MEDTNER SONGS

SIURINA GRINGYTE PALCHYKOV BURNSIDE TRITSCHLER POGOSSOV DIDENKO NIKOLAI MEDTNER (1880–1951) SONGS

EKATERINA SIURINA SOPRANO JUSTINA GRINGYTĖ MEZZO-SOPRANO OLEKSIY PALCHYKOV TENOR ROBIN TRITSCHLER TENOR RODION POGOSSOV BARITONE NIKOLAY DIDENKO BASS

IAIN BURNSIDE PIANO CD1

from Three Romances, Op. 3 from Eight Poems, Op. 24

1 No. 1 By the gate of a holy cloister – У врат обители святой RP [02:45] 19 No. 1 Day and Night – День и ночь RP [02:41] 2 No. 2 I have outlived my desires – Я пережил свои желанья RP [02:18] 20 No. 2 The Willow (Why are you bending your head?) – Что ты клонишь ES [01:24] над водами? from Nine Songs after Goethe, Op. 6 21 No. 4 Twilight – Сумерки JG [03:28]

3 No. 1 Wandrers Nachtlied [II] ND [02:16] 22 No. 5 I am struck dumb – Я потрясён когда кругом OP [02:46] 4 No. 2 Mailied RT [02:06] 23 No. 7 A whisper, a shy breath – Шёпот, робкое дыханье RP [01:30] 5 No. 3 Elfenliedchen JG [01:37] from Seven Poems, Op. 28 6 No. 4 Im Vorübergehn RT [02:27] 24 RP 7 No. 5 Aus Claudine von Villa-Bella RP [01:59] No. 1 Unexpected Rain – Нежданный дождь [02:40] 25 JG 8 No. 6 Aus Erwin und Elmire I RT [01:41] No. 2 Whenever I hear birdsong – Не могу я слышать этой птички [01:35] 26 No. 3 The Butterfly – Бабочка JG [01:28] Two Poems, Op. 13 27 No. 6 I sit, thoughtful and alone – Сижу задумчив и один ND [05:03]

9 No. 1 Winter Evening – Зимний вечер RP [03:39] from Seven Poems after Pushkin, Op. 29 10 No. 2 Epitaph – Эпитафия JG [02:47] 28 No. 2 The Singer – Певец ES [02:57] from Twelve Songs after Goethe, Op. 15 29 No. 3 Lines Written During a Sleepless Night – Стихи, сочиненные ночью во ND [03:04] время бессонницы 11 No. 1 Wandrers Nachtlied I ND [02:36] 30 No. 6 The Rose – Роза ND [02:06] 12 No. 3 Selbstbetrug JG [01:12] 31 No. 7 The Incantation – Заклинание ND [03:04] 13 No. 6 Vor Gericht JG [03:06] 14 No. 7 Meeresstille RT [02:52] Total playing time (CD1) [75:35] 15 No. 8 Glückliche Fahrt RT [01:23]

from Six Poems after Goethe, Op. 18

16 No. 4 Mignon JG [02:06] 17 No. 5 Das Veilchen RT [03:18] 18 No. 6 Jägers Abendlied ND [01:27] CD2

from Six Poems, Op. 32 from Seven Poems, Op. 46

1 No. 1 The Echo – Эхо RP [03:10] 15 No. 2 Geweihter Platz ES [02:53] 2 No. 4 I loved you – Я вас любил OP [03:13] 16 No. 4 Im Walde ND [01:14] 3 No. 5 Can I ever forget that sweet moment? (Waltz) – Могу ль забыть то OP [02:58] 17 No. 5 Winternacht RT [03:36] сладкое Мгновенье? (Вальс) from Seven Songs on Poems by Pushkin, Op. 52 from Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36 18 No. 2 The Raven – Ворон ES [02:09] 4 OP No. 1 The Angel – Ангел [02:11] 19 No. 6 Serenade – Серенада OP [03:01] 5 No. 2 The Flower – Цветок ES [02:28] 6 No. 3 As soon as roses wilt – Лишь розы уврядают ES [02:07] from Eight Songs, Op. 61

7 No. 4 Spanish Romance – Испанский Романс OP [02:12] 20 No. 1 Reiselied RT [02:58] 8 No. 6 Arion – Арион ES [03:54] 21 No. 3 What is my name to you? – Что в имени тебе моём? OP [03:04] 22 No. 4 If life deceives you – Если жизнь тебя обманет JG [01:51] from Five Poems, Op. 37 23 No. 6 Midday – Полдень RP [02:16] 9 No. 1 Sleeplessness – Бессонница JG [05:40] 10 No. 2 Tears – Слёзы ES [02:16] Total playing time (CD2) [68:15] 11 No. 4 Waltz – Вальс ES [02:41]

from Four Poems, Op. 45

12 No. 1 Elegy – Элегия OP [06:28] 13 No. 2 The Cart of Life – Телега жизни OP [02:55] These recordings would not have been possible without the unqualified 14 No. 4 Our Time – Наш век JG [02:47] generosity of Uri Liebrecht. We cannot thank him enough.

Recorded on 22-23 March, 31 May, Session photography Join the Delphian mailing list: 1, 7 & 8 June 2016 & 17-19 April 2017 © Delphian Records www.delphianrecords.co.uk/join in Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh Design: John Christ Like us on Facebook: Producer/Engineer: Paul Baxter Booklet editor/Translator: www.facebook.com/delphianrecords 24-bit digital editing: Matthew Swan Henry Howard 24-bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter Consultant translator: Follow us on Twitter: Pianos: Steinway, model D, serial Paul Alexei Smith @delphianrecords numbers 589064 & 600443 Delphian Records – Edinburgh – UK Piano technician: Norman W. Motion www.delphianrecords.co.uk Nikolai Medtner: Songs Notes on the music

The key to Medtner is paradox. This Medtner’s Veilchen is taken to the opposite If one considers ‘Englishness’ in music of abilities, Emil vicariously satisfied his defiantly self-proclaimed conservative has extreme, fevered vocal declamation surging the early twentieth century, one is struck ambitions by seeking to ‘orchestrate’ and control moments of striking modernity. Our German over turbulent keyboard polyphony, in his (and that some of its defining figures possessed Nikolai’s career. A troubled, volatile and neurotic Russian can change, chameleon-like, into Rachmaninov’s) go-to key of passion, E flat distinctly un-English names. Finzi, for example, personality, from early adult life Emil embodied a Russian German. Medtner the dazzling minor. In Schubert’s Meeresstille a single was the scion of Italian Jewish bankers who an endemic Russian antisemitism, compounded performer bequeathed future colleagues sublime page of quietly rolled chords evokes had settled in London several generations by his determination to drag Russian culture finger‑crunchingly complex piano parts; Goethe’s becalmed sea. By contrast Medtner before, while Holst was descended from back into the fold of a German literary tradition. yet he is often most eloquent when simplest. takes as his starting point ‘Deathly, awful Russians who had reached Britain via Riga. The contradictions raging within him are Any Medtner enthusiast rejoices in such quiet’: ‘Todes-stille fürchterlich!’ His song In such composers, perversely perhaps, the exemplified by his marriage late in 1902 to creative tensions. becomes a study in anything other than calm, unerring instinct for some kind of indigenous Anna Bratenshi. A study of Emil by the Swedish an irregular metre keeping the music restless sensibility seems rooted in and driven by writer Magnus Ljunggren implies that Emil was From the vast output of Medtner songs I have and unsettled, its beauty sinister. perception of themselves as outsiders. In latently homosexual. Moreover, Anna came chosen over 50. More than any other genre seeking the essence of Nikolai Medtner, of a Jewish family. Further complexity arose these songs exemplify Medtner’s Russian/ Some Medtner songs have instant appeal, be arguably we are faced with a similar paradox. when Anna and Nikolai confessed to Emil that German divide, manifest in his devotion to both it the bravura of Winter Evening or the delicious they were passionately in love. Emil ostensibly Goethe and Pushkin. And while the differences languor of Midday. Others need persistence Nikolai was born on 5 January 1880. His forgave them, but swore them to secrecy in in his response to each language are fascinating, from both listener and performer. Pianists mother’s ancestry reached back to northern order not to outrage the bourgeois sensibilities so too is their cross-fertilisation: the modal flicking through Medtner songs for the first time Germany and to Sweden, while his father of his parents. Inextricably linked to one another, harmony of Mignon and Reiselied could hardly can be forgiven for echoing John McEnroe: You Karl’s family is believed to have originated in the three became an indivisible trio bound by sound less German, or more Russian. cannot be serious. Vocal lines don’t always go Denmark, moving to Russia via what is now strange ties of mutual dependency, guilt and where you expect them to. In preparing this Estonia. Karl Medtner was director of a lace manipulation. Only after the death of his mother By choosing Goethe and Pushkin as his recording more than one singer cried out ‘It all factory in Moscow, a prosperous and well-read in 1918 did Nikolai finally marry Anna, who had muses Medtner treads on hallowed turf. makes sense until you start playing!’ There is man, devoted to both Russian and German miscarried two children by him in secret during You have to admire the cojones of any another parallel here, as Francis Pott points out culture. Accordingly the family imbibed Goethe the early years of the century. composer daring to tackle iconic, often- below, with Hugo Wolf. As with Wolf, Medtner alongside Pushkin, Beethoven alongside set poems after Schubert, Schumann or has a distinct vocabulary that takes time to Tchaikovsky. Nikolai was described by an early colleague Rachmaninov. Medtner embraces the register. I believe he is well worth the effort. as ‘delicate, shy … a sensitive and lofty soul challenge only when he has something Medtner’s voice is unique. Nikolai was the youngest of five surviving … in no way adapted to practical life’. Exiled different to say. Mozart’s Das Veilchen is children, among whom one brother, Emil, was by the Revolution in 1921, he remained heavily one of the earliest Lieder masterpieces, © 2018 Iain Burnside to exercise over the composer a Svengalian dependent upon his redoubtable wife, with Goethe’s allegory of a rejected lover turned influence until his death in 1936, and even whom he migrated to Germany, to France into exquisite eighteenth-century porcelain. afterwards. Thwarted by the gulf separating and finally in 1935, after many vicissitudes, a formidable intellect from any true artistic to England. To the end of his life he carried Notes on the music a burden of guilt over Emil, who was not above his belief in the autonomy of music as an eternal output, which includes three collections of songs as to his extensive solo piano output. exploiting it. In a symbolic irony, Emil’s ashes truth awaiting discovery. A composer was thus Goethe settings, Opus 6, 15 and 18. This While Rachmaninov was well capable of fugal rest to this day in an urn on top of Nikolai’s grave the vessel through which such truth passed, places Medtner at some remove from his or fugato writing, as the final movements of in Hendon Cemetery. not the fons et origo of an ‘idea’ of his own. friend, Sergei Rachmaninov, who occasionally both his Second Piano Concerto and his Third Insofar as ‘inspiration’ existed, it signified a set poems of Heine or Goethe in Russian Symphony attest, with him this amounted to Medtner’s idiom changed little in the course of state of receptivity, or the intermittent capacity translations, but who shared neither Medtner’s a rhetorical pièce d’occasion; with Medtner his career, owing not least to his habit of storing to become a medium for something infinitely partially German ancestry and cultural roots it was more an intellectual necessity. To ideas in notebooks and returning to them years greater than the self. At the same time, the nor – it is fair to suggest – the sophistication refer to the piano parts in Medtner’s songs or even decades later. This greatly complicates exercise of patient craft and honest labour came of his literary taste. Both composers naturally as mere ‘accompaniments’ is therefore to any attempt to ascribe definitive dates or to signify a kind of devotional act, whereby the expressed themselves in elaborate terms misconstrue their character and substance a clear sequence to his works. For a short flawed mortal creature below exerted every where the piano was concerned – but, while entirely. Only very occasionally does Medtner interval in the first decade of the twentieth sinew to mirror and embody the perfection of Rachmaninov was also a peerless master of allow the voice to enter at the onset of a song; century, he was justly regarded as a radical the primordial heavenly ‘song’ above. Medtner the orchestra, Medtner resembles Chopin almost always, the piano sets the mood and outstripping Scriabin, whose later, iconoclastic would presumably have understood at least in the correlation between his struggles as rhythmic character. And if sometimes there musical language began to evolve only with half of a remark made by the Fauvist artist Henri an orchestrator (though he composed three is an almost incidental character to the voice the appearance of his Fourth Piano Sonata in Matisse, who disavowed any clear religious ambitious piano concertos) and the objective part, several of the songs include felicitous 1903. However, Medtner later made no secret creed but still stated that, in order to create difficulties which his piano music would pose canonic relationships between vocal and piano of his unforgiving views on modernists such anything significant, one must put oneself in ‘the to anyone else trying to orchestrate it. For both melody, revealing a subtly perceptive response as Schoenberg and Stravinsky, as his book condition of prayer’. Given Nikolai Medtner’s Medtner and Rachmaninov it seems likely to potentialities of the poetic text. In 1903 Muza i Moda (The Muse and Fashion, published lastingly stricken conscience on Emil’s account, that, some of the time at least, a vocal solo part Medtner made a thorough study of poetic form in Paris in 1935) forcefully demonstrated. it is feasible to see his interpretation of creative emerged as the by-product of a preconceived which marked the beginning of his passion for Nonetheless, a key feature of his own music labour not merely as prayer, but as a form of harmonic and pianistic scheme, as opposed Goethe, and this was to influence his approach is the curious and distinctive merging of a atonement. The Platonic element extends into to a melodic line providing the directional and to the setting of poetry throughout his career. relatively conventional tonal style, and of his sense of the consolations of composition harmonic logic for its accompaniment. In an innate adherence to classical structure, as an exercise rather than a finished result. It Medtner’s case, this is corroborated by the Medtner’s approach to the setting of text is with rhythmic cross-currents which can be is notable that, while he set many love poems, many surviving sketches for his solo piano almost exclusively syllabic, as opposed to playful, quasi-improvisatory in their freedom Medtner seldom if ever penned anything overtly sonatas and shorter pieces: page after page melismatic; that is to say, generally he sets each or deliberately subversive in their effect. This erotic in tone. of contrapuntal workings in two or three syllable to a single note, reserving a ‘melisma’ renders the diagnosis of mere conservatism parts attests to an uncompromising refusal to (a succession of notes to a single vowel) for unduly simplistic. Medtner composed over one hundred songs, elaborate raw ideas in pianistic terms until their moments of heightened or more intimate the texts of which are fairly evenly balanced motivic implications and scope for imitative expression. In this respect his songs bear Medtner subscribed to an essentially Platonic between Russian and German. The latter deployment had been fully explored. This some superficial relationship to the mélodies view of artistic creation, central to which was are concentrated mainly within his earlier applies as much to his piano writing in the of Fauré, to whose harmonic language Notes on the music

