Tchaikovsky: Iolanta

Iolanta was Tchaikovsky's final opera, a one-acter written to play on the same bill with The Nutcracker. It tells the story of a blind princess whose disability has been kept from her, and who learns of it along with the love that gives her the strength to overcome it. The composer personally preferred the opera to the ballet, but subsequent audiences have not agreed with his assessment, and Iolanta has languished in obscurity. There are dramatic reasons for that, but from a musical standpoint this score deserves to be heard. This recording is a part of the Gergiev/Kirov/Philips series of Russian operas, and a fine cast has been lavished on it, including the luscious-voiced soprano Galina Gorchakova in the title role, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Robert, to whom she has long been betrothed, and stentorian tenor Gegam Grigorian as the knight who falls in love with Iolanta and helps her gain the will to see. --Sarah Bryan Miller