DESCRIPTION:
George London (1920-1985)

Prince Igor's aria ("Ni sna, ni otdykha izmuchennoi dushe") (Borodin)

London's rich, virile bass-baritone and dramatic, expressive singing seem tailor-made for Borodin's hero. The singer made this recording for Columbia shortly after joining the Met in 1951, and his assertive, sweeping manner finds an ideal partner in conductor Kurt Adler. The quiet orchestral introduction is appropriately dark and gloomy, and London takes his time working up a full head of steam. When he finally unleashes the full voice on the phrase "i brannoi slavy pir veselyi", the impact is quite thrilling- unmatched by any other singer I've heard in this.

Although as a child London never learned Russian from his immigrant parents, his diction here is also very good (as it was when he recorded Boris Godunov in Moscow nearly 10 years later). Indeed, this is my preferred version of the aria, beating out everything I've encountered from Slavic singers, and it makes me wish he had recorded the complete opera.