Russian Songs

1. Weeping Willows Dream

2. Song of the Tender Young Girl

3. Does Anyone Know?

4. Song of the Aviator

5. On a Bulgarian Theme

6. Oh, My Heart!

7. Wild Cherry Tree Sways Beneath the Window

8. Just as You Were

9. Souliko

10. Old Maple-Tree

11. Going Down the River

12. Not to Wander

13. Nightingales, Don't Disturb the Soldiers

14. On the Oceans, Not the Waves

15. In the Silence of the Night

16. Little Poem

17. Love Song

18. Alburnum in Flower

19. But Where Can I Find That Song

20. I Seduced a Lad

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Russian Songs,Svetlana,Ocora,Int'l & World Music,Pop,Russia,Russia / Eastern Europe,Russian,World Music

Average customer rating: Soviet Army Band & Chorus aren't taking any prisoners! Good music. Magnificent! I loved it! The ultimate collection

Best of the Red Army Choir Red Army Choir Manufacturer: Silva America ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Soviet Army Chorus & Band Russian Favourites The Hunt For Red October: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Best of Communism: Revolutionary Songs Echoes of a Red Empire ASIN: B000066RMJ Release Date: 2002-06-25

Tracks:

1. Kalinka
2. Partisan's Song
3. Souliko
4. Korobelniki
5. On The Road (A Soldier's Song)
6. My Country
7. The Red Army Is The Strongest
8. Moscow Nights
9. Along Peterskaia Street
10. Smuglianka
11. Troika Gallop
12. Ah Nastassia
13. Echelon's Song
14. My Army
15. Civil War Songs
16. Bella Ciao

Tracks:

1. National Anthem Of The USSR
2. Oh Fields, My Fields
3. The Cliff
4. The Cossacks
5. In The Central Steppes
6. Gandzia
7. Cossack's Song
8. The Roads
9. Song Of The Volga Boatman
10. Dark Eyes
11. Let's Go
12. The Birch Tree
13. The Road Song
14. The Samovars
15. Varchavianka
16. Slavery And Suffering

Customer Reviews:

Soviet Army Band & Chorus aren't taking any prisoners!.......2007-05-12

If you enjoy a good stiring martial male chorus then spend some time with these guys. They're all graduates of Soviet musical acadamies and any one of them could have graced the top opera houses of the world. You don't have to know any Russian to appreciate this CD. The songs are glorious (just don't translate them -- machine guns, death to foes, etc.), and will make you want to march on Berlin all over again.

Good music........2007-03-09

I had heard a few songs by the Red Army Choir in the past and happened upon this CD set a while back, I found it to be far better than I had hoped and would reccoment it to anyone who enjoys Russian folk music, choir in general, and cultural items from when Russia was still the Soviet Union.

Magnificent!.......2007-02-27

I'm so glad I stumbled onto this.

Spirited, committed, manly singing. Soul-shaking stuff! The ensemble is incisive; soloists are marvelous. The folk melodies are enchanting. The songs--and the singers--are bound up in the cultural fabric of the Cossacks, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky...on and on.., Chekhov, Trotsky, Nabakov... This music conveys the great romantic, dignified, boistrous soul of the Russian People. (Loosely speaking. Some members of the chorus were presumably of other nationalities once part of the Soviet Union. And some of the songs are not Russian).

I don't speak Russian, but listening to this makes me wish I did. What a beautiful-sounding language it is.

I loved it!.......2007-02-22

Even though I cannot speak Russian, the quality of this choral group is beyond excellent. Many of these pieces are extremely moving and stirring. The rendering of the Soviet anthem and the song "Let's Go" (V'put) come to my mind. "Let's Go" became a huge hit in Russia when it was featured in a movie about the Great Patriotic War, and indeed, hearing it - you can well imagine ranks upon ranks of hard-eyed, grim-faced Soviet soldiers striding into battle against the Wehrmacht.

The ultimate collection.......2004-06-15

Excellent performance by the choir and the orchestra. The grandeur, the charm, and the romance! Great collection of songs, sure to bring back memories!

Average customer rating: Introduction to Russian 101 A Great Double Album From Theodore Bikel

Songs of Russia Old & New/Songs of a Russian Gypsy Theodore Bikel Manufacturer: Collector's Choice ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Jewish & Yiddish Music | Folk | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music Israel | Middle East | International | Styles | Music Gypsy | Eastern Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music Similar Items: Classic Jewish Holiday & Shabbat Songs Theodore Bikel's Treasury of Yiddish Theatre and Folk Songs Russian Favourites Music of Russia Balalaika: Russia's Most Beautiful Songs ASIN: B000BR6DDU Release Date: 2006-02-21

Tracks:

1. Pomnyu Ya (I Remember)
2. Yamshchik Gani-Ka K Yaru (Coachman, Away to the Fair)
3. Noch Tikha (Quiet Night)
4. Polso Bylo Lyublyatse (I Never Meant to Love)
5. Gari Gari Maya Zvyezada (Twinkle, Twinkle, My Star)
6. Chupchik (Curly Forelock)
7. Vyecherny Zvon (Evening Bells)
8. At Volgi da Dona (From the Volga to the Don)
9. Talyanochka (The Concertina)
10. Padmaskovniye Vyechera (Moscow Evenings)
11. Padrushka Milaya (My Old Pal)
12. Katiusha
13. Pravazhanye (Parting)
14. Tyomnaya Noch (Dark Night)
15. Beryuzoviye Kalyechke
16. Yekhali Tsigane
17. Dve Gitari
18. Kagda Ya Pyann
19. Svyetit Myesats
20. Kak Stranno
21. Nichevo, Nichevo, Nichevo [From Frein]
22. Chto Mnye Gorye
23. Dyen I Noch
24. Metyelitsa
25. Snilsya Mnye Sad
26. Karobushka
27. Karabli
28. Sudarinya