Medtner’s occasionally bears a passing Before this had come Three Romances, Op. 3, Opus 18 fluctuates in scale, the slender accompaniment whose subtly elliptical resemblance (noticeable, for example, in his with a Lermontov and a Pushkin setting; the Mignon, Op.18 No. 4 followed by an harmony contrasts with the distinctive rising First Violin Sonata). In a perceptive article, the group also included Medtner’s first move unexpectedly elaborate and extended setting intervals of the vocal line. late Malcolm Boyd suggested that Medtner’s towards Goethe via a translation by the Russian of Das Veilchen, Op. 18 No. 5, again featuring a songs lie somewhere between Wolf’s and poet Afanasy Fet. For Opus 13, Medtner coda for piano alone. Opus 24 marks a return to From Opus 36, The Angel, Op. 36 No. 1 those of Brahms – the latter having been a revisited Pushkin. The storm depicted in Winter Russian texts. The Tyutchev setting, Day and unfolds a melody and harmony of quasi- bugbear of Medtner’s because of a persistent Evening, Op. 13 No. 1 called forth a swirling Night, Op. 24 No. 1 emulates Schubert’s ‘Der liturgical character, arguably marred by a rare and highly misleading ‘Russian Brahms’ tag piano part worthy of a concert étude, yet this Lindenbaum’ in his Winterreise cycle by visiting misjudgement at the end, when banality that emerged from the critical press and gained is offset by more sedate momentum in the the same scene in metaphorical daylight and momentarily intrudes. The most notable persistent currency. While Boyd rightly judged underlying harmony. In the outer sections one darkness, with the latter overshadowing an song in this set is Arion, Op. 36 No. 6, a that melodic interest in Medtner’s songs is senses the vocal line arising as a kind of descant ostensible return to the former. Twilight, formidable setting which arguably surpasses sometimes subordinate to that of the piano to preconceived piano writing. Op.24 No. 4 embodies an artlessly fluid, quasi- Rachmaninov’s of a few years earlier, and part, he added that it is never subordinate to improvisatory way with alternating regular and demands concerto-like virtuosity of the pianist. the words, in that it is meticulously matched to Opus 15 mostly consists of relative miniatures, irregular rhythms. A whisper, a shy breath, In Opus 37, the insistent repetition of the piano text through careful choice of pitch, volume and despite the unabated intricacy of the piano writing. Op. 24 No.7 is one of Medtner’s loveliest and writing in Sleeplessness, Op. 37 No. 1 is on a rhythm, in this respect placing Medtner closer Vor Gericht, Op.15 No. 6, however, is of more also simplest songs. The pianist Phyllis Palmer similar scale and seems to allude to the sombre to Wolf than to Brahms. Moreover, Boyd noted, imposing scale. Its earlier stages exemplify told the present author (then her pupil, as she tolling of bells in Rachmaninov’s Etude-Tableau, Medtner’s sometimes lengthy concluding Medtner’s habit of offsetting four-beats-in-a-bar had been Medtner’s) that to the end of his days Op. 39 No. 7, written only a couple of years piano solos or interludes are not primarily ‘common time’ with skipping, dotted groups the composer remained ‘ecstatically in love’ earlier, just before its composer left Russia, as expressive like those of Schumann, but integral of three quavers which subtly contradict the with Anna, and this otherwise negligible poem Medtner was also soon to do. In Elegy, Op. 42 to the songs’ structure. underlying pulse – an effect which can be either becomes deeply touching if its anticipation of No. 1, another Pushkin setting, the helpless playful or turbulent. As in some Rachmaninov a new dawn is considered in the light of their sense of being hostage to events is conveyed in The text in some of the earliest Goethe songs, a stormy coda allows the piano free rein devotion to one another through long years of a studied dislocation of the vocal rhythm from its songs acquires a startlingly ironic gloss if one after a harmonically inconclusive final vocal exile and hardship. underpinnings in the piano part, which becomes considers the circumstances of the ‘eternal phrase. Meeresstille, Op.15 No. 7 takes rhythmic menacingly disruptive in the central stages. triangle’ within which Medtner composed displacement further by rearranging what would Opus 28 brings together Fet and Tyutchev; this music. Im Vorübergehn, Op. 6 No. 4, otherwise be bars of common time into irregular Opus 29 is the first of four groups devoted Opus 46 ventures further into German for example, speaks of courtship, and the alternations of three, two and three quavers, and exclusively to Pushkin. The Echo, Op. 32 Romantic literature. In Winternacht, Op. 46 metaphor of a flower needing to be replanted, Glückliche Fahrt, Op.15 No. 8 reveals Medtner’s No. 1 offers an encapsulation of the artist’s No. 5 Medtner responds to the proto- rather than merely picked, surely has an concern to maintain an overarching narrative by condition, while I loved you, Op. 32 No. 4 expressionism of Eichendorff’s poem with an uncomfortable personal resonance, mirrored allowing the accompaniment of ‘Meeresstille’ sets one of Pushkin’s most celebrated poems eerie introduction which both echoes one of by fluid but already distinctive displacements in to persist as an introduction to the next song, strophically. The apparent weightlessness of its his own earlier solo piano pieces and finds the the vocal and harmonic rhythm. relinquishing it only as the voice enters. opening leads into an unwontedly economical harmonic means perfectly to convey a frozen Notes on the music CD1 – Texts and translations nocturnal landscape, before an intimation of and best-known work remains the piano from Three Romances, Op. 3 spring brings about a thunderous climax. solo Sonata-Reminiscenza, written when he knew that departure from his homeland was 1 У врат обители святой By the gate of a holy cloister A further seven Pushkin settings make up imminent. In such a context, the memory in Opus 52. The Raven, Op. 52 No. 2 respects the title became memory anticipated, and it У врат обители святой By the gate of a holy cloister, the roots of the poem in a Scottish Border is not too fanciful to characterise Medtner’s Стоял просящий подаянья One stood, begging, ballad in its plausible evocation of folk melody voice as ‘music in the future-perfect tense’. Бессильный, бледный и худой Weak, pale and thin and the intermittent modality of its harmony. It is the expression of an arduous journey taken От глада, жажды и страданья. From hunger, thirst and pain. The itinerant Medtners had already made through life, and of a present or future richly Куска лишь хлеба он просил, He asked but for a piece of bread, their first visit to England; by the time of the coloured by a dreamt-of, irrecoverable past. И взор являл живую муку, And his look showed the anguish of his life, final group, Opus 61, they were permanently Medtner’s besetting difficulty has been that his И кто-то камень положил And someone put a stone resident in Britain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, challenging, intricate music demands repeated В его протянутую руку. Into his outstretched hand. Reiselied, Op. 61 No. 1 adopts the trudging effort from its listener, while an elusive and gait of Schubert’s winter traveller, albeit in reticent quality of understatement, even in his Так я молил твоей любви Even so I begged for your love, a more weightlessly linear fashion which most vividly forceful moments, deters many С слезами горькими, с тоскою; With bitter tears, with longing, hints both at both folk modality and Russian from making the crucial second attempt. Так чувства лучшие мои Even so my better senses Orthodox liturgy. In music that echoes two Those who have persisted will attest that, Обмануты навек тобою! Have been deceived by you forever! earlier works, the Sonata-Vocalise and Suite- once Medtner’s music gets under the skin, it Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (1814–1841) Vocalise for soprano and piano, Op. 41 Nos 1 remains there. As the pianist Hamish Milne has and 2, this most autobiographical of composers written, far from being dismissed as merely responds to the poem’s existential journey with conservative, ‘as an expression of man’s 2 Я пережил свои желанья I have outlived my desires a backward glance as well as a forward one, by struggle and indomitable spirit, it can rightfully Я пережил свои желанья, I have outlived my desires, including a dreaming, wordless refrain which is claim the more highly prized epithet – timeless’. Я разлюбил свои мечты; I have ceased to love my dreams; heard at the midpoint and at the end. Midday, Остались мне одни страданья, There is only suffering left for me, Op. 61 No. 6, sits on the cusp of two keys, © 2018 Francis Pott Плоды сердечной пустоты. Fruit of the heart’s emptiness. leaving the matter tantalisingly unresolved. Francis Pott is Professor of Composition at Под бурями судьбы жестокой Under the storms of cruel fate Upon going to his bed, the devout composer London College of Music within the University Увял цветущий мой венец – My crown that blossomed has withered – would bid goodnight to his faithful piano by of West London. His works, which have been Живу печальный, одинокой, Sad, lonely, I live, playing a perfect cadence in C major, signifying performed and broadcast in over 40 countries, И жду: придет ли мой конец? And wait: is my end coming? affirmation of his faith in God and of the sanctity are extensively published and also recorded on of art, but also meek acceptance of divine will many labels, including Delphian. and the natural order. His most-performed CD1 – Texts and translations

Так, поздним хладом пораженный, Stricken by a late frost, Fand mein Holdchen I found that my dearest Как бури слышен зимний свист, And the noisy whistle of a winter storm, Nicht daheim; Was not at home – Один – на ветке обнаженной Alone – on a bare branch Muss das Goldchen It’s out here in the open Трепещет запоздалый лист! Trembles one last leaf! Draußen sein; That she loves to roam Grünt und blühet Among the green and the blossom Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799–1837) Schön der Mai, All flowering in May, Liebchen ziehet That’s where my sweetheart from Nine Songs after Goethe, Op. 6 Froh und frei. Will be making her way.

An dem Felsen beim Fluss, By the rock at the river’s edge 3 Wandrers Nachtlied [II] On the Road at Eventide II Wo sie reichte den Kuss, Where she gave me the kiss, Jenen ersten im Gras, The first we did pledge, Über allen Gipfeln In the hills Seh’ ich etwas! Ist sie das? There’s something I see – O, can it be she? Ist Ruh’, All’s still. In allen Wipfeln In the trees Spürest du Barely a breeze 5 Elfenliedchen The Elves’ Little Song Kaum einen Hauch; And no bird song. Um Mitternacht, wenn die Menschen At midnight once folk Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde. Wait awhile, before long erst schlafen, are asleep, Warte nur, balde You too’ll be at ease. Dann scheinet uns der Mond, Then the moon shines only for us, Ruhest du auch. Dann leuchtet uns der Stern; Then for us the stars light Wir wandeln und singen And we stroll and we sing, 4 Mailied May Song Und tanzen erst gern. And go dancing for our delight. Zwischen Weizen und Korn, Between wheat fields and corn, Um Mitternacht, wenn die Menschen At midnight once folk Zwischen Hecken und Dorn, Between hedgerows and thorn, erst schlafen, are asleep, Zwischen Bäumen und Gras, Among the grasses and trees, Auf Wiesen, an den Erlen In the mead by the alders Wo geht’s Liebchen? Sag mir das! Where is my beloved? O tell me please! Wir suchen unsern Raum We look for our site,

Und wandeln und singen And we stroll and we sing, Und tanzen einen Traum. Our dance is a dream of delight. CD1 – Texts and translations

6 Im Vorübergehn Passing on 7 Aus Claudine von Villa-Bella From Claudine von Villa-Bella Ich ging im Felde I was wandering out Liebliches Kind, My dear child, So für mich hin, across the fields Kannst du mich sagen, Can you tell me, Und nichts zu suchen, With no particular Sage, warum Tell me why Das war mein Sinn. aim in mind. Zärtliche Seelen Gentle souls Einsam und stumm Alone, silently Da stand ein Blümchen There was a flower Immer sich quälen? Always torment themselves, Sogleich, so nah, in my path, Selbst sich betrügen Nay, deceive themselves, Dass ich im Leben Lovelier than any I’d Und ihr Vergnügen Their pleasure always, Nichts lieber sah. ever find. Immer nur ahnen da, They suppose, lies Ich wollt’ es brechen, I wanted to pick it, Wo sie nicht sind? Where they are not? Da sagt’ es schleunig: but it said in haste, Kannst du mich sagen, Can you tell me why, ,Ich habe Wurzeln, ‘I have roots, though Liebliches Kind? My dear child? Die sind gar heimlich. these are unseen.

Im tiefen Boden ‘Deep in the earth 8 Aus Erwin und Elmire I From Erwin und Elmire I Bin ich gegründet; is where I am based; Inneres wühlen Inner turmoil Drum sind die Blüten It gives my bloom Ewig zu fühlen; Ever present, So schön geründet. that perfect sheen. Immer verlangen, Inner longing Ich kann nicht liebeln, ‘I cannot love, Nimmer erlangen, Ne’er quiescent, Ich kann nicht schranzen; I cannot flatter. Fliehen und streben, Fleeing, striving, Musst mich nicht brechen, Don’t pick me, but plant Sterben und leben, Living, dying, Musst mich verpflanzen.‘ me elsewhere.’ Höllische Qual, This hellish thrall Endig’ einmal! Ends – once, and for all. Ich ging im Walde I was wandering out So vor mich hin; through the woods, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1742–1832) Ich war so heiter, Ever onward and full of cheer; Wollt immer weiter – That aim in mind now Das war mein Sinn. quite clear. CD1 – Texts and translations

Two Poems, Op. 13 Буря мглою небо кроет, Sable clouds by tempest driven, Вихри снежные крутя; Snowflakes whirling in the gales, То, как зверь, она завоет, Hark – it sounds like grim wolves howling, 9 Зимний вечер Winter Evening То заплачет, как дитя. Hark – now like a child it wails! Буря мглою небо кроет, Sable clouds by tempest driven, Выпьем, добрая подружка Sweetheart of my youthful Springtime, Вихри снежные крутя; Snowflakes whirling in the gales, Бедной юности моей, Thou true-souled companion dear, То, как зверь, она завоет, Hark – it sounds like grim wolves howling, Выпьем с горя; где же кружка? Let us drink! Away with sadness! То заплачет, как дитя, Hark – now like a child it wails! Сердцу будет веселей. Wine will fill our hearts with cheer! То по кровле обветшалой Creeping through the rustling straw thatch, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin tr. Martha Gilbert Dickinson Bianchi (1866–1943) Вдруг соломой зашумит, Rattling on the mortared walls, То, как путник запоздалый, Like some weary wanderer knocking – К нам в окошко застучит. On the lowly pane it falls. 10 Эпитафия Epitaph Наша ветхая лачужка Fearsome darkness fills the kitchen, Золотому блеску верил, He believed in golden brilliance, И печальна и темна. Drear and lonely our retreat, А умер от солнечных стрел. And he died of arrows from the sun. Что же ты, моя старушка, Speak a word and break the silence, Думой века измерил, The century’s thought he measured, Приумолкла у окна? Dearest little Mother, sweet! А жизнь прожить не сумел. But his life he could not prolong. Или бури завываньем Has the moaning of the tempest Не смейтесь над мертвым поэтом: Do not mock the dead poet: Ты, мой друг, утомлена, Closed thine eyelids wearily? Снесите ему цветок. Bring him a flower. Или дремлешь под жужжаньем Has the spinning wheel’s soft whirring На кресте и зимой и летом In winter and in summer Своего веретена? Hummed a cradle song to thee? Мой фарфоровый бьется венок. My porcelain wreath will strike my cross. Выпьем, добрая подружка Sweetheart of my youthful Springtime, Цветы на нем побиты. The flowers on it are defeated. Бедной юности моей, Thou true-souled companion dear – Образок полинял. The image is faded. Выпьем с горя; где же кружка? Let us drink! Away with sadness! Тяжелые плиты. The tiles are heavy. Сердцу будет веселей. Wine will fill our hearts with cheer. Жду, чтоб их кто-нибудь снял. I’m waiting for someone to remove them. Спой мне песню, как синица Sing the song how free and careless Тихо за морем жила; Birds live in a distant land – Любил только звон колокольный I only loved the sound of bells Спой мне песню, как девица Sing the song of maids at morning И закат. And the sunset. За водой поутру шла. Meeting by the brook’s clear strand! Отчего мне так больно, больно! Why am I in so much pain, so much? Я не виноват. It’s not my fault. CD1 – Texts and translations

Пожалейте, придите; Pity me, come; Doch leider hat das schöne Kind Unfortunately the pretty girl Навстречу венком метнусь. I’ll rush towards my wreath, Dergleichen nicht gefühlt. Felt nothing of the sort. О, любите меня, полюбите – Oh, love me, love me – Ich seh’, es ist der Abendwind, I see it was the evening breeze Я, быть может, не умер, быть может, Maybe I haven’t died – maybe Der mit dem Vorhang spielt. And the curtain making sport. Вернусь. I will return.

Проснусь … I will awake ... 13 Vor Gericht In Court

Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolayevich Bugaev, 1880–1934) Von wem ich’s habe, das sag’ ich euch nicht, Whose it is I will not say, Das Kind in meinem Leib. The child that’s in my womb. ,Pfui!‘ speit ihr aus: ,die Hure da!‘ ‘Shame,’ you cry, ‘Look at the whore!’ from Twelve Songs after Goethe, Op. 15 Bin doch ein ehrlich Weib. But I am a decent woman. Mit wem ich mich traute, das sag’ ich Who I wed I will 11 Wandrers Nachtlied I On the Road at Eventide I euch nicht. not say. Der du von dem Himmel bist, You, who are from heaven Mein Schatz ist lieb und gut, My beloved is good and kind. Alles Leid und Schmerzen stillest, Soothing all our grief and pain, Trägt er eine goldene Kett’ am Hals, He wears a gold chain round his neck, Den, der doppelt elend ist, And giving him who’s doubly wretched Trägt er einen strohernen Hut. His straw hat is most refined. Doppelt mit Erquickung füllest; Twice the will to live again, Soll Spott und Hohn getragen sein, If mockery and scorn there is, Ach, ich bin des Treibens müde! O, I am so tired of striving! Trag’ ich allein den Hohn. So, mockery be my due. Was soll all der Schmerz und Lust? What’s the point of joy and strife? Ich kenn’ ihn wohl, er kennt mich wohl, I know it well and it knows me, Süßer Friede, Sweet peace, Und Gott weiß auch davon. Our Lord, He knew it too. Komm, ach komm in meine Brust! Peace is all I want from life. Herr Pfarrer und Herr Amtmann, ihr, You Mister Priest and Mister Clerk, Ich bitte, lasst mich in Ruh’! If you please, just let me be. 12 Selbstbetrug Self-deception Es ist mein Kind, und bleibt mein Kind; It is my child, will be my child, Der Vorhang schwebet hin und her The curtain’s swaying to and fro Ihr gebt mir ja nichts dazu. I expect no charity. Bei meiner Nachbarin. At the window of the girl next door; Gewiss, sie lauschet überquer, She’s looking out across the way, Ob ich zu Hause bin, That I’m home, she’s making sure. Und ob der eifersücht’ge Groll, And whether the jealous grudge Den ich am Tag gehegt, I’d held on to all day long Sich, wie er nun auf immer soll, Was now for ever laid to rest Im tiefen Herzen regt. Where it could do no wrong. CD1 – Texts and translations

14 Meeresstille Calm Sea (Becalmed) from Six Poems after Goethe, Op. 18 Tiefe Stille herrscht im Wasser, Profound stillness pervades the waters, Ohne Regung ruht das Meer, The sea rests motionless, 16 Mignon Mignon Und bekümmert sieht der Schiffer And anxiously the boatman looks out Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt Only someone sick with yearning Glatte Fläche rings umher. Over the smooth surface all around. Weiß, was ich leide! Knows just what it is I feel; Keine Luft von keiner Seite, No breath of air from any quarter! Allein und abgetrennt Alone, cut off Todes-stille fürchterlich. Deathly, awful quiet! Von aller Freude, From any pleasure In der ungeheuern Weite In that immense tract, Seh’ ich ans Firmament I scan the heavens Reget keine Welle sich. No wave, no movement. Nach jener Seite. In the distance there. Ach! der mich liebt und kennt, But he who knows and loves me 15 Glückliche Fahrt Prosperous Voyage Ist in der Weite. Is so far from anywhere! Es schwindelt mir, es brennt My heart and soul are burning, Die Nebel zerreissen, The mists are shredding, Mein Eingeweide. And how my head does reel! Der Himmel ist helle, The sky is clear Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt Only someone who’s been sick with yearning Und Aeolus löset And Aeolus frees us Weiß, was ich leide, Knows just what it is I feel. Das ängstliche Band. From anxiety’s bonds. Allein und abgetrennt Alone, cut off Es säuseln die Winde, The winds whisper, Von aller Freude. From any pleasure. Es rührt sich der Schiffer, The boatman stirs. Geschwinde! Geschwinde! Speed! Make speed! Es teilt sich die Welle, The bow-wave is parting, 17 Das Veilchen The Violet Es naht sich die Ferne, Distance grows closer, Ein Veilchen auf der Wiese stand, A violet stood in the grass Schon seh’ ich das Land. There, I see land! Gebückt in sich und unbekannt; Unnoticed and withdrawn. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Es war ein herzigs Veilchen. It was a dear little violet. Da kam eine junge Schäferin A young shepherdess came along, Mit leichtem Schritt und munterm Sinn Light of foot, a sprightly soul, Daher, daher, Came closer, closer Die Wiese her und sang. O’er the grass singing a song. CD1 – Texts and translations

Ach! denkt das Veilchen, wär’ ich nur Ah, thinks the violet, if only Mir ist es, denk’ ich nur an dich, As soon as I think of you I feel Die schönste Blume der Natur, I were the loveliest flower in the world, Als in den Mond zu seh’n; I’m looking at the moon; Ach, nur ein kleines Weilchen, For just a little while, Ein stiller Friede kommt auf mich, A quiet peace comes over me; Bis mich das Liebchen abgepflückt Until the dear girl picks me Weiß nicht, wie mir gescheh’n. How came about this boon? Und an dem Busen matt gedrückt, And clasps me to her breast. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Ach, nur, ach nur If only, if only, Ein Viertelstündchen lang! For just a quarter hour long. from Eight Poems, Op. 24 Ach, aber ach! Das Mädchen kam Oh, but woe, the shepherdess Und nicht in acht das Veilchen nahm, O’erlooked the violet, Ertrat das arme Veilchen. Crushed the violet underfoot. 19 День и ночь Day and Night Es sank und starb, und freut’ sich noch: It fell, it died, rejoicing yet: На мир таинственный духов, In the mysterious world of spirits, Und sterb’ ich denn, so sterb’ ich doch If I must die, so then I die Над этой бездной безымянной, Above this nameless abyss, Durch sie, durch sie, Because of her, of her Покров наброшен златотканый A cloth-of-gold mantle is cast over the Zu ihren Füßen doch! And at her very feet. Высокой волею богов. High will of gods. День – сей блистательный покров Day – this glorious mantle, 18 Jägers Abendlied A Hunter’s Song at Day’s End День, земнородных оживленье, Day, life-giver for the earth-born, Души болящей исцеленье, Cure for an ailing soul, Im Felde schleich’ ich still und wild, In the field, stalking, silent, fired up, Друг человеков и богов! Friend of men and gods! Gespannt mein Feuerrohr. My shot-gun cocked aright, Da schwebt so licht dein liebes Bild, Your image, so fair, so dear, hovers Но меркнет день – настала ночь; But the day is fading; night has fallen; Dein süßes Bild mir vor. So sweetly in my sight. Пришла – и, с мира рокового Has come – and, taking from the mortal world

Ткань благодатную покрова The blessed fabric of the mantle Du wandelst jetzt wohl still und mild No doubt you’re taking a gentle stroll Собрав, отбрасывает прочь … Casts it away … Durch Feld und liebes Tal, Through field and pleasant vale, И бездна нам обнажена And the abyss is naked to us Und ach, mein schnell verrauschend Bild, But, does my fading image appear С своими страхами и мглами, With its terrors and shadows, Stellt sich dir’s nicht einmal? Not even once to tell the tale? И нет преград меж ей и нами – And there are no barriers between it and us – Des Menschen, der die Welt durchstreift Of the man who roams throughout the world, Вот отчего нам ночь страшна! And this is why the night is terrible for us! Voll Unmut und Verdruss, Ill-tempered, sick at heart, Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (1803–1873) Nach Osten und nach Westen schweift, Who roves to East, to West Weil er dich lassen muss. For he from you must part.

CD1 – Texts and translations

20 Что ты клонишь над водами The Willow (Why are you bending your head?) 22 Я потрясён, когда кругом I am struck dumb Что ты клонишь над водами, Why are you bending your head Я потрясён, когда кругом I am struck dumb when all around Ива, макушку свою To the waters, Willow, Гудят леса, грохочет гром The forests rumble, thunder roars И дрожащими листами, And with trembling leaves, И в блеск огней гляжу я снизу, And in the brilliance of the lights I look up from below, Словно жадными устами, Like greedy lips, Когда, испугом обуян, When, stirred up in fright, Ловишь беглую струю? … Catch the runaway stream? … На скалы мечет океан The ocean crashes against the cliffs Твою серебряную ризу. Of your silver robe. Хоть томится, хоть трепещет What though each leaf of yours Каждый лист твой над струей … Trembles, though it quivers above the stream … Но просветлённый и немой, But serene and speechless, Но струя бежит и плещет, Nevertheless the stream runs and splashes, Овеян властью неземной Winnowed by an unearthly power И, на солнце нежась, блещет, And, glowing in the sun, glistens, Стою не в этот миг тяжёлый, I stand not in this heavy moment, И смеётся над тобой … And laughs at you … А в час, когда, как бы во сне, But in an hour when, as if in a dream, Твой светлый ангел шепчет мне Your bright angel whispers to me Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev Неизречённые глаголы. Unutterable words.

Я загораюсь и горю, I catch fire and burn, 21 Сумерки Twilight Я порываюсь и парю I strive and steam Тени сизые смесились, The blue-grey shadows have blended together, В томленьях крайнего усилья In an agony of extreme effort Цвет поблекнул, звук уснул – Colour has faded, sound has fallen asleep – И верю сердцем, что растут And I believe in my heart that I am growing Жизнь, движенье разрешились Life, movement, in the unsteady twilight, И тотчас в небо унесут Outspread wings В сумрак зыбкий, в дальний гул … Have dissolved into a distant rumble … Меня раскинутые крылья. And at once they will carry me to the sky. Мотылька полет незримый A moth flies past, invisible Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet Слышен в воздухе ночном … Heard in the night air … Час тоски невыразимой! … Hour of ineffable longing! … Всё во мне, и я во всем! … Everything in me, and I in everything! … 23 Шёпот, робкое дыханье A whisper, a shy breath Сумрак тихий, сумрак сонный, Quiet twilight, sleepy twilight, Шёпот, робкое дыханье, A whisper, a shy breath, Лейся в глубь моей души, Pour into the depths of my soul, Трели соловья, The trills of a nightingale, Тихий, томный, благовонный, Quiet, dark, fragrant, Серебро и колыханье And silver ripples Все залей и утиши – All flood in and calm me – Сонного ручья. Of a sleepy stream. Чувства мглой самозабвенья Feelings of the haze of self-forgetting Свет ночной, ночные тени, Light of the night, night’s shadows, Переполни через край! … Fill me to overflowing! … Тени без конца, Shadows without end, Дай вкусить уничтоженья, Let me taste of oblivion, Ряд волшебных изменений A series of magical changes С миром дремлющим смешай! Blend me with the slumbering world! Милого лица, On a sweet face, Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev CD1 – Texts and translations

В дымных тучках пурпур розы, Purple roses in hazy clouds, 25 Не могу я слышать этой птички Whenever I hear birdsong Отблеск янтаря, The gleam of amber, Не могу я слышать этой птички, Whenever I hear birdsong И лобзания, и слёзы, And kisses, and tears, Чтобы тотчас сердцем не вспорхнуть; I instantly take wing in my heart; И заря, заря! … And the dawn, the dawn! … Не могу, наперекор привычке, I can’t even, contrary to my habit, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet Как войдешь, – хоть молча не вздохнуть. Sigh in silence as you come in. Ты не вспыхнешь, ты не побледнеешь, You don’t blush, you don’t turn pale, from Seven Poems, Op. 28 Взоры полны тихого огня; Your looks are full of a quiet fire; Больно видеть мне, как ты умеешь It’s painful for me to see how you can Не видать и не слыхать меня! Not see, or hear me! 24 Нежданный дождь Unexpected Rain Я тебя невольно беспокою, I’m disturbing you involuntarily, Всё тучки, тучки, а кругом Everything is clouds, clouds, but around me Торжество должна ты искупить: You must redeem your triumph: Всё сожжено, всё умирает … Everything is burned up, everything dies … На заре без туч нельзя такою In such a cloudless dawn, it is impossible Какой архангел их крылом Which archangel with his wing Молодой и лучезарной быть! For someone to be so young and radiant! Ко мне на нивы навевает? Calls me to the fields?

