Avgust Amonov (Emperor), Mlada Khudoley (Empress), Olga Savova (Nurse), Edem Umerov (Barak), Olga Sergeyeva (Barak’s Wife)
Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev (conductor) & Jonathan Kent (stage director)
Gergiev coaxes some magnificent playing from his Mariinsky orchestra…But it’s [his] attention to detail that really counts with nothing smudged or generalised in his reading of the score…Best of all is Olga Savova’s Nurse – artful, cunning and slightly sinister. A properly wicked fairy or Baba Yaga. –BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE