Alexander Serov: Judith

[Alan Howe]

Having been more or less bowled over by Dargomyzhsky's Rus(s)alka I decided to try Serov's Judith - and wow! what an opera. No wonder it made such an impact at its premiere in St Petersburg in 1863.

The 1991 Bolshoi recording on Brilliant Classics is a fine one, with plenty of impact and some excellent singing. And it's currently a steal:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chamber-Symphony-Orchestra-Chistiakov-Academic/dp/B00BYVD0BK/ref=ice_ac_b_dpb?ie=UTF8&qid=1543668255&sr=8-3&keywords=serov

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, it's a cracker isn't it?

[Christopher]

I particularly like Holofernes' War Song - here it is sung most severely by Boris Gmyrja - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa1VOStM0DU - less than 3 minutes long but wow. Enjoy!