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet Повиснул дождь, как легкий дым, The rain fell like light smoke, Напрасно степь кругом алкала, In vain, the alkaline steppe around me, И надо мною лишь одним And above me, all alone, 26 Бабочка The Butterfly Зарею радуга стояла. A rainbow stood in the dawn. Ты прав: oдним воздушным очертаньем You’re right: with one airy outline Смирись, мятущийся поэт, – Be at peace, restless poet, – Я так мила. So dear am I. С небес нисходит жизнь влага, From the sky comes the moisture of life; Весь бархат мой с его живым миганьем – All my velvet with its vivid flash – Чего ты ждешь, того и нет, What you wait for is not there, Лишь два крыла. Is nothing but two wings. Лишь незаслуженное – благо. Only what is undeserved is good. Не спрашивай: откуда появилась? Don’t ask me: where did you come from? Я – ничего я не могу; I – I can do nothing; Куда спешу? Where am I hurrying to? Один лишь может, кто, могучий, One only can, who, almighty, Здесь на цветок я легкий опустилась I landed lightly here on this flower Воздвиг прозрачную дугу Has raised the translucent arc И вот – дышу. And now – I’m breathing. И живоносные шлет тучи. And sends clouds for living things. Надолго ли, без цели, без усилья, Do I want to breathe a long time, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet Дышать хочу? Without purpose, without effort? Вот-вот, сейчас, сверкнув, раскину крылья Right now, I’ll give a flash of colour, spread my wings И улечу. And fly away.

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet CD1 – Texts and translations

27 Сижу задумчив и один I sit, thoughtful and alone from Seven Poems after Pushkin, Op. 29 Сижу задумчив и один, I sit, thoughtful and alone, На потухающий камин At the dying fireside 28 Певец The Singer Сквозь слез гляжу … I gaze through tears … Слыхали ль вы за рощей глас ночной Did you hear beyond the grove the night voice С тоскою мыслю о былом I think about the past with longing Певца любви, певца своей печали? Of the singer of love who sings of his И слов в унынии моем And in my despondency, Когда поля в час утренний молчали, sadness? Не нахожу. I cannot find words. Свирели звук унылый и простой In the morning, when the fields were silent, Былое было ли когда? The past – when was it? Слыхали ль вы? It was the plaintive and simple sound of the Что ныне – будет ли всегда? … Will what is now – always be? … pipe. Встречали ль вы в пустынной тьме лесной Оно пройдет – It will pass – Did you hear it? Певца любви, певца своей печали? Пройдет оно, как всё прошло, Pass it will, as all has passed, Следы ли слез, улыбку ль замечали, Did you meet in the desolate darkness of the И канет в темное жерло And will sink into the dark chasm – Иль тихий взор, исполненный тоской, forest За годом год. Year after year. Встречали вы? The singer of love who sings of his sadness? За годом год, за веком век … Year after year, century after century … Did you notice a trace of tears or smile, Вздохнули ль вы, внимая тихий глас Что ж негодует человек, Why should man, this earthly leaf of grass, Or a gentle and mournful glance? Певца любви, певца своей печали? Сей злак земной! … Rail at his fate? … Did you meet him? Когда в лесах вы юношу видали, Он быстро, быстро вянет – так, He will soon, soon wither – even so, Встречая взор его потухших глаз, Did you sigh to hear the tender voice Но с новым летом новый злак But with a new summer comes new grass Вздохнули ль вы? Of the singer of love who sings of the И лист иной. And a different leaf. sadness? И снова будет всё, что есть, And once more everything that now is will be, When you saw the young man in the forest, И снова розы будут цвесть, And once more roses will blossom, And met the look of his mournful eyes, И терны тож … And thorns the same … Did you sigh? Но ты, мой бедный, бедный цвет, But for you, my poor, pale flower, tr. Dmitri Smirnov (en.wikisource.org) Тебе уж возрожденья нет, There will be no revival, Не расцветешь! You will not bloom again … Ты сорван был моей рукой, You were plucked by my hand, С каким блаженством и тоской, With what joy and longing – То знает Бог! … God knows! Останься ж на груди моей, Stay on my breast, Пока любви не замер в ней While the last breath of love Последний вздох … Has not died in her …

Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev CD1 – Texts and translations

29 Стихи, сочиненные ночью во время Lines Written During a 31 Заклинание The Incantation бессонницы Sleepless Night О, если правда, что в ночи, Oh, if it’s true, that in the night, Мне не спится, нет огня; I cannot sleep, there is no fire; Когда покоятся живые, When the living lie at rest, Всюду мрак и сон докучный. Darkness is everywhere, and irksome sleep. И с неба лунные лучи And moonbeams from the sky Ход часов лишь однозвучный Only the monotonous progress of the clock Скользят на камни гробовые, Glide over gravestones, Раздаётся близ меня, Sounds near me. О, если правда, что тогда Oh, if it’s true that at that time Парки бабье лепетанье, Women’s babbling from the park, Пустеют тихие могилы, – Silent graves are emptying – Спящей ночи трепетанье, Tremulous in the sleeping night, Я тень зову, я жду Леилы: I call a shade, I await Leila: Жизни мышья беготня … The scurrying of mousy lives … Ко мне, мой друг, сюда, сюда! To me, my friend, come here! Come here! Что тревожишь ты меня? What are you worrying me about? Явись, возлюбленная тень, Come, beloved shadow, Что ты значишь, скучный шепот? What do you mean, you tiresome whispering? Как ты была перед разлукой, As you were before parting, Укоризна, или ропот A reproach, or a murmur Бледна, хладна, как зимний день, Pale, cold as a winter’s day, Мной утраченного дня? Of my lost day? Искажена последней мукой. Distorted by your last agony. От меня чего ты хочешь? What do you want of me? Приди, как дальная звезда, Come like a distant star, Ты зовешь или пророчишь? Are you calling me or foretelling? Как легкой звук иль дуновенье, Like a light sound or a breath, Я понять тебя хочу, I want to understand you, Иль как ужасное виденье, Or like a terrible apparition, Темный твой язык учу … To learn your dark speech … Мне все равно, сюда! сюда! … I do not care, come here! Come here! … Зову тебя не для того, I do not call on you so as to 30 Роза The Rose Чтоб укорять людей, чья злоба Reproach those whose anger Где наша роза, Where is our rose, Убила друга моего, Killed my friend, Друзья мои? My friends? Иль чтоб изведать тайны гроба, Or to reveal the secrets of the grave, Увяла роза, The rose, the child Не для того, что иногда Nor because sometimes Дитя зари. Of dawn, has wilted. Сомненьем мучусь … но, тоскуя, I’m tormented by doubt … but in my yearning, Не говори: Do not say: Хочу сказать, что все люблю я, I want to say that I love wholly, Так вянет младость! That’s how youth fades! Что все я твой: сюда, сюда! That I’m all yours: come here! Come here! Не говори: Do not say: Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin Вот жизни радость! That’s how life’s joy fades! Цветку скажи: Say to the little flower: Прости, жалею! Forgive me, I’m sorry! И на лилею And to the lily Нам укажи. Point us. CD2 – Texts and translations

from Six Poems, Op. 32 3 Могу ль забыть то сладкое мгновенье? Can I ever forget that sweet moment? (Вальс) (Waltz)

1 Эхо The Echo Могу ль забыть то сладкое мгновенье, Can I ever forget that sweet moment, Когда я вами жил и видел только вас, When I lived in you and saw only you, Ревет ли зверь в лесу глухом, Whether a beast roars in the woods, И вальса в бешеном круженье And in the waltz’s frenzied round Трубит ли рог, гремит ли гром, Whether a horn winds, whether thunder rumbles, Завидовал свободе дерзких глаз? Envied the freedom of your impudent eyes? Поет ли дева за холмом – Whether a maiden sings beyond the hill – Я умолял: постой, чудесное мгновенье! I begged: stay, you wonderful moment! На всякий звук To every sound Вели, чтоб быстрый вальс вертелся не Make the fast waltz turn Свой отклик в воздухе пустом Your response in the empty air вертясь, without turning, Родишь ты вдруг. You suddenly give out. Чтоб я не опускал с прелестной вечно глаз So I’d never let my eyes leave the lovely one Ты внемлешь грохоту громов, You hear the roar of thunder, И чтоб забвение крылом одело нас … And oblivion would fold us in its wing … И гласу бури и валов, And the voice of the storm and the waves, Anton Antonovich Delvig (1798–1831) И крику сельских пастухов – And the cry of the country shepherds – И шлёшь ответ; And give out your answer; Тебе ж нет отзыва … Таков No one replies to you … It’s the same from Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36 И ты, поэт! With you, poet!

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin 4 Ангел The Angel В дверях эдема ангел нежный At the gates of Eden, a gentle angel 2 Я вас любил I loved you Главой поникшею сиял, Shone, with head bowed, А демон мрачный и мятежный And a demon, gloomy and rebellious, Я вас любил: любовь еще, быть может, I loved you; and perchance until this moment Над адской бездною летал. Flew above the hellish abyss. В душе моей угасла не совсем; Within my breast is smouldering still the fire! Но пусть она вас больше не тревожит; Yet I would spare your pain the least renewal, Дух отрицанья, дух сомненья The spirit of rejection, the spirit of doubt Я не хочу печалить вас ничем. Nothing shall rouse again the old desire! На духа чистого взирал Looked on the spirit of purity И жар невольный умиленья And for the first time dimly knew Я вас любил безмолвно, безнадежно, I loved you with a silent desperation – Впервые смутно познавал. The involuntary warmth of a tender emotion. То робостью, то ревностью томим; Now timid, now with jealousy brought low, Я вас любил так искренно, так нежно, I loved devoutly, – with such deep devotion – «Прости, – он рек, – тебя я видел, ‘Forgive me,’ he said, ‘I saw you, Как дай вам бог любимой быть другим. Ah may God grant another love you so! И ты недаром мне сиял: And you did not shine on me in vain: Не всё я в небе ненавидел, Not everything in heaven have I hated, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin tr. Martha Gilbert Dickinson Bianchi (1866–1943) Не всё я в мире презирал». I have not despised everything in the world.’ CD2 – Texts and translations

5 Цветок The Flower 7 Испанский Романс Spanish Romance Цветок засохший, безуханный, A flower withered, its scent gone, Ночной зефир A night zephyr Забытый в книге вижу я; I see forgotten in a book; Струит эфир. Flows through the ether. И вот уже мечтою странной And now my soul has become filled Шумит, Splashes, Душа наполнилась моя: With a strange dream: Бежит Rushes Гвадалквивир. The Guadalquivir. Где цвел, когда, какой весною? Where did it bloom? When? In what spring? И долго ль цвел? And how long did it flower for? Вот взошла луна златая, There the moon has risen golden, и сорван кем, and by whom was it plucked, Тише … чу … гитары звон … Hush … listen … a guitar’s strumming … Чужой, знакомой ли рукою? By a stranger, or a well-known hand? Вот испанка молодая There a young Spanish girl И положен сюда зачем? And why was it placed here? Оперлася на балкон. Leans over a balcony. На память нежного ль свиданья, As a memory of a tender encounter, Ночной зефир A night zephyr Или разлуки роковой, Or of a fateful separation, Струит эфир. Flows through the ether. Иль одинокого гулянья Or a solitary walk Шумит, Splashes, В тиши полей, в тени лесной? In the quiet of the fields, in the shade of the forest? Бежит Rushes Гвадалквивир. The Guadalquivir. И жив ли тот, и та жива ли? And is he alive, and is she still alive? И нынче где их уголок? And where is their little nook now? Скинь мантилью, ангел милый, Cast off the mantilla, sweet angel, Или они уже увяли, Or have they already withered, И явись как яркий день! And appear as a bright day! Как сей неведомый цветок? Like this unknown flower? Сквозь чугунные перилы Through the iron railings Ножку дивную продень! Put out your delightful little foot!

6 Лишь розы уврядают As soon as roses wilt Ночной зефир A night zephyr Струит эфир. Flows through the ether. Лишь розы увядают, As soon as roses wilt, Шумит, Splashes, Амврозией дыша, Still breathing ambrosia, Бежит Rushes В Элизий улетает To Elysium Гвадалквивир. The Guadalquivir. Их легкая душа. Their delicate souls fly away. И там, где волны сонны And there, where sleepy waves Забвение несут, Bear oblivion, Их тени благовонны Their fragrant shades Над Летою цветут. Blossom over Lethe. CD2 – Texts and translations

8 Арион Arion Нам мнится: мир осиротелый It seems to us the orphan world Неотразимый Рок настиг – Is overtaken by irresistible Destiny – Нас было много на челне: There were many of us in the bark: И мы, в борьбе, природой целой And we, in the struggle, have been abandoned Иные парус напрягали, Some manned the sails, Покинуты на нас самих. To ourselves by the whole of Nature. Другие дружно упирали Others, as one, plunged the powerful oars В глубь мощны вёсла. В тишине, Deep in the waters. In calm seas, И наша жизнь стоит пред нами, And our life stands before us, На руль склонясь, наш кормищик умный Our wise helmsman, bent over the wheel, Как призрак на краю земли, Like a ghost at the end of the earth, В молчаньи правил грузный чёлн; Guided the heavily laden bark. И с нашим веком и друзьями And along with our times and our friends А я – беспечной веры полн And I, trusting and carefree, Бледнеет в сумрачной дали … It fades into the gloomy distance … Пловцам я пел … Вдруг лоно волн Sang to the seafarers … Suddenly, И новое, младое племя And a new, young generation Измял с налёту вихорь шумный … The waves’ bosom Меж тем на солнце расцвело, Meanwhile, has blossomed in the sun, Погиб и кормщик и пловец! Was crushed by a roaring whirlwind … А нас, друзья, и наше время And we, our friends, and our age Лишь я, таинственный певец, The helmsman and the seamen perished. Давно забвеньем занесло! Are long forgotten in oblivion! На берег выброшен грозою. Onto the shore thrown by the storm, Я гимны прежние пою, I sing the hymns I sang before, Лишь изредка, обряд печальный But occasionally, completing its sad ritual И ризу влажную мою And my damp raiment Свершая в полуночный час, At the hour of midnight, Сушу на солнце под скалою. I dry by the cliff, in the sun. Металла голос погребальный The funerary voice of the metal Порой оплакивает нас! Sometimes mourns for us! Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin tr. Natalia Challis, from The Singer’s Rachmaninoff Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev from Five Poems, Op. 37 10 Слёзы Tears

9 Бессонница Sleeplessness Слёзы людские, о слёзы людские, Mankind’s tears, oh mankind’s tears, Льётесь вы ранней и поздней порой … You flow now early, now late … Часов однообразный бой, The monotonous striking of the clock – Льётесь безвестные, льётесь незримые, Flow unknown, flow unseen, Томительная ночи повесть! The story of the weary night! Неистощимые, неисчислимые, – Inexhaustible, innumerable, – Язык для всех равно чужой A language equally foreign to everyone Льётесь, как льются струи дождевые Flow, as streams of rain pour И внятный каждому, как совесть! And distinct for everyone, like conscience! В осень глухую порою ночной. Sometimes in the muffled autumn night. Кто без тоски внимал из нас, Which of us has heard without melancholy, Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev Среди всемирного молчанья, Amid the world’s silence, Глухие времени стенанья, Time’s deaf groan, Пророчески-прощальный глас? Its voice foretelling our departure? CD2 – Texts and translations

11 Вальс Waltz Сердца покинутых друзей; The hearts of abandoned friends; Они, бессмертие вкушая, They, tasting immortality, Давно ль под волшебные звуки Was it so long ago that beneath magic strains Их поджидают в Элизей, Await them in Elysium, Носились по зале мы с ней? We flew round the hall, I with her? Как ждет на пир семья родная As a dear family wait at a feast Теплы были нежные руки, Her gentle arms were warm, Своих замедливших гостей … For their tardy guests … Теплы были звёзды очей. Warm were her starry eyes. Но, может быть, мечты пустые – But, maybe, these are empty dreams – Вчера пели песнь погребенья, Yesterday they sang her funeral chant, Быть может, с ризой гробовой Maybe, in my grave-robe Без крыши гробница была; The tomb was without a roof; Все чувства брошу я земные, I will forsake all my earthly feelings, Закрывши глаза, без движенья, With eyes closed, motionless, И чужд мне будет мир земной; And the world of the earth will become alien to me; Она под парчою спала. She slept under a brocade. Быть может, там, где все блистает Maybe there, where everything shines Я спал … над постелью моею I slept … over my bed Нетленной славой и красой, With imperishable glory and beauty, Стояла луна мертвецом. The moon stood as for a dead man. Где чистый пламень пожирает Where the pure flame burns away Под чудные звуки мы с нею Beneath the wonderful strains, I with her, Несовершенство бытия, The imperfection of existence, Носились по зале вдвоем. We flew round the hall together. Минутных жизни впечатлений Will my soul not keep hold of Не сохранит душа моя, The momentary sensations of life, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet Не буду ведать сожалений, Will I not know regrets, Тоску любви забуду я? … Will I forget the yearning of love? … from Four Poems, Op. 45 Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin

12 Элегия Elegy 13 Телега жизни The Cart of Life Люблю ваш сумрак неизвестный I love your unknown twilight Хоть тяжело подчас в ней бремя, Although sometimes there’s a heavy load in it, И ваши тайные цветы, And your secret flowers, Телега на ходу легка; The cart goes on its way lightly; О вы, поэзии прелестной Oh you, blest fantasies Ямщик лихой, седое время, The intrepid coachman, gray-haired Time, Благословенные мечты! Of lovely poetry! Везет, не слезет Carries us onward and does not get off the Вы нас уверили, поэты, Poets, you have persuaded us с облучка. driver’s seat. Что тени легкою толпой That a weightless crowd of shadows От берегов холодной Леты Is on the banks of cold Lethe, С утра садимся мы в телегу; In the morning we sit down in the cart; Слетаются на брег земной They fly to the world’s shore Мы погоняем с ямщиком We hurry on with the coachman И невидимо навещают And, unseen, visit И, презирая лень и негу, And, scorning idleness and luxury, Места, где было все милей, Places where all was sweeter, Кричим: «Валяй по всем по трем»! We shout: On you go, once and for all! И в сновиденьях утешают And in dreams console CD2 – Texts and translations

Но в полдень нет уж той отваги; But at noon we don’t retain that courage; from Seven Poems, Op. 46 Порастрясло нас; нам страшней We have been shaken; we are more afraid И косогоры и овраги; Of the slopes and ravines; 15 Geweihter Platz The Hallowed Place Кричим: «Полегче, дуралей»! We shout: Go easy, you fool! Wenn zu den Reihen der Nymphen, When to join the assembled ranks of Nymphs Катит по-прежнему телега; The cart rolls on as before; versammelt in heiliger Mondnacht, The Graces, on a sacred moonlit night, Под вечер мы привыкли к ней In the evening we have grown used to it, Sich die Grazien heimlich herab Descend secretively И, дремля, едем до ночлега – And, tired, we go to our night’s lodgings – vom Olympus gesellen: from Olympus, А время гонит лошадей. And Time speeds the horses on. Hier belauscht sie der Dichter und hört Then the Poet listens in to them Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin die schönen Gesänge, And hears the beautiful songs, Sieht verschwiegener Tänze Sees the mystical movements geheimnisvolle Bewegung. of secret dances. 14 Наш век Our Time Was der Himmel nur herrliches hat, Whatever Heaven has that is magnificent, Не плоть, а дух растлился в наши дни, Not flesh, but spirit is corrupted in our days, was glücklich die Erde Whatever delights the world И человек отчаянно тоскует … And Man yearns desperately … Reizendes immer gebar, das erscheint happily brings forth, Он к свету рвется из ночной тени From the shades of night he longs for the light, dem wachenden Träumer. All appear to the wakeful dreamer. И, свет обретши, ропщет и бунтует. But grumbles and rebels at the blessed day. Alles erzählt er den Musen, und dass He recounts everything to the Muses; die Götter nicht zürnen, Not to incur the wrath of the Gods, Безверием палим и иссушен, Pale and withered by unbelief, Lehren die Musen ihn gleich bescheiden The Muses then teach him to reveal Невыносимое он днесь выносит … Today he endures the unendurable … Geheimnisse sprechen. Secrets with due humility. И сознает свою погибель он, And aware of his own destruction И жаждет веры … но о ней не просит. He craves faith … but does not ask for it. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Не скажет в век, с молитвой и слезой, No matter how grieved, he will never say Как ни скорбит пред замкнутой дверью: With prayers and tears before the closed door: 16 Im Walde In the Forest «Впусти меня! – Я верю, боже мой! ‘Let me in! – I believe, O my God! Es zog eine Hochzeit den Berg entlang, A wedding-group on the ridge went past, Приди на помощь моему неверью! …» Come to the aid of my unbelief! …’ Ich hörte die Vögel schlagen, I could hear the birds in full song, Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev Da blitzten viel Reiter, das Waldhorn klang, A troop of horse flashed by, a horn’s blast, Das war ein lustiges Jagen! A hunt riding merrily along! Und eh’ ich’s gedacht, war alles verhallt, And before I’d realised, the sound had gone Die Nacht bedeckte die Runde, And night was covering the land; Nur von den Bergen noch rauschet der Wald Only the forest rustling up in the hills Und mich schmerzet im Herzensgrunde. And the terror I had to withstand.

Joseph von Eichendorff (1788–1857) CD2 – Texts and translations

17 Winternacht Winter Night Кем убит и отчего, ‘Who killed him and why, Знает сокол лишь его, Only his falcon knows, Verschneit liegt rings die ganze Welt, The world around lies under snow, Да кобылка вороная, And his black mare, Ich hab’ nichts, was mich freuet, My joy in life is shattered. Да хозяйка молодая. And his young lady. Verlassen steht der Baum im Feld, Deserted in the field a tree, Hat längst sein Laub zerstreuet. Its leaves lie long since scattered. Сокол в рощу улетел; ‘The falcon flew away to a grove, На кобылку недруг сел, On the mare sat his enemy, Der Wind nur geht bei stiller Nacht Only the wind in the still of night А хозяйка ждет милого And his lady is waiting for her sweetheart, Und rüttelt mit dem Baume, Came causing the tree to shake, Не убитого, живого». Not the dead man, but the living.’ Da rührt er seinen Wipfel sacht And it gently moved its topmost boughs; Und redet wie im Traume. As in a dream it spake: Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, after a French translation of a Scottish ballad Er träumt von künft’ger Frühlingszeit, He’s dreaming of the spring to come, Von Grün und Quellenrauschen, The green, the streams all thawed, Wo er im neuen Blütenkleid When dressed in blossom overall 19 Серенада Serenade Zu Gottes Lob wird rauschen. He’ll rustle praise unto the Lord. Я здесь, Инезилья, I’m here, Inesilia,

Joseph von Eichendorff Стою под окном. I stand under the window. Объята Севилья Seville is embraced И мраком и сном. By darkness and sleep. from Seven Songs on Poems by Pushkin, Op.52 Исполнен отвагой, Full of valour, Окутан плащом, Wrapped in a cloak, С гитарой и шпагой With my guitar and sword 18 Ворон (Шотландская песня) The Raven (Scottish Song) Я здесь под окном! I’m here under the window. Ворон к ворону летит, Raven to raven flies, Ты спишь ли? Гитарой Are you sleeping? With my guitar Ворон ворону кричит: Raven to raven cries: Тебя разбужу. I’ll wake you. «Ворон! где б нам пообедать? ‘Raven! Where to dine? Проснется ли старый, If the old man wakes, Как бы нам о том проведать?» How can we find out?’ Мечом уложу. I’ll lay him out with my sword. Ворон ворону в ответ: Raven to raven replies: Шелковые петли Bring the silken ladder «Знаю, будет нам обед; ‘I know where there’s dinner for us; К окошку привесь … To the window … В чистом поле под ракитой In an open field, beneath a willow Что медлишь? Уж нет ли Why are you so slow? Is there Богатырь лежит убитый. Lies a dead knight. Соперника здесь? … A rival here already? … CD2 – Texts and translations

Я здесь, Инезилья, I’m here, Inesilia, Оно на памятном листке It will leave a dead trace Я здесь под окном. I stand under the window. Оставит мёртвый след, подобный On a memorial sheet, like Объята Севилья Seville is embraced Узору надписи надгробной The pattern on a gravestone И мраком и сном! By darkness and sleep. На непонятном языке. In a language not understood.

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin Что в нём? Забытое давно What’s in it? Long forgotten В волненьях новых и мятежных, Amid new and restless turmoils, Твоей душе не даст оно It won’t give your soul from Eight Songs, Op. 61 Воспоминаний чистых, нежных. Any pure and tender memories. Но в день печали, в тишине, But on a day of sorrow, in the silence, 20 Reiselied Song of Travel Произнеси его тоскуя; Tell of it sadly; So ruhig geh’ ich meinen Pfad, Making my way at an easy gait, Скажи: есть память обо мне, Say: there is a memory of me, So still ist mir zu Mut. My mind so free from care, Есть в мире сердце, где живу я … There is a heart in the world, where I live … Es dünkt mir jeder Weg gerad’ It seems that all paths must be straight Что в имени тебе моём? What is my name to you? Und jedes Wetter gut. And the weather always fair. Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin Wohin mein Weg mich führen mag, Wherever it is my road may lead, Der Himmel ist mein Dach, My roof will be the sky, Die Sonne kommt mit jedem Tag, The sun will rise with every day, 22 Если жизнь тебя обманет If life deceives you Die Sterne halten Wach. Whilst stars watch from on high. Если жизнь тебя обманет, If life deceives you, Und komm’ ich spät und komm’ ich früh And whether I arrive early or late Не печалься, не сердись! Do not grieve, do not be angry! Ans Ziel, das mir gestellt: At the end destined for me, В день уныния смирись: On a day of despondency, be reconciled to it: Verlieren kann ich mich doch nie, I can never get lost, O Lord, День веселья, верь, настанет. A day of mirth, believe it, will come. O Gott, aus deiner Welt! In the world created by Thee. Сердце в будущем живёт; The heart lives in the future, though Joseph von Eichendorff Настоящее уныло: The present may be sad: Всё мгновенно, всё пройдёт; Everything is ephemeral, everything will pass; Что пройдёт, то будет мило. What will pass will be dear to you. 21 Что в имени тебе моём? What is my name to you? Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin Что в имени тебе моём? What is my name to you? Оно умрёт, как шум печальный It will die, like the mournful sound Волны, плеснувшей в берег дальный, Of a wave breaking on a distant shore, Как звук ночной в лесу глухом. Like a night sound in the muffled forest. CD2 – Texts and translations

23 Полдень Midday Лениво дышит полдень мглистый, Hazy noon breathes lazily, Лениво катится река, Lazily the river runs, И в тверди, пламенной и чистой And in the ardent and clear heaven, Лениво тают облака. Lazily the clouds melt away. И всю природу, как туман, And a hot drowsiness, like a fog, Дремота жаркая объемлет, Encompasses all nature, И сам теперь великий Пан And now great Pan himself В пещере нимф покойно дремлет. Slumbers peacefully in the nymphs’ cave.

Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev Translations from the German © Uri Liebrecht www.uritext.co.uk All other translations not otherwise attributed © 2018 Delphian Records Ltd Biographies

Renowned for her sparkling 2015 International Opera Oleksiy Palchykov was born Acclaimed for his ‘radiantly soprano and charming stage Awards Young Singer of the in 1986 in Kyiv, and studied lyrical’ voice, Irish tenor presence, Ekaterina Siurina Year, Lithuanian mezzo‑soprano at the Tchaikovsky National Robin Tritschler graduated is already establishing herself Justina Gringytė is acclaimed Academy of Music, making from the Royal Academy as one of the leading sopranos for her ‘knockout technique’ his stage debut in 2008 and of Music and was a BBC of her generation. She (The Times), having captivated winning numerous awards New Generation Artist. He regularly sings in top houses the classical music press in the in prestigious international performed with the Welsh including Covent Garden, role of Carmen for both English competitions in Ukraine, National Opera (Almaviva, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Staatsoper National Opera and Scottish Opera. With a Russia, Poland, Germany and Finland. Nemorino, Narraboth, Ferrando, Don Ottavio Berlin, Opera de Paris, the New York Met and voice that is ‘steel clad, hotly phrased, superbly and Belmonte), Nantes Opera, Stadttheater at the Salzburg Festival. Ekaterina’s calling card controlled’ (The Guardian), she ‘commands Since May 2017 he has been a member of the Klagenfurt, La Monnaie Brussels and Teatro roles include Gilda (Rigoletto), Ilia (Idomeneo), the stage, alternately spitting out or sliding ensemble of Staatsoper Hamburg, where he Colon Buenos Aires; in concert with the BBC Ann Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), Adina deliciously around in her vocal lines, imperious will be heard in roles such as Tamino, Lensky, Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Scottish (L’elisir d’amore), Amina (La Sonnambula), and one minute and fragile the next’ (The Scotsman). Ferrando, Nemorino, Eurimaco (Il ritorno Chamber orchestras, London Philharmonic Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi). Ekaterina d’Ulisse), Paris (La belle Hélène), Almaviva, Orchestra (under Jurowski, Nézet-Séguin has worked with numerous conductors The 2017/18 season sees Justina Gringytė Lysander (Britten, A Midsummer Night’s and Stutzmann), Bournemouth Symphony including Evelino Pidò, Daniel Oren, Philippe return to Welsh National Opera for her role Dream), Cassio (Otello) and Beppe (Pagliacci). Orchestra (under Karabits), Hong Kong Jordan, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Richard debuts as Preziosilla and Curra in a new David Philharmonic (under de Waart) and at the Bonynge. Her debut solo album Amore e Morte Pountney production of La forza del destino, Recently he has appeared as Nemorino BBC Proms (under Sir Mark Elder). was released recently and features songs by and to Lithuanian National Opera in the title role as cover for Roberto Alagna at the Opéra Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini; in 2014 in Carmen and in her role debut as Romeo in Bastille, Ferrando with the Atelier Lyrique He performs regularly in recital at the Wigmore she featured on Delphian’s Gramophone I Capuleti e i Montecchi. She will also make her of the Opéra de Paris in Antibes, Lensky in Hall, also appearing in Cologne, Amsterdam, Awards-shortlisted recording of the songs role debut as Dalila in Samson et Dalila for Vilnius Garsington, Arturo (Lucia di Lammermoor) Washington and for the Aldeburgh and Aix-en- of Rachmaninov (DCD34127). City Opera. and Ruiz (Il trovatore) at the Opéra Bastille, Provence festivals. His recording of World War Sinowi (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) and Arturo One songs with Malcolm Martineau received Following her initial voice studies at Lithuania’s (Lucia di Lammermoor) in Zurich, Belmonte critical acclaim. His engagements for 2017/18 Academy of Music and Theatre, Justina (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in Toulon, include the opening recital of the Wigmore Gringytė joined the Royal Welsh College of and Grizko (Mussorgsky, Der Jahrmarkt von Hall season, the St John Passion in Dresden Music and Drama and London’s National Sorotschinzi) at the Komische Oper Berlin. and Salzburg with Philippe Herreweghe, Opera Studio. She studies with Buddug Verona Schwanengesang in San Diego with Inon James. She is a former Samling and Jette Parker Barnatan, and concerts with Ensemble Young Artist. She featured in Delphian’s highly Pygmalion (directed by Raphaël Pichon), the acclaimed 3-CD set of Rachmaninov Songs Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and for the (DCD34127) with Iain Burnside. Risor Chamber Music Festival. Biographies

