Alexander Melik-Pashaev


Another Russian conductor I like very much is Alexander Melik-Pashaev. I heard him conduct 'The Queen of Spades' at Covent Garden magnificently (my first). It was sung in English and the production I realised only recently was pinched from a film (1949)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_of_Spades_(1949_film)
I read somewhere that the snow effects in this film were created by grinding up Messerschmidt cockpit covers from crashed aircraft. Apparently these fragments were sharp and painful if the actors got caught under them.
Melik Pashaev also conducted Aida at Covent Garden.
He made many opera recordings. Those of non-Russian rep are surprisingly idiomatic (non-Russian) such as his 'Fidelio' with Vishnevskaya and 'Falstaff.' Vishnevskaya wrote very warmly of him in 'Galina,' saying how much she owed to him.
He recorded very few non-operatic works
https://melody.su/en/catalog/classic/33107/

There is an incredible (so Russian) story about his demise. He was walking by the Bolshoi Theatre one day and he saw the name of another conductor on the poster for 'Boris Godunov.' Since 'Boris' was only ever conducted by the Musical Director of the theatre he understood immediately that he had been sacked. One month later he died of a heart attack.

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