Category: English

Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

Source: Melody – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Firma Melodiya continues to reissue Gennady Rozhdestvensky's legendary recordings. This album features five works, first performed in Russia under his baton in the mid-1970s and collected under a single cover in 1977; all are inspired by the works of great artists—Klee, Holbein, Hals, Rubens, and Picasso. All five are by Rozhdestvensky's contemporaries: Hungarian Sándor Veres, Austrian César Bresgen, Dutchman Wim Francken, Italian Otmar Nussio, and Canadian Harry Somers. Half a century ago, Rozhdestvensky's audience clearly heard these works for the first time, and many will hear them for the first time now: three of the five seem to be immortalized on this album for the first and only time. At least, no traces of other recordings could be found, and here it is difficult not to pay tribute to Rozhdestvensky and his tireless passion for searching for the rare, the little-known and the interesting.

All the works were composed between 1950 and 1966, and while formally still perfectly relevant for 1977, aesthetically they gravitate more toward the first third of the 20th century—toward the work of Bartók and the composers of the "Six," and toward the neoclassicism of Stravinsky and Hindemith. The only exception is the program's first piece, "Dedication to Paul Klee" for two pianos and string orchestra by Veres. Pianists Alexander Bakhchiev and Elena Sorokina shine here, although the work has also been recorded by other renowned masters, including András Schiff and Dénes Varjón, Andreas Grau, and Götz Schumacher. Veres's music is virtually unknown in Russia, despite being a highly original composer with an excellent background: he was a student of Bartók and Kodály, then a teacher of Kurtág and Ligeti, and later mentored an entire generation of Swiss composers, including Heinz Holliger.

"Dedication," whose seven movements are inspired by seven Klee paintings, is far from Veres's most individual composition; it reveals both the influence of Bartók and his successful transcendence of it. The "Firestorm" episode sounds truly terrifying, in the following "Old Bell" the soloists demonstrate marvels of mutual understanding, and "Gathering of Stones" makes you want to dance, despite the capricious rhythm. The final "Little Blue Devil" seems to unite all the most dynamic elements of the previous movements, and the devilish violin solo is clearly inspired by Stravinsky's "The Tale of the Runaway Soldier and the Devil, Played, Read, and Danced." Bresgen's suite for two pianos and percussion, "Pictures of Death," based on Hans Holbein's engravings, could also rightly be called excellent music, were it not so similar to Bartók's sonata for the same ensemble. Her shadow looms over each of the suite's fast episodes, while the composer is far more inventive in the slower sections, including the final one; Bakhchiev and Sorokina are joined here by percussionists Valentin Snegirev and Mikhail Arshinov.

Francken's "Portrait of Frans Hals" and Nussio's "Rubensiana" are surprisingly close: both works are written for chamber orchestra with an extensive harpsichord part (Mikhail Muntyan, another legendary musician, is superb here), both are imbued with a quasi-baroque spirit, and Francken even quotes his fellow countrymen Sweelinck and Valerius, making the words "as convincing as a quotation" doubly apt. Somers's "Picasso Suite" sounds even fresher, and one might not even know that he was a student of Darius Milhaud—it's evident from the very first note of the dashing ragtime that opens and closes the suite. The various periods of Picasso's career are reflected in its movements, the most striking of which is "Cubism," where the combination of piano and brass is reminiscent of Messiaen's "Exotic Birds." At the time of the release of the album "Music and Painting" in 1977, all five composers were alive; all of them had passed away in the last century—with the exception of Francken, who died in 2012.

Ilya Ovchinnikov, "Musical Life," December 28, 2025

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

Source: Melody – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

The world's Pushkiniana abounds with a vast array of operas, ballets, and choral works. The links in this chain encompass the multifaceted registers of the poet's talent. One of the iconic examples of its time is the vocal-poetic symphony "Pushkin" (1978) by Andrei Petrov, whose extensive compositional legacy is, unfortunately, most often associated solely with his film scores. The structure of the work is as follows: a prologue and two consecutively numbered movements.

The prologue provides a concise outline of the entire subsequent dramaturgy. Accompanied by the sounds of harp and strings, the opening poetic proclamation resounds: "I love you, Peter's creation…" (recited by Oleg Basilashvili). The music then becomes more tense and dissonant, its nerve provided by the harp section (the introduction of period instruments in the 1970s was as symptomatic as the use of electronics today). Images of key milestones in the creative biography of the Russian genius flash before one's eyes—so profound is the sense of the music's cinematic quality.

