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): Pavel Gherman's "Tol'ko raz" ("Only Once"). 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:
Den' i noch ronjaet serdtse lasku,
Den' i noch kruzhitsja golova,
Den' i noch vzolnovannoyu skazkoi
Mne zvuchat tvoi slova.
Tol'ko raz byvaet v zhizni vstrecha,
Toll'ko raz sud'boju rviotsa nit',
Tol'ko raz v kholodnyi, khmuryi vecher
Mne tak hochetsa liubit'.
Gasnet luch purpurnovo zakata,
Sinevoi okutany tzvety.
Gde zhe ty, zhelannaia kogda-to,
Gde zhe ty, darivshaia mechty?
Day and night my heart expresses fondness,
day and night my head spins around.
Day and night, like an impassioned fairy tale,
your words resound in my ears.
A true encounter happens but once in life,
the thread of life is torn by fate but once;
only this once, on a cold, overcast evening
I so much desire to love.
The ray of the crimson sunset fades,
the flowers are wrapped in the blueness of dusk.
Where are you, the one I once so desired;
where are you, who planted these dreams in me?
