Boris Timofeevich Shtokolov (1930-2005) is a name unfamiliar to most music aficionados in the West. Though he was was an extremely popular singer in the former Soviet Union (and my personal favorite bass), his exposure to audiences beyond the Iron Curtain was limited- his tours abroad were not frequent, and recordings are relatively sparse for an artist of his stature. A graduate of the Ural State Conservatory in Ekaterinburg, he was THE leading bass at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg for much of his 30 year tenure there (1959-89) and is still considered the finest interpreter of old Russian romances and folk songs.
His voice was a genuine basso profondo- very dark, rotund, and powerful, but at the same time perfectly controlled, even, and flexible throughout its entire range, with an effortless top. The timbre is smooth as velvet, never harsh, and instantly recognizable (a characteristic of many great singers, it seems), and Shtokolov's trademark diminuendos and floated pianissimos are nothing short of miraculous, unmatched by any other bass in my listening experience.
Here he sings one of my favorite romances from the genre of the "starinniy russkiy romans" (old Russian romance): Sheremetev's "Ya vas liubil" ("I Loved You"). The unforgettable poem by Aleksandr Pushkin on which it is based has been set by a half dozen composers, including Cui, Aliabev, and Dargomyzhsky. But none quite captures its bittersweet essence like Sheremetev's beautifully lyrical version. Non-native listeners might be familiar with it from Dmitri Hvorostovsky's album "I met you, my love". While I have great admiration for the Siberian baritone as a singer and applaud his efforts to bring such romances to a wider audience, I must say his interpretation is completely outclassed by that of Shtokolov. Next to him, Hvorostovsky simply sounds glib and superficial; he sees the romance as nothing more than a pretty song. Shtokolov, on the other hand, makes a miniature masterpiece of it, and his singing conveys a depth of feeling that Hvorostovsky barely hints at.
Transliteration and translation of the text follow:
Ja vas ljubil: ljubov' jeshchjo, byt' mozhet,
V dushe mojej ugasla ne sovsem;
No pust' ona vas bol'she ne trevozhit:
Ja ne khochu pechalit' vas nichem.
Ja vas ljubil bezmolvno, beznadezhno,
To robost'ju, to revnost'ju tomim:
Ja vas ljubil tak iskrenno, tak nezhno,
Kak daj vam Bog ljubimoj byt' drugim.
I loved you: perhaps this love
Has not yet fully been extinguished in my soul;
But let it be of no further concern to you:
I do not wish to sadden you in any way.
I loved you silently, hopelessly,
Tormented in turn by timidity and jealousy;
I loved you so sincerely, so tenderly,
As I pray God will grant you to be loved by another.
