TCHAIKOVSKY: “Pikovaya Dama.” Wieslaw Ochman, Stefka Evstatieva,...

TCHAIKOVSKY: “Pikovaya Dama.” Wieslaw Ochman, Stefka Evstatieva, Yuri Mazurok, Penka Dilova, Stefania Toczyska, others; forces of Sofia Festival, Emil Tchakarov conducting. Sony Classical S3K 45720 (three CDs). Much of the credit for this splendid effort goes to Tchakarov, who has sweep and passion and a real feel for the Tchaikovsky line. Two Poles (Ochman and Toczyska) and a Russian (Mazurok) of international stature are imported, much to the benefit of the overall results. Ochman is impressive as he has rarely been in Italian parts. The veteran Mazurok still has ample beauty and interpretive power for Yeletsky’s aria, while Toczyska offers sumptuous lyricism as Polina. Evstatieva, despite some squally top notes under pressure, sings an elegant, touching Lisa. Dilova certainly sounds old enough for the Countess. The Sony packaging is quite lavish, but also something of a puzzle: Some of the cue numbers are odd (Lisa’s first-act aria is not indicated at all). No Cyrillic text is provided, which is perhaps understandable, but the transliteration is Czech, and thus useless for a consumer not familiar with pronunciation in that language.