Ruslan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victor Nechipailo

Lyudmila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Galina Oleinichenko

Svetozar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Reshetin

Gorislava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eugenia Smolenskaya

Ratmir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria Mityukova

Farlaf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexei Geleva

Finn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vladimir Petrov

Naina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vera Smirnova

Bayan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nikolai Timchenko

          Choir and orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre

                      Conductor – Boris Khaikin

    Recorded live at the Bolshoi theatre on December 20th, 1961

This premiere release of Glinka's «Ruslan and Lyudmila» is from one of the best productions of this opera. It was first performed for the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in 1948 with direction by R. Zakharov, conducted by A. Melik-Pashaev and designed by the artist V.Dmitriev. In this radio broadcast from 1961, we have the opportunity of hearing some of the soloists who joined the Bolshoi Theatre during the 1950's - the dramatic baritone Victor Nechipailo, Galina Oleinichenko, Alexei Geleva, and Maria Mityukova. In addition, this recording also features one of the Bolshoi Theatre's best dramatic sopranos, Eugenia Smolenskaya, who performed on that stage from 1947. Due to staging constraints, this production of the opera was performed in an abridged version (for example the first scene from Act V was omitted).

Composers: Glinka M. I.