Product Description

1. Pomnyu Ya (I Remember)
2. Yamshchik Gani-Ka K Yaru (Coachman, Away to the Fair)
3. Noch Tikha (Quiet Night)
4. Polso Bylo Lyublyatse (I Never Meant to Love)
5. Gari Gari Maya Zvyezada (Twinkle, Twinkle, My Star)
6. Chupchik (Curly Forelock)
7. Vyecherny Zvon (Evening Bells)
8. At Volgi da Dona (From the Volga to the Don)
9. Talyanochka (The Concertina)
10. Padmaskovniye Vyechera (Moscow Evenings)
11. Padrushka Milaya (My Old Pal)
12. Katiusha
13. Pravazhanye (Parting)
14. Tyomnaya Noch (Dark Night)
15. Beryuzoviye Kalyechke
16. Yekhali Tsigane
17. Dve Gitari
18. Kagda Ya Pyann
19. Svyetit Myesats
20. Kak Stranno
21. Nichevo, Nichevo, Nichevo {From Fr?ulein} (Daniele Amfitheatrof)
22. Chto Mnye Gorye
23. Dyen I Noch
24. Metyelitsa
25. Snilsya Mnye Sad
26. Karobushka
27. Karabli
28. Sudarinya

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

Introduction to Russian 101.......2007-02-09

Growing up post-WWII, and in college and the military during the Cold War, I wanted to understand my "enemy", a the military demands. This album was part of my learning, and is just good music. Many pop and rockers will not be interested: their loss. Bikel took folk singing a step further, and even not understanding all the words (I took Russian in college), it has a good intro to the Russian "soul", from Ivan the Terrible to Putin.

A Great Double Album From Theodore Bikel.......2006-04-15

I have owned the LP of "Songs of a Russian Gypsy" since the early 60's, and it has always been a favorite. This record was a "breakthrough hit" for Elektra records in the early days (See "Follow The Music" by Jac Holzman and Gavan Daws).
"Songs of a Russian Gypsy" was re-issued as a CD by Bainbridge Records, in the 90's, but in limited numbers. When the supply dried up, only an uncertain "used" market remained, with prices quite variable. (see my review of the used CD).
This re-issue also includes another Bikel favorite, "Songs of Russia Old and New". Hopefully, more early Electra Albums will surface through the efforts of Collectors Choice Music!

Average customer rating: Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material! Beginner or Expert Very Informative and Enjoyable Frank's view Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra

Instruments of the Orchestra Various Artists Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music London Philharmonic Orchestra | ( L ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music National Philharmonic Orchestra London | ( N ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Blowout Box Sets | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 20% Off | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra | ( H ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music London Philharmonic Orchestra | ( L ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | ( M ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music National Philharmonic Orchestra London | ( N ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Similar Items: Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op34; Simple Symphony Op4 The Life and Works of Ludwig van Beethoven What to Listen for in Music Study of Orchestration, Third Edition The Life and Works of Frédéric Chopin ASIN: B00006O0NT Release Date: 2002-12-03

Tracks:

1. Overture To 'Tannhauser'
2. Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
3. We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
4. Hungarian Dance No.7
5. The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
6. Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
7. But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
8. The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
9. The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
10. Csardas Music
11. The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
12. The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
13. Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
14. The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
15. Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
16. Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
17. The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
18. Tzigane
19. Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
20. Caprice No.24
21. The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
22. Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
23. Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
24. Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
25. Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
26. The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
27. The Violin Muted
28. Clair De Lune
29. The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
30. Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
31. The Pizzicato Violin
32. Pizzicato Polka
33. In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
34. Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
35. Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
36. The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
37. The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
38. Hungarian Dance No.4
39. Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
40. The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
41. Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
42. Bolero
43. Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
44. Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
45. Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
46. Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
47. Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
48. Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
49. And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
50. Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
51. The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
52. Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
53. The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
54. Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
55. Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
56. The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
57. Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
58. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
59. Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
60. The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
61. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
62. Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
63. Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
64. Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
65. Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
66. To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
67. Elfenreigen

Tracks:

1. Introduction To The Viola
2. Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
3. Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
4. Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
5. Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
6. Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
7. The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
8. Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
9. The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
10. Cypresses (No.9)
11. The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
12. Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
13. The 'Period' Viola In Bach
14. Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
15. The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
16. Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
17. Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
18. Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
19. Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
20. Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
21. In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
22. Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
23. But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
24. Elfentanz, Op.39
25. Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
26. The Protecting Veil (Opening)
27. A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
28. Flamenco
29. Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
30. Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
31. It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
32. Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
33. It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
34. Symphony No.9 (Finale)
35. Introduction To The Double-Bass
36. The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
37. But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
38. Elegy No.1 In D Major
39. The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
40. Capriccio Di Bravura
41. Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
42. The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
43. Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

1. The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
2. Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
3. The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
4. Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
5. The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
6. Sa'Dawi
7. Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
8. Chamber Music No.II
9. The Piccolo - Aptly Named
10. La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
11. From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
12. Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
13. A Variety Of Techniques
14. Chamber Music No.II
15. Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
16. The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
17. From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
18. Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
19. An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
20. Naelden, Naelden
21. The Bachian Oboe
22. Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
23. Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
24. Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
25. The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
26. The Swan Of Tuonela
27. The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
28. Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
29. Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
30. Bolero
31. The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
32. Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
33. As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
34. Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
35. The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
36. The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
37. The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
38. ...And Quite Low.
39. Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
40. The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
41. Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
42. But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
43. Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
44. Introduction To The Saxophone
45. Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
46. The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
47. L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
48. The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
49. Bolero
50. The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
51. Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
52. The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
53. Sax-O-Phun
54. The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
55. Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
56. The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
57. Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
58. Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
59. And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
60. Bolero
61. The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
62. Symphony No.3 (Opening)
63. The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
64. The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
65. Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
66. The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
67. The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
68. Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
69. The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
70. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
71. The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
72. Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
73. Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
74. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
75. The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
76. Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

1. The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
2. Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
3. The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
4. Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
5. The Ceremonial Trumpet
6. Fanfare For The Common Man
7. Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
8. Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
9. The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
10. Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
11. The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
12. Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
13. The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
14. Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
15. The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
16. Billy The Kid
17. The Trumpet As Character Actor
18. Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
19. The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
20. Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
21. The Birth Of The Trombone
22. Aenmerckt Nu Hier
23. The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
24. Canzon 12 In Double Echo
25. The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
26. Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
27. The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
28. Hosannah
29. The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
30. Symphony No.5 (Finale)
31. The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
32. The Trombone As Caricaturist
33. Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
34. The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
35. The Horn And The Hunt
36. Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
37. The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
38. Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
39. The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
40. Walter Music (Minuet 1)
41. The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
42. Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
43. Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
44. The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
45. Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
46. The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
47. Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
48. The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
49. Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
50. The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
51. Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

1. Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
2. Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
3. At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
4. Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
5. Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
6. Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
7. The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
8. The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
9. Den Hoboecken Dans
10. Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
11. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
12. No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
13. Gymnopedie No.2
14. The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
15. Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
16. More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
17. Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
18. Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
19. Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
20. A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
21. Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
22. The Birth Of The Bongo
23. Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
24. From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
25. Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
26. From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
27. Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
28. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
29. But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
30. Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
31. Taking Advantage Of Tunability
32. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
33. The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
34. Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
35. Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
36. The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
37. Ravel And The Xylophone
38. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
39. Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
40. Introducing The Vibraphone
41. The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
42. The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
43. Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
44. Folk Dances
45. The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
46. Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
47. Introducing The Tubular Bells
48. Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
49. A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
50. Carmen Suite (Introduction)
51. But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
52. Introducing The Celeste
53. The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
54. Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
55. Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
56. Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
57. A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
58. The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
59. Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
60. The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
61. Petrushka (Russian Dance)
62. The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
63. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

1. Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
2. Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
3. But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
4. Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
5. The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
6. An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
7. Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
8. Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
9. Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
10. Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
11. Mahler's Sleighbells
12. Symphony No.4 (Opening)
13. A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
14. Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
15. Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
16. Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
17. National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
18. And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
19. And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
20. The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
21. The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
22. The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
23. The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
24. The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
25. The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
26. The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
27. The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
28. There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
29. The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
30. Nocturnes
31. Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
32. The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
33. The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
34. The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
35. The Oboe As Duck
36. Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
37. The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
38. The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
39. The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
40. Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
41. Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
42. Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
43. Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
44. The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
45. A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
46. Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
47. A Thunderstorm In A Million
48. Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
49. the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
50. The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
51. Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
52. The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)

Tracks:

1. The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
2. Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
3. A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
4. Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
5. Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
6. String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
7. The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
8. String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
9. The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
10. String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
11. The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
12. String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
13. The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
14. String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
15. The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
16. Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
17. Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
18. String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
19. The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
20. Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
21. Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
22. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
23. In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
24. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
25. In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
26. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
27. In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
28. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
29. Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
30. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
31. And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
32. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
33. The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
34. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
35. Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
36. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
37. A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
38. Octet In F (Mvt 3)
39. The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
40. Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
41. Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
42. Canzon 28
43. Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
44. Symphony No.5 (Finale)
45. From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
46. Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
47. Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
48. The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
49. Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
50. When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
51. Images (Gigues)
52. A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
53. Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
54. The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
55. Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
56. Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
57. Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
58. A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')

Customer Reviews:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

Frank's view.......2006-08-19

This boxed set of CD's with booklet achieved all I had hoped that it would. There are good samples of individual instruments and well done commentary on each. The only drawback was that some of the samples were too brief and could have been longer, hoiwever I guess this fits in with time constraints of the medium. It has given me a lot of clues as to future purchases of CD's for listening to individual instruments. Altogeth a satisfactory purchase and a welcome addition to my collection.

Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

I've listened to classical music for years and am interested in composition. I bought this CD set to learn how an orchestra and its instruments work. I thought the CDs would be a nice but boring lecture. They aren't! Not only are they FUN but they are informative as well. I learned a huge amount from each CD and couldn't wait to listen to the next one.

The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!

I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.

The one complaint I have is the last CD. This deals with the orchestra. I wanted more of a tour of how the orchestra has been used through history up to the present. Instead, it was a tour of how different groups of instruments sound. I thought it could have been better. The other 6 CDs are excellent.

Average customer rating: Wanting to hear the sound of a balalaika! From Russia, with Strings Spectacular Nothing beats this for exuberance

Balalaika Favorites Manufacturer: Philips ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Folk Songs | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Similar Items: Balalaika: Russia's Most Beautiful Songs Music of Russia Best of Russian Folk Songs Best of the Red Army Choir Russian Cossack Music from the Urals ASIN: B0000057KI Release Date: 1990-09-12

Tracks:

1. Fantasy on Two Folk Songs
2. At Sunrise
3. The Linden Tree
4. Kamarinskaya
5. Fantasy on Volga Melodies
6. In the Moonlight
7. Midnight in Moscow
8. Under the Apple Tree
9. Dance of the Comedians
10. The Living Room
11. Evening Bells
12. My Dear Friend, Please Visit Me
13. Waltz of the Faun
14. Flight of the Bumble - Bee

Customer Reviews:

Wanting to hear the sound of a balalaika!.......2005-10-18

I have not received my cd yet, but I was expecting to receive one with balalaika only, so I am already disappointed. In the samples, the orchestra is so predominate I cannot tell which is the balalaika. Thanks, Violet

From Russia, with Strings.......2004-08-09

The Osipov Russian Folk Orchestra made this fine recording some four decades ago, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were barely on speaking terms. I imagine that some of the people who bought this record found themselves on FBI or CIA observation lists. Still, it would have been worth it, for the sheer exuberance of the music alone. The performances are bold and exciting, tinged with a hint of danger, and the listener is carried away on a crest of winter sleigh rides through places like Moscow and Vladivostock. Sure, the orchestra was capitalizing on the popularity of Dr. Zhivago, but at least they were able to find an audience. There's a little bit of hiss, given the antiquated recording instruments of the time, but it isn't enough to distract from the music. In fact, it's barely audible. I understand that they have since released a remastered version of the disc, but I'm always suspicious of perfection. One other thing: the cover leads you to believe that this is solely a balalaika show, but that isn't quite the case. There is, in fact, a whole orchestra here, but it is used quite smartly. Those other instruments give the music the air of authenticity, and create a kind of old world mood, but it's the balalaikas that carry the day.

Spectacular.......2004-07-15

This album is not only one of the finest technically, but also musically. It was recorded back in the early sixties with the finest equipment and the finest audio technique ever devised. This has to be one of the most enjoyable listening experiences the listener will ever experience, as is all of the Mercury Living Presence series. We are privilaged to have these great recordings re-made on CD, and this particular one has to be at the top of the list. It will challenge any other recording technique, and it will lift your spirits every time you listen to it!

Nothing beats this for exuberance.......2000-02-06

The sound of massed balalaikas is a real treat, especially when recorded with as much vividness and realism as on this disc. The Osipov Folk Orchestra also consists of bass balalaikas, accordions, flutes, Vladimir Shepherd's Horns, and percussion and they produce quite a kaleidoscope of sound! I particularly enjoy the comedic Vladimir Shepherd's Horns, heard to their most humorous effect in the Tchaikovsky piece, which is guaranteed to make you smile. This recording uncannily conveys the impression of a live event. Of course, the performers deserve most of the credit for this. Their unanimity of attack and sheer exuberance are heartstopping. Even if you think you don't like Russian folk music, give this a try!

Average customer rating: incredible!!!!! Balalaika Music Balalaika-Russia's Most Beautiful~Stars of St. Petersburg

Balalaika: Russia's Most Beautiful Songs Stars of St. Petersburg Manufacturer: Arc Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Russia | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Music of Russia Best of the Red Army Choir Balalaika Favorites Russian Favourites Russian Cossack Music from the Urals ASIN: B000001IJS Release Date: 1996-03-19

Tracks:

1. Barinya
2. Akh Ti Berioza
3. Riabinouchka
4. Poliouchka Polie
5. Korobeiniki
6. Quadrille
7. To Nie Vetier
8. Kalinka
9. Polianka
10. Vniz Po Volge
11. Podmoskovnie Vetchera
12. Katioucha
13. Vladimirskii Rojok
14. Solo Gousli
15. Russikie Napievi
16. Svetit Mesiat
17. Vuidu la Na Retchiuku
18. Kolibelnaia
19. Vetchernii Zvon

Customer Reviews:

incredible!!!!!.......2007-05-09

This is an excellent album all on folk instruments. All the artists have incredible technique. A real treat well worth buying.

Balalaika Music.......2007-02-14

I am very pleased with this CD. It includes musical selections I have heard while visiting friends in the past and is very soothing and comforting to listen to during a long day of work.

Balalaika-Russia's Most Beautiful~Stars of St. Petersburg.......2001-03-15

A fabulous, and rousing musical CD by the Stars of St. Petersburg. They use the traditional instruments to play all the songs with the histories of the instruments in the CD jacket. An excellent CD to get to know the balalika and the wonderful music that it can bring to one's ears. The songs flow into each other to further the enjoyment of this CD. Highly recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys the Balalika or Russian music.

Average customer rating: Ever-reigning Queen of Sopranos Lucia Popp Lucy: The Reigning Queen of Opera

The Very Best of Lucia Popp Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dvorák, Antonín | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Grieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Lehár, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mahler | Mahler, Gustav | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Orff | Orff, Carl | ( O ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schubert | Schubert, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Smetana | Smetana, Bedrich | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Strauss Jr., Johann | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Strauss | Strauss, Richard | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rossini | Rossini, Gioacchino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Incidental Music | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music London Philharmonic Orchestra | ( L ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra | ( V ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Czech | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: The Very Best of Victoria de los Angeles Lucia Popp: Opera Arias Very Best of Very Best of Opera Arias ASIN: B0000AHEAY Release Date: 2003-09-02

Tracks:

1. Song To The Moon
2. Should I Ever Learn
3. How Confused I Feel
4. Solveig's Song
5. Solveig's Cradle Song
6. Amor Volat Undique
7. Stetit Puella
8. In Trutina
9. Vier Letzte Lieder
10. Vier Letzte Lieder
11. Vier Letzte Lieder
12. Vier Letzte Lieder
13. Symphony No. 4 In G
14. Tatiana's Letter Scene

Tracks:

1. Un Cenno Leggiadretto
2. Ho Perduto Il Caro Sposo
3. O Had I Jubel's Lyre
4. Laudate Dominum
5. Welche Wonne, Welche Lust
6. Porgi, Amor
7. Voi Che Sapete
8. Giunse Alfin Il Momento...Deh Vieni, Non Tardar
9. Crudele?...Non Mi Dir
10. Come Scoglio
11. Una Donna A Quindici Anni
12. Der Holle Rache
13. Ach, Ich Fuhl's
14. Crucifixus
15. Die Forelle
16. Gretchen Am Spinnrade
17. An Sylvia
18. Zueignung
19. Es Lebt' Eine Vilja
20. Klange Der Heimat

Customer Reviews:

Ever-reigning Queen of Sopranos.......2007-05-28

Listening through these two discs, one thought kept leaping up to mind: will ever there be another soprano as versatile and accomplished as Lucia Popp? Died in 1994 at the early age of 54, the operatic world hadn't really mourned her enough.
People are still lingering on Maria Callas, the 'star' soprano with all her glamour and legendary life could offer.
Real listeners, however, could not give up the memory of Lucia Popp's terrific artistry and almost supernatural voice.
Her Rusalka, her Solveig, her Susanna, Zerlina, Despina in the da Ponte/Mozart trio, her terrific Queen of the Night (unsurpassed by ANY subsequent sopranos up till now), and ALSO her Pamina in the same opera. In any language you ask her to sing, and she excelled. I marvel at the Letter Scene in Eugene Onegin - only if Lucia had the chance to perform the whole opera during her short life! The joy, the expectation, the emotional tribulations, so vividly captured in girlish and pure timbre. No one will ever beat her; not even Fleming and Netrebko.
"Weird and wonderful" - that's what Elisabeth Schwarzkopf said of Lucia Popp's singing. We today would modify it to 'wonderful and unsurpassable'.
This 2-CD set is an absolute must have, even if you have never heard of Lucia Popp before.

Lucia Popp.......2006-01-12

This is a wonderful album showcasing the very best of Lucia Popp (as the title suggests). Her voice was absolutely beautiful. She could sing the slavic languages like no one else. Her version of Dvorak's Song to the Moon is unbeatable. I dare anyone to find a better performance! Also, the song from Die Zauberflute -Ah Ich fuls (sp?) is outstanding. I've yet to hear a better version. Her diction was fantastic and while she wasn't the highest soprano around - she knew what worked for her voice. This is album is a keeper!

Lucy: The Reigning Queen of Opera.......2004-07-12

Lucia Popp is one of the best sopranos to ever grace the operatic/classical voice stage. This CD compilation shows her progression through lyric Handel to lyric and dramatic Mozart (her Der Holle Rache from Magic Flute is unrivaled) to tender art song and operetta literature. The first disc also showcases her adeptness with 20th Century literature as well as the ability to step out of the traditional four languages of opera. Any avid music fan MUST have this CD compilation.

Average customer rating: Lively dance music I agree with C. Danute Cekauskas-Voelker!!! SONGS & DANCES FROM LITHUANIA

Songs & Dances from Lithuania Dainava Manufacturer: Arc Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Russia | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Art of Lithuanian Cooking Lithuanian-English/English-Lithuanian Dictionary & Phrasebook Beginner's Lithuanian (Beginner's (Foreign Language)) Lithuania, 4th: The Bradt Travel Guide (Bradt Guides) Lithuanian Heritage Magazine ASIN: B000056K03 Release Date: 2001-01-30

Tracks:

1. Greeting Dance
2. Lituania
3. Crazy Polka
4. Spring Dancing Party In Galaliai Village
5. Towel Dance
6. Rabbit
7. Kalatinis
8. Farewell Waltz
9. Rye Dance
10. John's Polka
11. Jump A Bit
12. Holiday Polka
13. I Am Young Again
14. Three Days
15. Dance And Stamp Your Feet
16. Apascios
17. The Wind Was Blowing
18. Clog Dance
19. Lapwing
20. Polka In Fours
21. Polka Of Vasiliauskas
22. Agota - A Girl's Name
23. Brothers, Let's Saddle Our Horses
24. Dahlia Waltz

Customer Reviews:

Lively dance music.......2001-11-08

As dance instructor for a Lithuanian folk dance group, I found this recording absolutely beautiful. Not only is the music and instrumentation lovely, the dances are actually dance-able! This is very rare in commercial recordings of folk dance music. I recommend this CD to all Lithuanian folk dance instructors and to anyone who would like to get acquainted with Lithuanian folk music. Enjoy!

I agree with C. Danute Cekauskas-Voelker!!!.......2001-10-20

Okay, so I haven't actually listened to the CD, but I am here to add some fuel to the statement that Lithuanians are NOT Russians!!! Are Colombians the same as Chileans? Are Sicilians the same as Romans? Excuse me, Amazon, but Lithuanians and Russians do not even use the same alphabet. By the way, I do not have anything against Russians! (Let's get that straight) I unfortunately cannot speak Lithuanian, but I am just as proud of my Lithuanian heritage as the first reviewer. So, Amazon.com, since your'e such an oh-so wonderful website, think you can have a little more insight and realize that just because some countries are close in proximity does not mean that they are all the same ethnic groups??

SONGS & DANCES FROM LITHUANIA.......2001-04-05

My rating may reflect my bias for Lithuanian music. I am a Lithuanian-American whose sister gave her this CD for her birthday. It is a very special CD of highly ethnic Lithuanian music. I don't know however why Amazon has listed it under "Russian" music. Lithuania is NOT part of Russia and hasn't been since winning back its independence in the early 1990s. We are proud to be a very old and passionate culture. Our music reflects the spirit of our people and its love of nature. The folk music in this tape demonstrates this. I am afraid, however, that non-Lithuanian speaking people would not be able to fully appreciate this tape. The words themselves are very lovely and will lose on those not understanding them. For all of those who proudly claim to speak the Lithuanian language, ENJOY!!!

Average customer rating: Return to Sanity Have Some Madeira British humour at its best If you haven't heard this... Gentle Satire

Complete Flanders & Swann Manufacturer: EMI Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Divertimentos | Serenades & Divertimentos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances French Horn | Brass | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Comedic Music | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Broadway & Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Box Sets | Stores | Music Comedy & Spoken Word | Box Sets | Stores | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Songs of Michael Flanders & Donald Swann At the Drop of a Hat The Best of Flanders & Swan - A Transport of Delight Beyond The Fringe (1961 Original London Cast) Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer ASIN: B000006T4S Release Date: 1997-04-30

Tracks:

1. Warthog, The (The Hog Beneath The Skin)
2. The Sea Horse
3. The Chameleon
4. Whale, The (Mopy Dick)
5. Je Suis Le Tenebreux
6. Songs For Our Time
7. A Song Of The Weather - Flanders & Swann
8. The Reluctant Cannibal
9. Greensleeves
10. Misalliance
11. Kokoraki
12. Madeira M'Dear?
13. Too Many Cookers
14. Built Up Area
15. In The Bath (From 'At The Drop Of A Hat')
16. Sea Fever
17. The Hippopotamus Song

Tracks:

1. The Gas Man Cometh
2. Sounding Brass
3. Los Olividados
4. In The Desert
5. The Sloth
6. The Rhinoceros
7. Kangaroo Tango
8. Jaguar
9. Dead Ducks
10. The Elephant
11. By Air
12. Slow Train
13. A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
14. The Humming Bird
15. The Portuguese Man-Of-War
16. Sea Fever
17. The Hippopotamus Song

Tracks:

1. The Gas Man Cometh
2. Sounding Brass
3. Los Olividados
4. In The Desert
5. The Sloth
6. The Rhinoceros
7. Kangaroo Tango
8. Jaguar
9. Dead Ducks
10. The Elephant
11. By Air
12. Slow Train
13. A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
14. The Humming Bird
15. The Portuguese Man-Of-War
16. The Wild Boar
17. The Ostrich
18. The Wompom
19. Twice Shy
20. Commonwealth Fair
21. P** P* B**** B** D******
22. Paris
23. Eine Kleine Nacht Musik Cha Cha Cha
24. The Hundred Song
25. Food For Thought

Album Details

Fantastic Triple CD Box Set of the Recorded Works of One of Britain's Most Popular Comedy Duos. Their Keen Observations of Everyday British Life and Abilities to Exemplify them in Song Made them the Darlings of the UK. Cleverness, Wit and Absoute Hilarity were the Order of the Day, in Just About Any Style of Music. Pure Comic Genius on Three Discs!

Customer Reviews:

Return to Sanity.......2005-07-27

Before Monty Python, before the Beatles, before "'Enery the Aigth Oi Am" there was the subtle, sweet, insdious humor of Flanders and Swann, and their lyrics remain part of the recognition rituals of Ivy Leaguers of the sixties. For any aging hippies or yuppies who find life WAY more stressful than we ever expected, and for whom the down side of alcohol, sex, and drugs has become apparent, I recommend listening several times to "In the Bath". It raises a cry for peace among the nations by inviting all the leaders to sit congenially steaming in a communal bathtub. And they reminding us of our essential self-interest when they add the proviso "as long as Swann and Flanders get the end without the taps." On those nights when we suspect that there isn't any point to it all, reach for the Flanders and Swann. They won't convince you there is any meaning to life, but they'll make it a lot easier to bear. Don't even try to do without it.

Have Some Madeira.......2005-07-06

Not every line in Flanders and Swann has become part of our 37-year marriage, but many have. As our turntables fail, we are pleased that we can relive all the fun stuff we used to collect. Nothing is like this duo, especially what you usually hear as French horn by Mozart converted into "I found that horn go(r)ne." And, of course,
"Have some Madeira, m'dear" is an all-time favorite.

British humour at its best.......2003-03-15

When I started out as a teacher of English, I had the most wonderful colleague as a mentor -- when she retired she gave me three LPs with much of what is on these CDs, and it must be one of the best gifts I have ever been given. Practically all of it makes me smile or laugh out loud (although I must admit that some, like The Armadillo and Slow Train, make me so melancholy that I can just feel my lower lip tremble and my eyes fill up). How can you beat lines like "Hail to thee, blithe Wompom", or "The English are moral, the English are good / And clever, and modest, and misunderstood"? I find they make great listening exercises for my teenaged students as well -- they consider it ancient, but incredibly funny!

If you haven't heard this..........2003-01-16

The great comedic pairing of the late Michael Flanders (vocals) and Donald Swann (piano and occasional vocals) must surely rank among the hall of fame of comic singers and songwriters. Descended from the British music hall tradition, these two men wrote and performed music which still sparkles with wit today, some 40 or more years since it was recorded.

After being told to take up singing as a means of strengthening his polio-weakened lungs, the wheelchair-bound Flanders teamed up with pianist Swann and proceeded to write such classic songs as "The Hippo Song (Mud Mud Glorious Mud)", "The Gasman Cometh", "The Gnu Song", "A Transport of Delight" and many others. As well as a gently satirical spirit, all these songs feature the sublime wordplay and interplay of both men.

The first two discs of this box set are actual concerts - "At The Drop Of A Hat" and its successor "At The Drop Of Another Hat". Recorded at the height of the duo's popularity and form, the sound quality is surprisingly good for recordings this old.

"At The Drop Of A Hat" opens with three of the Flanders and Swann classics. "Transport Of Delight", a song in praise of the "97 horsepower omnibus" features the wonderful harmonies of the duo on lines like "any more fares" and Flanders' dead-on impression of a London busdriver "Geddardait, we're full right up inside". "Song of Reproduction" deals with the new, as it was then, stereo technology and features Flanders delivering an incredible monologue using every conceivable piece of audiophile jargon. "The Gnu Song" (in which "gnu" is pronounced phonetically) is a real treat. The audience's reaction to the reappearance of the gnu is superb.
As well as this opening trio, the disc features Flanders' snippets of "Songs For Our Time" (in which he experiments with conventions of hit songs), "Song of the Weather" (a rundown of English weather throughout the year), "The Reluctant Cannibal" (featuring Swann in the tititular role and the chorus "I can't eat people/I won't eat people/eatin' people is wrong"), Swann's foray into Greek folksong "Kokraki" and the justifiably famous "Madeira M'Dear". The performance ends with a rousing version of "The Hippo Song".
Flanders is in fine voice throughout and his comments introducing each song are delivered with deadpan accuracy. The story behind "The Gnu Song" is an absolute masterpiece. Flanders' monologue about the creation of "Greensleeves" is also superb - "'Greenfleeves'. That's an interesting name for a fong" (referencing old English script) being just a taste.

"Another Hat" begins in equally fine form with "Gasman Cometh" and "Ill Wind". "Gasman", presaged as "a tale of unending domestic upheaval", is sure to have most people who've ever dealt with unreliable tradesmen nodding in agreement, while "Ill Wind" is Flanders' attempt at setting words to a French horn concerto featuring the immortal lines "I lost that horn/lost that horn/lost that horn/found that horn/gorn". The performance continues with Swann's Russian/English song "In The Desert", the ending of which is truly side-splitting. "All Gall" (a reinterpretation of "This Old Man" to fit then-French President Charles de Gaulle) is a little dated but very cleverly done. "Song of Patriotic Prejudice", with its introduction and opening lines grabbing the audience's attention is another triumph, while the "Hippo Encore" is a great end to the performance.
Again Flanders is at his peak. His loving description of the Spanish olive-stuffers ("Olividados") and his superb story about flying ("By Air") are both brilliant examples of the shaggy dog story.
My favourite from both of these discs would have to be "First and Second Law". Flanders decides to educate Swann in elementary science and picks on the first and second laws of thermodynamics ("heat is work and work is heat" and "heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body") and the repetition of these phrases in time to Swann's barely-there piano accompaniment is one of the finest moments in British comedy.

The third disc is largely forgettable. It begins with a series of animal-related songs performed in a studio and without much of Flanders' rambling introductions. "Warthog" has its moments, while the others were clearly not performed in front of an audience for a reason. "Wompom" is also mildly diverting, presenting a story about a made-up substance which is the answer to everything.
The rest of the disc is then filled out with much earlier material in a rather poorly-recorded concert. "20 Tons of TNT" (related to the calculation the pair had done which gave that as the amount of TNT per person on the planet at the time) provides food for thought, but little more.

Is this box set for everyone? No. Much of the humour both within and without the songs does require a bit of background knowledge to what was going on in Britain and Europe at the time (1960s), John Profumo is referenced a few times as well as Charles de Gaulle and the Common Market, while a smattering of classical music knowledge can help out a bit with Swann's work and "Ill Wind". The fact that my grandfather (who's in his late 70s) recalls hearing these songs and laughing may give an indication as to the age of some of the subject matter. Equally the fact that "First and Second Law" references an awful lot of physics might do the same.

Nevertheless, for anyone who loves British humour done in a gentle manner or who is interested in the source of "mud mud glorious mud/nothing quite like it for cooling the blood", give these CDs some serious consideration.

Gentle Satire.......2002-04-03

I've been singing Flanders and Swann every day In the Bath since I first heard them in 1964. If you don't know them, think Gilbert and Sullivan by way of English music hall and Noel Coward, with a bit of Tom Lehrer musical satire and classic Bob Newhart or Charlie Manna monologues. F&S commented gently on their times: "The purpose of satire, it has been rightly said, is to strip away the veneer of comfortable illusion and cozy half-truth. And our job, as I see it, is to put it back again." Quite simply the best comic songs and patter of the 20th century. Michael died in 1975, Donald in 1994. Goodnight, Mabel Figworthy, wherever you are.

Here are some samples of Michael's verbal wit.

Wordplay:
- "A Transport of Delight," their song of the pleasures of the double-decker bus "has recently been adopted as the theme song of the Underground resistance movement."
- Speculating that Henry VIII wrote Greensleeves: "and the royalties go to royalty."
- About a tennis referee late in the day: "the umpire upon whom the sun never sets."
- Explaining how he was hoisted in his wheelchair onto airliners by a fork lift: "Why they need a great machine like that to lift forks I do not know. Well, they're only plastic, now, aren't they?"
- On status symbols: "The object is to Gunga Din your neighbor: 'I'm a better man than you' is the acid test," and, "let's bang our status cymbals with the best."
- To a disenchanted cannibal: "You used to be a regular anthropophagi."
- Of a lecher: "And he said as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar, and the lamps," while the girl "lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his hopes."
- At the corrida d'olivas (the Andorran festival of olive stuffing, not to be confused with the Spanish corrida de toros, or bullfight): "And a great cry goes up of Ole! He has made an 'ol."
- "It's no good going up to a scientist and saying to him like you would to anybody else, 'Good morning, how are you, lend me a quid, and so on.' He'll just glare at you, or make a rude retort."

Throw-aways
- During the height of the cold war the Soviet Union sent the Moscow Ballet on a world tour. Donald sang one chorus of the Hippopotamus Song "mud, mud, glorious mud - nothing quite like it for cooling the blood" in Russian. Michael: "That should improve our cultural relations."
- During the 1963 Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler scandal: "None of that going around saying no smoke without fire. Nil cumbustibus, Profumo." Also, from "Friendly Duet," "such models of friendship are precious and rare, while the friendship of models is not."
- "Now if you're writing a musical, as I'm sure practically all of you are, . . ."
- Of Donald: "You know that no one has a higher regard for your music . . . than you do yourself. I merely meant that you are not great because you are not dead. If you wish to be great you must stop composing and start decomposing."
- "We never found a rhyme for (Soviet Premier Nikita) "Kruschev" until he was dead: Did he die or was he "pushed off"?"
- "We spent two dreadful, uh, delightful years, entertaining the Americans whose need, let's face it, is greater even than yours. Of course, when we're over there we say that the other way 'round."
- "No matter what you may say about the Germans, and who doesn't . . ."
- "Some of the songs that have made our names a household word, like slop-bucket . . ."
- "They've started testing cars now. They started at 10 years, then 5, now three. There's even some talk of having them tested before they leave the factory."

Absurdities
- "I'm delirious about our new oven fitted with the eye-level grill. This means that without my having to bend down the hot fat can squirt straight into my eye."
- A spectator during the construction of Stonehenge: "So, it's not going to be lived in. Well, that's something anyway. So what is it, then? It's a what?! A calendar?! A bit big for a calendar isn't it? You'd look pretty foolish with that on your desk."
- "Donald knocked himself out this morning. Got one of those new pop-up toasters. Nasty things."

Incredible multiple rhymes:
- "The fair hippoptama he aimed to entice from her seat on her hilltop above, as she hadn't got a ma to give her advice, went tip-toeing down to her love."
- Of Josephine: "Nonsense, said Bonaparte. She lives on her own, apart, in her own apartment."
- "Oh let us be married if our parents don't mind. We'd be happy and inseparable. Inextricably entwined. We'd live happily every after, said the Honeysuckle to the Bindweed."
- "And you'll always see a single lace-less left-hand leather boot. A bootless British river bank's a shock. We leave them there at midnight, you can track a member's route by the alternating print of boot and sock."

Average customer rating: Delighful Hvorostovsy The Power of Voice, The Music for the Soul a cup half full, but still splendid Here is proof that Russian vintage only gets better with age Excellent

Kalinka: Russian Folk Songs Dmitri Hvorostovsky , and Russian Traditional Manufacturer: Philips ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Hvorostovsky, Dmitri | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Folk Songs | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Moscow Nights I Met You, My Love Where Are You, My Brothers? Dmitri Hvorostovsky - Russian Songs of the War Years Dmitri Hvorostovsky - Passione di Napoli ASIN: B00000HY87 Release Date: 1999-01-12

Tracks:

1. Russian Folk Songs: Kalinka
2. Russian Folk Songs: Barinya
3. Russian Folk Songs: Ach Ti Slishesh Li (Ah! Do You Hear, My Dearest Fiend)
4. Russian Folk Songs: Na Gorushkye (On Little Mountain, On The Mountain)
5. Russian Folk Songs: Khorovodnaya (Round Dance)
6. Russian Folk Songs: Shto Zatumanilas (Why Have You Misted Over, Clear Sunset)
7. Russian Folk Songs: Ya Vstretil Vas (I Met You)
8. Russian Folk Songs: Ivushka (The Little Window)
9. Russian Folk Songs: Kak Menya Mladu (How Was I, A Tender Young Maiden?)
10. Russian Folk Songs: Kachelniye (Rhyming Song)
11. Russian Folk Songs: Uzh Ti Polye (Ah, You Field)
12. Russian Folk Songs: Shto Bye Belaya Berioza (As Never White Birch Tree)
13. Russian Folk Songs: Ne Slijshno Shuma Gorodskogo (The Noise Of The Town Cannot Be Heard)
14. Russian Folk Songs: Vtyomnon Leyse (In The Dark Forest)
15. Russian Folk Songs: Uzh Kak Pal Tuman (Already The Fog Has Descended)
16. Russian Folk Songs: Ach Vij Sini (Ah, Shady Spot)
17. Russian Folk Songs: Veniki (Birch - Broom)
18. Russian Folk Songs: Vyhozhu Adin Ya Na Dorogu (I Set Off Alone Down The Road)

Amazon.com

Dimitri Hvorostovsky, born and bred in Siberia, has Russian folk music in his soul. So do about 100 million other Russians, of course, but they don't have his magnificent voice. When his artistry is joined with that of the Saint Petersburg Chamber Chorus, the result is hard to beat, especially when the arrangements were made by such composers as Shostakovich and Rimsky-Korsakov. Don't expect happy songs, although some of the offerings on this disc, such as the title song "Kalinka," have their rollicking passages. In characteristic fashion, the lyrics dwell plaintively on laments for lost love or melancholy recollections of the Russian countryside. Unusually for a Russian chorus, the Saint Petersburg ensemble is not dominated by the lower-pitched male voices but by the women, blissfully free from stridency, who swell their cadences in the way so typical of Russian liturgical music. The disc is accompanied by the Russian text and a useful English translation, although both suffer from minor errors. --Ed Killham

Customer Reviews:

Delighful Hvorostovsy.......2007-03-31

I heard the CD Kalinka. I've never stopped admiring this wonderful Russian bsritone. I went to his concerto here in Mexico, several months ago. I was in Heaven

The songs are chosen with care and love, and it reminds me always of my so wonderful stay in Russia (3 years). This really is from "Russia with love". The thrilling voice of Hvorostovsky gives me the chills and makes me dream. Thanks for a wonderful and delightful record.

