Anna Karenina: An Opera by David Carlson, Libretto by Colin Graham

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Anna Karenina: An Opera by David Carlson, Libretto by Colin Graham

World Premiere Recording

 

Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is a masterwork of 19th Century literature; a parable on the struggle for personal freedom against the conventions of a hostile society, played out in a tragic love-story. With a libretto by the distinguished director Colin Graham after the novel by Leo Tolstoy, David Carlson's opera vividly captures the drama and message of the original work. This double-disc set is a world premiere recording of the opera, with commanding performances from members of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stewart Robertson.



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What people are saying

“…there is a lot to admire in this dramatic, expressive score"

Opera Now Magazine

Opera Theatre of St Louis
St Louis Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Stewart Robertson
- 2 CD Set -

Release date: 30th Mar 2009
Order code: SIGCD154
Barcode: 635212015421

1.ACT I: Prologue - The Station, Moscow, Winter 1874
2.Part 1 - Scene 1: A sitting room in Stiva's house. That day.
3.- Scene 2: A ball at Princess Betsy Tverskoya's house.
4.- Scene 3: Karenin;s house, St Petersburg. That night.
5.Part 2 - Scene 1: Stiva's house. A few days later
6.- Scene 2: Lenin's house in the country
7.- Scene 3: Karenin's country house outside St.
8.Part 3 - Scene 1: A box at the races. Tsarskoe Selo.
9.- Scene 2: Karenin's study, some days later.
10.ACT II: Part 4 - Scene 1: The Admiralty Gardens, St Petersburg. Early autumn.
11.- Scene 2: A supper party at Oblonskys'.
12.- Scene 3: Anna's bedroom, that night.
13.Interlude
14.Part 5 - Scene 1: Levin's house. Six months later
15.- Scene 2: Anna, writing.
16.- Scene 3: Seriosha's bedroom. Early morning on his birthday.
17.Interlude
18.Part 6 - Scene 1: Anna's apartments at an hotel. That evening.
19.- Scene 2: The Station Platform.
20.- Scene 3: (Epilogue). The garden of Levin's country estate. Months later.

Opera Now Magazine, July 2009
**

Back in 2007 when David Carlson’s Anna Karenina premiered in Florida, the reception was generally positive. Here was a meaty operatic subject with a meaty symphonic score (and sumptuous staging). The adaptation of the novel is cleverly done, balancing the Karenin/Vronsky/Anna unhappy triangle on one side, with the Kitty/Levin happy ending on the other. The music itself is grand, symphonic, and rather generic. The prologue instantly reminded me of Danny Elfman’s 1989 score for Batman, and it was a difficult first impression to shake. That is a bit unfair on Carlson; there is a lot to admire in this dramatic, expressive score. For this late 19th-century sound world though, it is woefully short on melodies.

Kimon Daltas