'Mazeppa', a neglected work?

I do not mean Liszt's piano study from Etudes d'execution transcendante, or the same composer's symphonic poem, but an opera by Tchaikovsky I heard for the first time only last week.

So, the Ukrainian historical figure Mazeppa also received Tchaikovsky's attention. The composer based his opera Mazeppa on a Pushkin work, as was the case with his Evgeny Onyegin. The former has enthralling vocal sequences, one of which has colors not unlike Tatiana's Letter Scene in Eugene Onegin.

The amazing thing about this Mazeppa is that it keeps the listener on edge during the whole opera, which lasts three hours. There seems to be no sags, like in the composer's two other better known operas Onegin and Pikovaya Dama (The Queen of Spades).

The quality of the performance broadcast by Radio Klasik FM may have influenced my favorable impression of Mazeppa. The purposeful singing, with beautifully shaped phrases by singers such as Galina Grochakova and Sergei Leiferkus, may have enhanced my appreciation of Tchaikovsky's little-known work. The overall performance with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Neeme Jarvi. Estonian-born Jarvi, I thought, was mainly an excellent conductor of orchestral works. I now realize that he is an equally formidable force in keeping things together in the impossible art of opera.

By the way, I think Jarvi may be the right man to impose some discipline on The Three Tenors, who are scheduled to sing together again this year at the opening of soccer's 1998 World Cup in France. A frightening prospect! When Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti sang together for the first time, it was still interesting. They came well-prepared for the occasion, although they did have to peek into the texts of English-language songs. But they became sloppier from year to year. One realized that, apparently, they did not practice enough for their concerts. They took their popularity for granted. When you listen to each of them sing in operas recorded in the 1970s and some in the 1980s, you are aware of their impressive power of interpretation in a vast operatic repertoire. A feat only possible after long hours of practice.

To return to Mazeppa. The recording I heard last week truly excels in concentrated singing, which is practically absent in the present-day singing of The Three Tenors. Ironically, such ill-prepared singing by the triumvirate earns them huge amounts of money.

I hope Radio Klasik FM will broadcast Mazeppa again later this year. The radio station is currently airing a most comprehensive series on Schubert, his life and his works. When one thinks one is familiar with this composer because he is well served by the recording companies, one is in for a surprise because there is still much to learn from his lesser known works.

Apparently, the Austrian genius poured out an immense wealth of music, excepting operas, in the short span of his life (he died at 31). To think that he sometimes was too poor to buy paper to write down his music! He certainly had a lot more in store for the world. If only there had been somebody to think of subsidizing Schubert's need for paper!

S. HARMONO

Jakarta