Album

It seems hard to believe, as the booklet claims, that most of these songs have never been released on CD until now: they're gorgeous. Rubinstein was the cosmopolitan Russian composer of the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the nemesis of the nationalistic Mighty Handful. But many of the texts he sets here are classics of Russian poetry, by Pushkin and Lermontov, and his settings have the limpid, seemingly perfect naturalness that characterizes the poems themselves. Sample the Pushkin duo The Cloud, Op. 48 (track 6), or Lermontov's Angel, Op. 48 (track 7), to hear both the superb vocalists, or the darker Song ("A crow flies..."), Op. 78, reminisicent of the grim old English folk song Three Ravens. The music firmly fits within the Schumann harmonic world, but there is something indubitably Russian about it. Maybe that impression is due to the awe-inspiring voice of mezzo soprano Mila Shkirtil, whose voice has that peculiar combination of richness and darkness that only Russians seem to be able to manage. Baritone Mikhail Lukonin is scarcely less effective, singing several songs that were associated with the great Russian bass Chaliapin; he does not try to imitate Chaliapin, but has his own warm style. The program covers many years of Rubinstein's career, ending with a Ballad of 1891 to a text by Turgenev, and it never flags artistically. These songs are nothing short of lost masterpieces, and they're superbly performed here. The booklet is in Russian and English; song texts are in transliterated Russian—not the original Cyrillic—and English translation.

© James Manheim, Rovi

CD 1
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Russian Songs, Op.78 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
1	12.Alter Mann, grimmer Mann, scene from Pushkin's 'Die Zigeuner'	3:17			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer Soirées à Saint-Petersbourg, 6 pieces, Op.44 Work Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
2	Noch (Night), romance for voice & piano (after Romance, Op.44, No.1)	3:09			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Russian Songs, Op.78 Work 5:29 Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano
3	6.Der Gefangene (The Prisoner; 'Im Kerker gefangen')	3:30			$0.99
4	11.Rab' zum Raben fleigt daher	1:59			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Russian Song, Op.36 Work Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
5	10.Sie singt ein Lied	2:37			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Songs, for 2 voices and piano, Op.48 Work 6:29 Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
6	8.Die Wolke ('Vorbei ist der Sturm')	2:50			$0.99
7	1.Der Engel ('Es schwebte ein Engel dem Himmel entlang')	3:39			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Russian Songs, Op.78 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano
8	Habräische Melodie ('Mein Geist ist trüb und schwer'), song for voice and piano, Op.78, No.1	4:04			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 6 Songs, Op.8 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano
9	1.Der Traum ('Am Wiesenhügel schlummert' ich')	4:32			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Russian Song, Op.36 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
10	5.Der Dolch	3:00			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Songs, for 2 voices and piano, Op.48 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
11	3.Im heimischen Land	3:00			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 10 Serbian Songs, for voice and piano with cello ad lib., Op.105 Work 11:44 Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
12	Why, O Red Rose	2:17			$0.99
13	Mother Cried to Daughter	3:02			$0.99
14	Sun, Your Shine Is Not Alike	1:46			$0.99
15	Lord, Oh My Lord	2:00			$0.99
16	Walk Out At the Break of Day	2:39			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer Serenade ('Durch die laue Nacht'), for voice and piano Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano
17	Serenade ('Durch die laue Nacht'), for voice and piano	3:46			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Songs, Op.101 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano
18	1.Wie es sein muss ('Wer da liebt, lieb' überm Maasse')	1:02			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Songs, for 2 voices and piano, Op.48 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
19	10.Die Turteltaube und der Wanderer ('Sprich, warum sitzest du dort')	1:47			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 12 Songs, Op.101 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
20	10.Hätt' ich das gewusst, hätt' ich das geahnt	3:02			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer 6 Lieder von Heine, Op.32 Work Yury Serov Piano, Mila Shkirtil Mezzo-Soprano
21	6.Der asra	2:24			$0.99
Anton Rubinstein Composer Six Pieces, Op.104 Work Mikhail Lukonin Baritone, Yury Serov Piano
22	6.Ballade in A-	4:26			$0.99