedicate this thread to Sergei Lemeshev, one of the finest lyric tenors who ever lived, who lost one lung during WWII's cold winters but was still able to sing like this in 1948:


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

A great singer. If I remember correctly he usually sings a bit higher than others. And adds some really high notes. There really have come many great singer's from Russia.

The video is probably from the 60's


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

...plus he was a film star. This is "The Musical story".
The tale of of how a taxi driver joins Sovet Opera X-Factor. I wonder how he'll do?
Spoiler Alert: There is no limit to number of awesome hats in this film.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I think that in the great career of Sergei Lemeshev in the theaters of the Soviet Union, his Lensky is perhaps the biggest success, and the role for which he was known outside his country.

Lensky is not a role difficult for his top notes, in fact the range is from Eflat2 to A3, and most of the time he is singing between F2 and G3. What is necessary here is clarity, expresiveness, flexibility. Transmit the passion of the young poet in love, perhaps even more in love with love itself than with the reluctant Olga.

In his arioso, accompanied by a glorious and italianate melody, he naively confess that he loves Olga, "as only the foolish heart of a poet can love", and the tenor must be able to convince the audience that he is indeed madly enamoured of the young girl.

His great aria "Kuda, kuda", in E minor (the tonality of E is always associated with Lensky in the opera, he sings in E major his love for Olga, and in E minor his clash with Onegin at the Ball), is a triumph of the understatement, of an ineffable sadness, the farewell of a young man that is prepared to die. The melody is again wonderful, of a subtle beauty.

All these qualities were perfectly embodied in Lemeshev, and we are fortunate to get two recordings with him. The first one, in 1936 under Nebolsin, when you pray it was Onegin, and not Lensky, the victim at the duel. And the second one, in 1956 under Khiakin and with the Tatiana of Galina Vishnevskaya and the Onegin of Evgeny Belov, where twenty years after his first recorded Lensky, close to sixty years old, after losing one lung and having some problems with alcohol, he still has *that* voice, and can transmit *that* emotion with his singing.











The great idol of the young Sergei Lemeshev was the great tenor of Imperial Russia Leonid Sobinov. Listening to Sobinov singing Lensky, you can find some traces of the future Lemeshev:


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## Clayton (Nov 10, 2013)

Boris Khaikin recording is available remastered on the Melodiya label. It is fantastic sound quality and I can highly recommend.









Galina Vishnevskaya (Tatyana), Ywevgeniy Belos (Onegin), Sergey Lemeshev (Lensky), Larissa Avdeyeva (Olga), Valentina Petrova (Larina), Eugenia Verbitskaya (Filipyevna), Ivan Petrov (Gremin), Andrei Sokolov (Triquet), Igor Mikhailov (Zaretsky)
Choir and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, Boris Khaikin


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This is a picture of a young Lemeshev with his dog. 

And below a duet with her (fourth!) wife, the Russian soprano Irina Maslennikova:


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

schigolch said:


> This is a picture of a young Lemeshev with his dog.
> 
> And below a duet with her (fourth!) wife, the Russian soprano Irina Maslennikova:


The image with the dog is adorable! It always reminds me of one of the first Lemeshev videos I've seen on Youtube, my favourite neapolitan song in a profoundly passionate russian version:






I also love Lemeshev's recordings with Maslennikova, their Romeo & Juliet, Werther Highlights and Bohème are all in my cd collection.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

These are my 10 favorite Lemeshev's roles:

*1.- Dubrovsky*

This is from a relatively unknow opera, also called _Dubrovsky_, by Eduard Napravnik, and Lemeshev is singing the protagonist's main aria in the 1930s. This rendition is pure magic:






*2.- Lensky*

As said before, his signature role. The 'Kuda, kuda' aria, as sung in 1937:






*3.- Hermann*

Lemeshev never sang this role in the theater, but this wonderful recording must also be mentioned here:






*4.- Tsar Berendey*

Let's move from Tchaikovsky to Rimsky-Korsakov, and listen to this flawless rendition of the aria from _Snow Maiden_:






*5.- Roméo*

Lemeshev was not limited to the Russian repertoire, on the contrary, he sang many other roles, though almost always in Russian. One of those roles was Gounod's Roméo, that we can hear below:






*6.- Raoul de Nangis*

This terribly difficult aria, from _Les Huguenots_, was masterly sung by Lemeshev:






*7.- Nadir*

A dreamy, melancholic, Russian version of Nadir's romance:






*8.- Lohengrin*

This is cleary not the Lohengrin of a Heldentenor, but a fascinating rendition nonetheless:






*9.- Rodolfo*

Puccini sung with an incredible sensitivity:






*10.- Duca*

An ideal voice for il Duca:


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

Splendid selection! I'd replace Lohengrin with Werther, though, placing the latter among the top 3 or 5 at least. The libretto that came with my Werther highlight cd said that this was one of the roles Lemeshev put the most artistic effort into. I can very well feel that in this recording:


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