Rodion Pogossov joined Nikolay Didenko graduated Iain Burnside is a pianist Away from the piano Burnside is active as a writer the Lindemann Young Artist from the Moscow Academy of who has appeared in recital and broadcaster. As presenter of BBC Radio Development Program at the Choral Art in both singing and with many of the world’s 3’s Voices he won a Sony Radio Award. For the beginning of his early career conducting. His operatic roles leading singers (‘pretty Guildhall School of Music and Drama Burnside and made his Carnegie Hall include Cappelio (I Capuleti e much ideal’, BBC Music has devised a number of singular theatre pieces, debut with The Metropolitan i Montecchi), Ramfis (Aida), Magazine). He is also an including Swansong, an exploration of Schubert’s Opera Chamber Ensemble Oroveso (Norma), Trieste (La insightful programmer with Schwanengesang. A Soldier and a Maker, based under James Levine. His Forza del Destino), Pistola an instinct for the telling on the life of Ivor Gurney, was performed at the operatic roles include Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), (Falstaff), Filippo II (Don Carlo) and Leporello juxtaposition. His recordings straddle an Barbican Centre and the Cheltenham Festival, Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Schaunard and (Don Giovanni). He continues to perform across exuberantly eclectic repertoire ranging from and later broadcast by BBC Radio 3. Marcello (La bohème), Papageno and Silvio the world with many significant companies Beethoven and Schubert to the cutting edge, (Pagliacci) to name but a few. He regularly including the Houston Grand Opera, New York as in the Gramophone Award-winning NMC Future highlights include performances of performs at major houses across the world City Opera, Opera North, Metropolitan Opera, Songbook. Recent Delphian recordings include the three Schubert song cycles with Roderick including the Michigan Opera Theatre, LA Bilbao Opera, the Bolshoi and at the Festival de the complete Rachmaninov songs with seven Williams at Wigmore Hall and a major series Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Municipal Radio France et Montpellier. outstanding Russian artists (DCD34127: of Russian song there in the 2018 season. de Santiago, the Metropolitan Opera and ‘the results are electrifying’, Daily Telegraph) Other forthcoming projects feature Ailish Glyndebourne. Well established on the concert platform, he and Schubert Lieder with Ailish Tynan and Tynan, Rosa Feola, Andrew Watts, Robin has performed with Mozarteum Orchestra Roderick Williams (DCD34165 and 34170 Tritschler and Benjamin Appl. Iain Burnside is A ‘wonderful’ recitalist, his solo appearances Salzburg, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, respectively). Burnside’s passion for English Artistic Director of the Ludlow English Song have included St John’s Smith Square, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Malmö Symphony song is reflected in acclaimed CDs of Parry, Weekend and Artistic Consultant to Grange Suntory Hall, Vancouver Recital Society and Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra Shaw, Britten, Finzi, Ireland, Butterworth and Park Opera. Wigmore Hall with orchestras including the among many others. He features on the Vaughan Williams. Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Royal Grammy awardwinning disc Penderecki Liverpool Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Conducts Penderecki (2017). and Royal Philharmonic. Rodion has recorded for the EMI Debut Series and his solo recital disc includes songs by Rachmaninov, Mahler, Biography photo credits: Tchaikovsky and Grieg. He was one of seven Ekaterina Siurina, © David Elofer ‘phenomenal’ (BBC Music Magazine) singers Justina Gringytė, © Paul Marc Mitchell contributing to the 2014 Delphian Rachmaninov Oleksiy Palchykov, © Natalia Rusu Robin Tritschler, © Sussie Ahlburg Songs recording (DCD34127). Rodion Pogossov, © Daniil Rabovsky Nikolay Didenko, © Nikolay Didenko Iain Burnside, © TallWall Media Iain Burnside on Delphian

Rachmaninov: Songs Schubert Lieder: Nacht und Träume Evelina Dobraceva soprano, Ekaterina Siurina soprano, Ailish Tynan soprano, Iain Burnside piano Justina Gringyte mezzo-soprano, Daniil Shtoda tenor, DCD34165 Andrei Bondarenko baritone, Rodion Pogossov baritone, This selection of songs could carry the subtitle ‘Women in Love’. Alexander Vinogradov bass, Iain Burnside piano ‘L’Education sentimentale’, perhaps. Ailish Tynan and Iain Burnside DCD34127 (3 discs) have assembled a portrait gallery: a whole bevy of Schubert’s women This first complete recording for twenty years of Rachmaninov’s pursuing different sorts of love, nurturing different Biedermeier published song output (with the addition of two delightfully comic dreams. Goethe’s Gretchen finds an intriguing counterpart in Schiller’s occasional pieces) lays two further claims to importance: our seven Amalia. Ellen gazes out over Loch Katrine, while Serafina looks down singers – hand-picked by renowned pianist Iain Burnside – are all native affectionately at her fortepiano. A young nun welcomes her destiny Russian speakers, and every song is performed in the key in which as the bride of Christ. The first volume in Burnside’s carefully crafted Rachmaninov wrote it, respecting both the specificity of vocal colour voyage of Schubert song sees Ailish at the height of her powers, in and the carefully designed tonal and expressive trajectory within each music that has been her ‘life’s dream’ to record. opus. For the first twenty-five years of his career Rachmaninov regularly ‘a partnership of obvious subtlety and sophistication’ expressed himself in song, from Tchaikovskian beginnings to the — Classical Ear, December 2015 extraordinarily personal range of vocal and pianistic utterance in his final two collections. Almost a century after exile brought down the curtain Schubert Lieder: Der Wanderer on this period of his creative output, Burnside and his singers bring these Roderick Williams baritone, Iain Burnside piano works to shimmering, gushing, crackling, magnificent life. DCD34170 ‘seven phenomenal young singers … Burnside remains a firm, Following the critical acclaim for Iain Burnside’s partnership with soprano clear companion throughout’ Ailish Tynan in the first volume of Burnside’s Schubert song series on — BBC Music Magazine, May 2014, CHORAL & SONG CHOICE Delphian, this second volume sees him partnered by another friend ‘a richly rewarding and fascinating set … The star of the show is and long-term collaborator, baritone Roderick Williams. Their lovingly undoubtedly Burnside, playing throughout with unfailing intensity designed programme takes its tone from the strand of journeying and sensitivity: voice and piano are truly equal partners here, and farewell that threads through Schubert’s song output. Burnside’s and the results are electrifying’ — Daily Telegraph, February 2014 pianism is as masterful and vivid as ever, while Roderick Williams, fresh from his triumph at the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, ‘[Burnside] recognises the integral expressive role of the piano in these combines drama and intellect and shows the qualities that continue to songs … Sung gloriously with palpable heart and soul’ endear him both to critics and to audiences. — Gramophone, May 2014, EDITOR’S CHOICE ‘Williams is an unfailingly intelligent singer and is matched every step Shortlisted in the Vocal category at the 2014 Gramophone Awards of the way by Burnside … This is an enjoyable – and beautifully recorded – programme.’ — Gramophone, October 2016 Iain Burnside on Delphian

The Shadow Side: contemporary song from Scotland The Airmen: songs by Martin Shaw Irene Drummond soprano, Iain Burnside piano Sophie Bevan, Andrew Kennedy, Roderick Williams / Iain Burnside piano DCD34099 DCD34105 For many years Irene Drummond has been the leading exponent of Despite a compositional career spanning both World Wars, remarkably contemporary song in Scotland. With her partner Iain Burnside – peerless little is known about Martin Shaw’s music. It has yet to enjoy the revival in this music – she offers here a fascinating snapshot of her repertoire. of interest that has benefited the legacies of close friends such as From the rarefied sparseness of James MacMillan to the sustained Ralph Vaughan Williams and John Ireland. Shaw’s songs range from luminosity of Paul Mealor and the emotionally charged dramatic outbursts the whimsical and effervescent to the deeply melancholic, and will of John McLeod, The Shadow Side explores a world of half-lights and be a revelation to many. In rescuing these gems from obscurity, Iain visceral intensity. Burnside and his first-class singers have given new life to an unjustly neglected figure. ‘… soprano Irene Drummond at her most breathtakingly stellar and seductive’ — The Herald, June 2011 ‘Their style is bold, diatonic and memorably melodic … These performances, with Burnside the immaculate accompanist, ‘Iain Burnside shares the credit for performances of total focus’ are exemplary’ — The Guardian, March 2012 — BBC Music Magazine, October 2011

From a city window: songs by Hubert Parry Insomnia: a nocturnal voyage in song Ailish Tynan, Susan Bickley, William Dazeley / Iain Burnside piano William Berger baritone, Iain Burnside piano DCD34117 DCD34116 Recorded in the music room of Hubert Parry’s boyhood home, Highnam For his solo debut on disc, William Berger has devised an ingenious Court in Gloucestershire, this disc sees three of our finest singers shed sequence of seventeen songs describing a sleepless night experienced illuminating light on an area of the repertoire that has rarely graced the by a man who reflects on his love for an unnamed woman. From concert hall in recent times. As English song came into full flower at the Viennese classicism to fin-de-siècle Romanticism, shadowy English turn of the 20th century, Parry’s substantial contribution to the genre pastoral to the contemporary worlds of Richard Rodney Bennett and became buried. Iain Burnside and his singers rediscover what has been Raymond Yiu, this wide-ranging programme is brought to nuanced life forgotten by historical accident – and what a treasure chest of song they by an outstanding young baritone, while the indefatigable Iain Burnside have found! Still best known for two short choral works, Parry is at last provides lucid and imaginative accompaniment. Together, their undergoing something of a revival, and these beautiful performances performances capture the full gamut of nocturnal emotions. return his songs to the heart of his output, where the composer always ‘plays out its chronological narrative … with logical and psychological felt they belonged. inevitability. Berger sustains a magnetic affection throughout the varied ‘Ailish Tynan, Susan Bickley and William Dazeley sing them with ardour sequence, aided by Burnside’s deft pianism’ and sensibility, and Iain Burnside’s piano accompaniments are full of — The Scotsman, July 2012 subtle insight’ — The Times, January 2013 DCD34177