Elena Zaremba is a genuine Russian singer. The sources of her native gift should be sought in the Russian roots of her musical and dramatic talent and unique voice that fascinates with its immense depth and majestic regalness. Elena Zaremba's breathtaking career on the leading world stages was possible thanks to her bright personification of complex psychological characters in Russian operas. Besides, she is remembered for her parts of the Italian and French repertoire. That was also a period when the singer was making her first steps in the genre of Russian romance although she was not in a hurry to plunge into it completely believing fairly enough that that was the music demanding a great experience, appealing for the wisdom of the past years as each note of Russian romance is a confession of the performer's soul exposed before the listener.
The year of 2010 was a turning point for Elena. After the singer returned to Russia to her audience, she, what is extremely important, found her concertmaster here. Her fruitful collaboration with Antonina Kadobnova that was born that year under a lucky star of nothing else but Russian romance continues to this day. The artistic union of the distinguished singer and the young pianist who has an incredibly fine sensation of the specifics of chamber accompaniment began with preparation of two programmes at once that were featured at different venues in Moscow and also Yaroslavl, Ostashkov, Votkinsk, Kurgan and Tyumen.
The concert of Zaremba and Kadobnova at the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory that took place on 21 October 2011 was an outcome of that big inspired work. That was when, riding on the wave of the success of their live Russian Romance as a Soul Confession Elena Zaremba is a genuine Russian singer. The sources of her native gift should be sought in the Russian roots of her musical and dramatic talent and unique voice that fascinates with its immense depth and majestic regalness. Elena Zaremba's breathtaking career on the leading world stages was possible thanks to her bright personification of complex psychological characters in Russian operas. Besides, she is remembered for her parts of the Italian and French repertoire. That was also a period when the singer was making her first steps in the genre of Russian romance although she was not in a hurry to plunge into it completely believing fairly enough that that was the music demanding a great experience, appealing for the wisdom of the past years as each note of Russian romance is a confession of the performer's soul exposed before the listener.
The year of 2010 was a turning point for Elena. After the singer returned to Russia to her audience, she, what is extremely important, found her concertmaster here. Her fruitful collaboration with Antonina Kadobnova that was born that year under a lucky star of nothing else but Russian romance continues to this day. The artistic union of the distinguished singer and the young pianist who has an incredibly fine sensation of the specifics of chamber accompaniment began with preparation of two programmes at once that were featured at different venues in Moscow and also Yaroslavl, Ostashkov, Votkinsk, Kurgan and Tyumen. The concert of Zaremba and Kadobnova at the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory that took place on 21 October 2011 was an outcome of that big inspired work. That was when, riding on the wave of the success of their live performances, they came up with the idea of recording Russian romances in studio. It is an album that could be recorded nowhere else but in Russia — the Russian soil was just a necessary element for the musicians' creative labour.
According to the performers, a collection of 23 romances includes their best loved ones. They selected the most popular pieces, true vocal and poetic gems, easily recognizable and easily perceptible ones, from the inexhaustible diversity of academic romance. As for the jointly selected material, the artistic unity of the two creative musicians exposed an optimum of both musical and poetic variety. The album includes well-known opuses, Rachmaninoff and Glinka in particular, and rarely performed ones as well.
Speaking about the romances that appeared in Elena Zaremba's repertoire when she stayed abroad, we cannot help but recall her collaboration with the renowned accompanist Ivari Ilja that resulted in a programme based on Pushkin's poetry. Its echoes can be also found in such diversely elegant "hits" as Cui's The Statue in Tsarskoye Selo, Dargomyzhsky's Night Zephyr, Medtner's Winter Evening and Rubinstein's Night (the latter is particularly esteemed by the singer). Also, a number of new romances was learnt especially for the album.
Rachmaninoff's works constitute the major stratum of the album. If the romance In the Mysterious Silence of the Night after Fet's poem is one of the enduring pillars of Elena Zaremba's chamber repertoire, the inclusion of the musical scene We Shall Rest based on the final prose words from Chekhov's Uncle Vanya implies the singer's serious keenness on drama theatre. The programme includes just a few of Tchaikovsky's romances with a rarely performed The Gypsy Song set to Polonsky's poem standing out among them. Glinka's romance How Sweet It Is to Be with You based on Ryndin's poem is a climax of love passion on the album; the fact that Glinka ranks second after Rachmaninoff by the number of opuses on the album is a confirmation of the performers' tender love for the composer.Elena Zaremba's treatment of the Russian chamber repertoire is as appropriate and natural as her voice that "sings passion and music." Her deep and warm voice envelops you penetrating so surprisingly easily and imperiously into the most secret corners of subconsciousness. The ensemble unity of the soloist and her concertmaster is truly impressive. In this case the piano accompaniment is not just a backdrop — it is the second and extremely important voice in the "symphony" of chamber interpretation. When listening to the recordings, it occurs to you that such a unity of the performers is really syncretic, stylistically aligned and aesthetically organic.
The singer has a perfect command of her "musical instrument" of a very rare timbre — a primeval and inborn mezzo-soprano with splendid contralto lows and dramatic overtones, and the confidential and sincere emotions of her voice carry a genuinely vivid sensuality. Elena Zaremba's performance is noted for the highest vocal culture and well-adjusted dynamics — differentiation of strokes from piano to forte.
The singer's renditions of the romances are a mystery, a sort of magic and a flash of inspiration of the creative personality at the same time. She is one of the singers whose voice cannot be mistaken for someone else's one. It seems that time turned back for it long ago — today, this voice is still enchanting and solid.
Igor Koryabin
