Boris Timofeevich Shtokolov (1930-2005) is a name unfamiliar to most music aficionados in the West. Although he 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.

Since I have already posted a few videos of Shtokolov in old Russian romances and folk songs, I thought it time to present him in opera. In the early 1970's, Shtokolov made a number of aria recordings with conductor Fuat Mansurov and the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. One of these was an absolutely superlative version of Prince Gremin's aria ('Lyubvi vse vozrasty pokorny') from Tchaikovsky's "Evgeniy Onegin", which I have chosen for Shtokolov's Youtube opera "debut". And he truly breathes new life into this old warhorse of a piece. For once, the aria sounds like a heartfelt confession instead of a public address or a dull recitation from the telephone book. Shtokolov's incomparable voice and dignified, yet utterly sincere approach make him the best Prince I've ever heard, BY FAR. He even manages to outdo Reizen, Mikhailov, and Petrov, all of whom recorded solid, but otherwise unremarkable Gremins. And Shtokolov is light years removed from the woofy-voiced Sergei Aleksashkin in the MET's 2007 broadcast of the opera. Shtokolov's artistry simply defies criticism, and I hope that this recording proves to be a wonderful discovery for those unfamiliar with his singing.

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