All-Union Radio Orchestra, Kovalev - Tchaikovsky: Voivoda (2014)

Tchaikovsky's first opera, Voivoda as titled on the original Melodiya LPs but now more commonly written The Voyevoda is one of his most obscure works, largely thanks to his destruction of the score. To the best of my knowledge there has been one full recording, also originating in the USSR, and this early double-LP set of highlights or "fragments", which I understand to have been produced for radio broadcast. In terms of sound quality it's very much of its age and origin - not bad, but soon to be eclipsed by recordings made later in the decade. That said, I've heard far worse from western record companies working in the early 1950s!

I've managed to breathe quite a bit of life into a slightly dull and dusty original, whilst battling against peak distortion at higher frequencies during some of the tracks. The titles used for the various tracks here are listed exactly as written on the Melodiya LPs.