This Cd is not the "academic" version of the Red Army, pleasant as well. This is fresh, bucolic and belongs to the people that are in the enourmous fields of corn in Russia and Ukraine. It is naive, with the beauty of naivite.

Hvorostovky is versatile and in the songs que needs to be sweet, plassionate or melancholic he achieves it masterly!!!!!

Eugenia LizaldeBest of the Red Army Choir

The Power of Voice, The Music for the Soul .......2005-05-09

Listening to these eighteen Russian folk songs, artistically arranged and vocalized, one feels that the musical border between folksong and opera has somehow been melted away, and what are heard are the best aspects of both. There is something very special in Russian folk music. Dmitri Hvorostovsky and St Petersburg Chamber Choir have grasped the spirit of it with their heartbreaking vocal force. Whether it is the melancholy melodies; the somber harmonies; or the primordial elements, they pierce directly through your heart and get to your soul... Simply wonderful!

a cup half full, but still splendid.......2004-05-22

With his rich and powerful dark honey voice, Dmitri Hvorostovsky is one of the greatest operatic baritones alive, and as an interpreter of Russian music, no singer can top him; his exquisite renditions of folk melodies, as well as the rapturous songs of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff on his other recordings are sublime.
Here he is backed not by an orchestra, but by St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, and together they present a superb collection of traditional melodies.

Unfortunately for those of us who are big Dmitri fans, he only sings on 10 of the 18 tracks, and though the chorus is excellent, his magnificent voice would have made these songs even better; the "chorus only" tracks are 4-5, 8-10, 14, and 16-17.
The popular title track, "Kalinka", has probably been included in practically every film with a Russian theme I have ever seen and is instantly recognizable, and some of the others are rare gems, but all of them will be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates Russian music.

My absolute favorite is the final "Vihaztu adin ya na darogu" ("I set off alone down the road"), which with its beautiful melody and soulful singing is glorious. Dmitri recorded this song for his first CD of folk songs in 1991, with the Ossipov Russian Folk Orchestra, with balalaikas instead of a chorus to back him; both versions are wonderful, but with this one having the edge, as I think he sings it on this recording with more emotion.
Total running time is 56'41.

Here is proof that Russian vintage only gets better with age.......1999-06-06

Dmitri Hvorostovsky has outdone himself, which means his admirers are in for a treat. Maturity only adds depth to his interpretations of Russian folk songs, now on a larger scale than on the earlier CD 'Dark Eyes'. His musicianship is such that he blends in perfectly with the superb St. Petersburg Chamber Choir whenever this is called for. Marvelous stuff here - highly recommended.

Excellent.......1999-05-14

Worth congratulating Philips that here (as in several more recent releases) "Russian Text" really means that, in cyrillic not transliteration. Timing 56'40.

Average customer rating: JUST PERFECTION!! Hvorostovsky...........again, magic hvorostovsky does it again

Moscow Nights Manufacturer: Delos Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Hvorostovsky, Dmitri | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Shostakovich | Shostakovich, Dmitri | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Where Are You, My Brothers? Kalinka: Russian Folk Songs Dmitri Hvorostovsky - Russian Songs of the War Years I Met You, My Love Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Concert 1998 ASIN: B0007SL1M6 Release Date: 2005-03-08

Tracks:

1. Kak molody my byli (How young we were)
2. Podmoskovnye vechera (Moscow nights)
3. Shum berioz (The whisper of birches)
4. Ne speshi (Do not hurry)
5. Nezhnost (Tenderness)
6. Zhdi menia (Wait for me)
7. Tri goda (Three years)
8. Vechernay pesnya (Evening song)
9. Ty moya melodiya (You are my melody)
10. Moskovskie okna (Moscow windows)
11. Kak mnogo devushek horoshih (There are so many girls)
12. Blagodariu tebia (I'm grateful to you)
13. Ia liubliu tebia, zhizn' (I love you, life)
14. Vecher na reide (Evening in the harbor)
15. S chego nachinaestia Rodina (Where does Motherland come from?)
16. Russkoe pole (Russian field)
17. Special Bonus Track: Rodina slyshit (Motherland hears)

Customer Reviews:

JUST PERFECTION!!.......2006-04-08

I have all of Dmitri's recordings and this is my favorite due to the quality of the songs, Dmitri's mastery of all of them and the really lush orchestrations. All of the songs are just gorgeous and his voice so beautiful that I listen to this all day at work on my portable CD player. I recently saw him in concert and purchased the DVD of the "War Songs" which were featured in the second half of his concert. Of course, I recommend the CD and the DVD as really stunning. However, if I could only listen to one of his CD's, this is my favorite. As a former singer who trained for 15 years, I can tell you that Dmitri's vocal technique is perfect, just perfect! The voice comes from heaven! Don't wait to get this one!

Hvorostovsky...........again, magic.......2006-02-14

Moscow Nights - This collection is emotionally draining, sad; the minor keys, the great poets and composers, an era unexpressed to Americans. It is a revelation, tended by one of the most beautiful of Russian voices. Listen to it in pieces, in a quiet space, and ponder. Dmitri commands an opera stage - two visits to Queen of Spades at the Met- can lead to no other conclusion. However, it is his quiet recollections of Russian folk music, Russian sacred music, and Soviet music that arouses his greatest talents. This is a recording to be treasured.

hvorostovsky does it again.......2005-05-01

This is the latest installment of the succesfull Hvorostosky/Orbelian collaboration. In "I met you my love" the spotlight was on the socalled Russian Romances, russian art songs of the 19e century. Then came " Where are you my brothers" a collection of Russian war songs. This title contains a collection of the best post war(50s&60s) songs. If you love melodious songs in minor key this is it.The selection is quiet varied and everybody will have his or her own favourites. For me there was'nt a redundant song. The singing is as always faultless and inspired, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra plays topnotch and the arrangments by Evgeny Stesyuk are as always beautifull. But be warned this cd can have a depressing effect because besides being beautifull this music is also mostly very moving. Buy if you love russian music and good musicianship you can't go wrong with this one.

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2. Salsa [Import]
3. Salvaje
4. Samba Tropi [Import]
5. Schone Greatest Leselive Oldies [Import]
6. Singles [Import]
7. Song of Love [Import]
8. Songs from Book of Psalms
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