"Song in its natural sense is an involuntary act expressing delight, sorrow, joy, or another movement of the soul," as Georgy Sviridov expressed his understanding of vocal art. Sviridov, more than anyone else, sensed the beauty of poetic language and understood all the intricacies of the nature of the singing voice. He worked extensively with singers, including the leading figures of the Soviet vocal school.
The offered disc showcases the fruits of Georgy Sviridov's creative collaboration with one of the best Russian singers of the 20th century, Elena Obraztsova. Having performed on the world's most famous opera stages, she paid no less attention to chamber singing. Singing under the direction of the century's greatest conductors, she formed an ideal ensemble with Sviridov. The poetry of Alexander Blok and Sergei Yesenin, with their keen sense of the tragic nature of existence and the intertwining of personal fate with the fate of Russia, remained closest to the composer; in Elena Obraztsova's performance, Sviridov's music sounds like an "involuntary movement of the soul," a harmonious embodiment of poetic words.
The program features individual romances and excerpts from the cycle "Petersburg Songs" set to Blok's poems, the poem based on Yesenin's verses "Russia Cast Adrift," as well as a fragment from Blok's choral cycle "Songs of the Time of Troubles." The performances involve the best choral ensembles of Moscow (the Moscow Chamber Choir under the direction of Vladimir Minin and the chamber ensemble of the A. Yurlov Republican Academic Choir) and the outstanding singer Makvala Kasrashvili. The piano part is performed by Georgy Sviridov.
The recordings were made in the studio of the Melodiya company and from concerts at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in 1980 and at the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1983.
The release is prepared in honor of the 100th anniversary of Georgy Sviridov's birth.
