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Unknown opera?

2K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  tyroneslothrop 
#1 ·
I was in a second-hand store a couple weeks ago and found an early 20th century Russian opera on vinyl called "Katerina" by a composer named "MM Arkas."

The synopsis on the back of the LP (your standard 60s-style LP that also had a bio of the composer) revealed that he served in the army for most of his adult life, and wrote this, his only opera, over a span of 20 years while doing his service.

I already had a bunch of LPs picked out, so this became part of my "B list" of things to check out when I got home. I searched online for quite a while, including every opera database I could find, and there is no mention of either the composer or the opera.

Therefore I needed to rush back and pick up the record, since it was obviously so rare to the point that nobody has heard of it. But when I got back it was gone ! Some opera aficionado picked up just about every opera record in the stash.

So ........... has anyone ever heard of this opera? Is it any good ?? What have I missed out on? Any insight would be much appreciated.
 
#2 · (Edited)
#4 · (Edited)
No, except as noted in one of the links, it's based upon a poem by Taras Shevchenko. Here's a link to the poem.
http://www.utoronto.ca/elul/English/248/Shevchenko-Kateryna-Skrypnyk-trans.pdf
and was performed as recently as April 2012 by Odessa National Opera.
http://www.odessawalks.com/Blog/Odessa-National-Opera-Ballet-Theater-April-2012-Program.html

The time span between Arkas's death and the opera premiere is curious.

If you can find the record, the liner notes would be invaluable to expanding Wiki's entry on this gentleman.
 
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