The prologue's tangled thematic twists reach their peak and are cut short by the sound of a gunshot. The work's subsequent two movements reminisce about the poet's life: St. Petersburg balls, memories of his youth in Tsarskoye Selo, hostile criticism, and the fateful duel at the end. The crown jewel of this choreosymphony is the mezzo-soprano Evgenia Gorokhovskaya. Her soulful solo is discreetly heard at key moments where Petrov borrows lyrics from folk songs collected by Pushkin. This is one of the singer's most significant works in her vast repertoire. The voice, personifying the image of the Motherland, flows naturally, both a cappella and accompanied by an orchestra, painting a picture of Russian expanse (“Valley-valley, wide expanse…”), turning into a reflection of the spirit of the national elements (“Wind from the field, fog from the sea…”) followed by the poet’s lamentation (“A tearful river runs, a bloody stream flows along it…”).

The recording featured the Choir of the Leningrad State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after S. M. Kirov (Principal Choirmaster Alexander Murin) and the Choir of the Leningrad State Academic Capella named after M. I. Glinka (Artistic Director Vladislav Chernushenko). In the fragment of the first movement, "Youth," the male parts managed to capture the dashing daring and indomitable energy of the Tsarskoye Selo youths thanks to their precise vocal delivery. The scope, the daring, the lightness—a true anthem of the Epicureans!

Another reason to appreciate the titanic work of the choirmasters who prepared this recording is the masterful dynamic differentiation of the choral voices in the "Pugachevshchina" fragment, which allows us to speak of the overall balanced timbre. The revelry of Pugachev's unbridled freedom is impressive! A different emotional tone is established in the symphony's finale—the vocalization of the female a cappella choir mourns the deceased poet. Then, rising in tessitura, this sound gradually transforms into the singing of angels, personifying the moment the poet's soul soars toward eternal life. With minimal expressive means, the composer creates a sense of the "sun of Russian poetry" rising before our eyes, and the awareness that life after death remains in the memory of the people whom the great poet served faithfully.

In his vocal and choreographic symphony "Pushkin," Petrov draws on the finest musical examples of the past. These include echoes of Glinka and Tchaikovsky's waltzes, phantom motifs whose orchestration recalls Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," and the conflicting nature of Shostakovich's symphonic style. Evgeny Kolobov is a great success, having managed to bring all these genetic threads present in Petrov's music into a coherent whole and bring the theatrical nature of the work to the forefront.

The recording of the vocal and choreographic symphony "Pushkin" is another reason to pay attention to Petrov's work, and this digital album may become a starting point for renewed interest in the composer's extensive legacy.

Sergey Terentyev, "Musical Life", January 2, 2026

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

Source: Melody – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

There are at least several hundred releases dedicated to the theme of lullabies in all their forms, and such albums are nothing new for Melodiya (Olga Peretyatko and Semyon Skigin's "Songs for Maya" come to mind among recent releases). However, in this diverse field, the latest release by Albina Latipova and Yuri Martynov definitely stands out for its concept. The album is not primarily a mosaic of individual, sometimes random numbers, but rather a structured program from a concert recorded at Moscow's Niko Gallery in November 2024. The performers primarily focus on chamber music: with the exception of Volkhova's Lullaby from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sadko," Gershwin's "Summertime," and a number of Soviet song hits, the rest is entirely devoted to the realm of Russian romance and German Lied. It is important to emphasize that Albina Latipova, being a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, in chamber music does not at all fall into the sin of an “operatic” presentation of sound and nuances, which is typical, unfortunately, of some prima donnas of leading stages: in her interpretation, everything is subordinated to a delicate, soft intonation.

Expectations of monotony in a program consisting solely of lullabies are in no way fulfilled this time around: the singer, with her mastery, manages to highlight the subtle details of each piece, finding its own contrasting image within the overall concept. Her ensemble with Yuri Martynov is also harmonious: the accompaniment here is not only extremely delicate but also quite individual; the pianist doesn't follow the soprano like a weak-willed shadow, but rather collaborates to construct an interpretation of each piece. The album's only piano track, the exquisite Lullaby by Frederic Chopin, helps to truly appreciate his mastery. Another key quality of Martynov and Latipova's ensemble is its naturalness, its absence of pretentiousness, inventiveness for effect, or flashy, affected delivery in its interpretations. In the lullaby genre, this approach is an unmistakable hit.

Among all the album's tracks, Richard Strauss's Lullaby (Op. 41, No. 1) is an undoubted highlight, impressing with its subtle nuances and timbral colors. The performers are no less compelling in works by Russian composers—Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky. Soviet hits also sound stylish, and Krylatov's "Bear's Lullaby," widely known from the beloved cartoon about Umka, is presented in an unexpectedly "gourmet" jazz version. Finally, the highly professional sound engineering by students from the Institute of Contemporary Art, led by Ilya Dontsov, is also noteworthy. For a team just beginning to master the basics of their craft, such a result is an obvious success.

The true audience for such albums, of course, isn't small children, but adults, who perhaps ultimately need lullabies even more. A baby will eventually fall asleep, whether in the quiet of a loving parent's arms, but our worries and stresses won't just disappear. Albina Latipova and Yuri Martynov's release could prove an effective remedy in these circumstances.

Alexander Kulikov, "Musical Life," December 7, 2025

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.