Firma Melodiya presents a recording of Kirill Molchanov's opera The Dawns Here Are Quiet.
The composer of the opera attained his nationwide fame thanks to, first of all, his lyrical songs, which are now considered a golden repertoire for academic and popular singers alike (There Are So Many Golden Lights, No Hiding from People in the Village, Here Come the Soldiers, Heart, Be Quiet and many others). Meanwhile, Kirill Molchanov wrote eight operas to his own librettos, ballets Macbeth and Three Cards, and music for theatre productions and motion pictures, including true gems of the domestic cinematograph (It Happened in Penkovo, On Seven Winds, We'll Live Till Monday).
The opera is based on Boris Vasiliev's short novel of the same name. It is a stirring story of a tragic demise of young female anti-aircraft gunners first published in 1969, which is still one of the most widely read books about the Great Patriotic War. In 1972, Stanislav Rostotsky's famous film with music by Kirill Molchanov premiered in cinemas across the country.
The opera is composed in a simple and accessible language. However, Zhenya's romance to the poem Wait for Me by Konstantin Simonov is the most popular piece from the opera – without any direct link to the plot, this fragment is a generalized symbol of millions of people whose lives and feelings were cut short by the war.
This recording of the opera was made in 1976 by the artists, choir and orchestra of the USSR Bolshoi Theatre featuring leading soloists of the opera company Galina Kalinina, Galina Borisova, Klara Kadinskaya, Artur Eisen and others. Conducted by Alexander Lazarev.
