Russian 'Live' Recordings From The Sixties at Music Hills.com

Songs & Dances of Death (Pesni y plyaski smerti; 4), song cycle for voice & orchestra, orchestration by Shostakovich: No. 1, "Trepak"
Songs & Dances of Death (Pesni y plyaski smerti; 4), song cycle for voice & orchestra, orchestration by Shostakovich: No. 2, "Death's
Songs & Dances of Death (Pesni y plyaski smerti; 4), song cycle for voice & orchestra, orchestration by Shostakovich: No. 3, "Serenad
Songs & Dances of Death (Pesni y plyaski smerti; 4), song cycle for voice & orchestra, orchestration by Shostakovich: No. 4, "Field-M
Suite of Romances (7) for soprano & piano trio, Op. 127: No. 1, "Song of Ophelia"
Suite of Romances (7) for soprano & piano trio, Op. 127: No. 2, "Gamayun, the bird of prophecy"
Suite of Romances (7) for soprano & piano trio, Op. 127: No. 3, "We were together" (That troubled night)
Suite of Romances (7) for soprano & piano trio, Op. 127: No. 4, "The city sleeps" (Deep in sleep)
Suite of Romances (7) for soprano & piano trio, Op. 127: No. 5, "The storm"
Suite of Romances (7) for soprano & piano trio, Op. 127: No. 6, "Secret Signs"
Suite of Romances (7) for soprano & piano trio, Op. 127: No. 7, "Music"
Satires (5), for soprano & piano, Op. 109: No. 1, "The evidence of one's own manuscript"
Satires (5), for soprano & piano, Op. 109: No. 2, "A desire too difficult to gratify"
Satires (5), for soprano & piano, Op. 109: No. 3, "Discretion"
Satires (5), for soprano & piano, Op. 109: No. 4, "Irinka and the Shepherd"
Satires (5), for soprano & piano, Op. 109: No. 5, "Too much delight"
Poems (5) for voice & piano, Op. 27: No. 1, "The sun has filled my room"
Poems (5) for voice & piano, Op. 27: No. 2, "True tenderness"
Poems (5) for voice & piano, Op. 27: No. 3, "Memory of the sun"
Poems (5) for voice & piano, Op. 27: No. 4, "Greetings"
Poems (5) for voice & piano, Op. 27: No. 5, "The king with grey eyes"

Music reviews of Russian 'Live' Recordings From The Sixties

Music Review: Very important release
Rating: 5 Stars

The satires were written by Sasha Cherniy at the beginning of the century, but once set to music to Shostakovich they became a weapon against the Soviet regime and as a result subsequently banned, with a particular emphasis on "The Descendants".

Now, not only Vishnevskaya has the most expressive voice, it is also one of the most beautiful voices ever recorded. Hers is a true spinto without the usual "pushed up" meaning to it that characterizes most other spinto voices. As to Tebaldi, for instance, this sound came naturally to her and allowed for immense power and incredible vocal range. This recording with its customary Melodiya problems hardly does it justice. Turn to "Boris Godunov", "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", or "Turandot" to hear it at its full glory. Philips used to carry a great CD called "The Early Years"; look for it. No, she did not sing "too many Leonoras" -- that's a gross mistake; while Leonora in Fidelio was her Bolshoi leading role debut, her favorite role was Aida and with it she subjugated the greatest opera houses, MET included. Had you heard it, you would not guess it's the same voice! The so-called "ugly" overtones in Songs and Dances of Death are clearly done on purpose: Vishnevskaya here acts with her voice to imitate Death the character, making it terrifyingly vivid and real. Same goes for "shrieking" on fast passages, here she uses a folk-song like approach, emphasizing the close connection that Russian composers have to their roots. Had this disc included other Mussorgsky songs, particularly "Where art thou, little star?" everyone would be astonished how enchantingly beautiful her voice could be. Another example is her Liu in Turandot, when she sang opposite Franco Corelli and Birgit Nilsson; it's available both on Myto and Opera d'Oro. Finally, one of the greatest musical achievements is Britten's War Requiem. Once again, it was written FOR her voice and she set an unsurpassed standard for it. Power, grace, and fully involved approach to music are her trademarks, this CD is really a small example but it's extremely important in terms of first performances of great works of great composers.