booklet-paginated:cover 11/09/2017 12:02 Page 1 5060192780772 RIMSKY-KORSAKOV ROMANCES Anush Hovhannisyan Yuriy Yurchuk Sergey Rybin 28 1 booklet-paginated:cover 11/09/2017 12:02 Page 3 Produced, engineered and edited by Spencer Cozens. Recorded 19-21 December 2016 at Steinway Recording, Fulbeck, Lincolnshire, U.K. Steinway technician: Peter Roscoe. Publisher: Moscow, Musyka. Booklet notes © 2017 Sergey Rybin. English translations of sung text © 2017 Sergey Rybin. Cover: Photograph © 2013 Anatoly Sokolov. Inside from cover: Photograph of Sergey Rybin, Anush Hovhannisyan and Yuriy Yurchuk © 2017 Inna Kostukovsky. Graphic design: Colour Blind Design. Printed in the E.U. 2 27 booklet-paginated:cover 11/09/2017 12:02 Page 5 24 Prorok Op.49, No.2 The Prophet Alexander Pushkin Dukhovnoï zhazhdoïu tomim Tormented by spiritual anguish V pustyne mrachnoï ïa vlachils’a, I dragged myself through a grim desert, I shestikrylyï serafim And a six-winged seraphim Na pereputïe mne ïavils’a; Appeared to me at a crossroads; RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Perstami l’ogkimi, kak son, With his fingers, light as a dream, Moikh zenits kosnuls’a on: He touched my eyes: ROMANCES Otverzlis’ vesh’iïe zenitsy, They burst open wide, all-seeing, Kak u ispugannoï orlitsy. Like those of a startled eagle. Moikh usheï kosnuls’a on, He touched my ears I ikh napolnil shum i zvon: And they were filled with clamour and ringing: I vn’al ïa neba sodroganïe, I heard the rumbling of the heavens, I gorniï angelov pol’ot, The high flight of the angels, I gad morskikh podvodnyï khod, The crawling of the underwater reptilians I dol’ney lozy proz’abanïe. And the germinating of the grapevine in the valleys. I on k ustam moim prinik He pressed against my lips I vyrval greshnyï moï ïazyk, And tore out my tongue, I prazdnoslovnyï, i lukavyï, Both exuberant and sly, I zhalo mydryïa zmei And into my frozen lips V usta zamerzshiïe moi The sting of a wise snake Vlozhil desnitseïu krovavoï. He pushed with his bloody hand. I on mne grud’ rass’ok mechom, He cleaved my chest with a sword I serdtse trepetnoïe vynul, And took out my trembling heart, I ugl’, pylaïush’iï ogn’om, And thrust into my opened breast Vo grud’ otverstuïu vodvinul. A flaming piece of coal. Kak trup, v pustyne ïa lezhal. I lay in the desert like a corps. Anush Hovhannisyan I Boga glas ko mne vozzval: And God’s voice called to me: “Vosstan’, prorok, i vizhd’, i vnemli, “Arise, my prophet, behold and hark, Yuriy Yurchuk Ispolnis’ voleïu moïeï Submit to my will, Sergey Rybin I, obkhod’a mor’a i zemli, And, traveling across the seas and lands, Glagolom zhgi serdtsa l’udeï.” Spark people’s hearts with verse.” 26 3 booklet-paginated:cover 11/09/2017 12:02 Page 7 RIMSKY-KORSAKOV ROMANCES Prin’os on smertnuïu smolu He brought back the deadly resin Da vetv’ s uv’adshimi listami, And a branch with withered leaves; I pot po blednomu chelu The sweat across his pale face Struils’a khladnymi ruchïami; Was flowing in cold streams. Prin’os i oslabel, i l’og He weakened and laid down NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908) Pod svodom shalasha na lyki, Under a tent upon a trestle-bed, 1 The lark’s song is ringing louder (Aleksey Tolstoy) a 1’14 I umer bednyï rab u nog And the poor slave died Nepobedimogo vladyki. By the feet of an unconquerable sovereign. 2 The wave crushes, splashes and sprays (Aleksey Tolstoy) b 1’23 A tsar’tem ïadom napital Meanwhile the Tsar drenched with that poison 3 In moments to delight devoted (Ivan Kozlov after Lord Byron) a 1’07 Svoi poslushlivyïe strely His obedient arrows I s nimi gibel’ razoslal And sent around death 4 Nymph (Apollon Maikov) a 3’33 Sosed’am v chuzhdyïe predely. To neighbours in foreign lands. 5 The Octave (Apollon Maikov) b 1’52 23 Ne veter, veïa s vysoty Op.43, No.2 Not the wind blowing from on high 6 The Echo (Sergey Andreevsky after François Coppée) b 2’17 Aleksey Tolstoy 7 Summer night’s dream (Apollon Maikov) a 5’37 Ne veter, veïa s vysoty, Not the wind blowing from on high Listov kosnuls’a nochïu lunnoï – Has touched the leaves in the moonlit night – 8 When the golden cornfield waves (Mikhail Lermontov) b 3’23 Moïeï dushi kosnulas’ty: My soul has been touched by you: Ona trevozhna, kak listy, It is aflutter, like the leaves, 9 On Georgian hills (Alexander Pushkin) b 1’58 Ona, kak gusli, mnogostrunna! It is as sensitive as the lyre’s strings. 10 A flock of passing clouds (Alexander Pushkin) a 3’33 Zhiteïskiï vikhr’ ïeïo terzal, The blizzard of life was tearing it apart, I sokrushitel’nym nabegom, And with the crushing attack, 11 Your glance is as radiant as the heavens (Mikhail Lermontov) b 2’06 Svist’a i voïa struny rval Whistling and howling, tore the strings, 12 Of what I dream in the quiet night (Apollon Maikov) a 2’04 I zanosil kholodnym snegom; And covered my soul with icy snow; Tvoïa zhe rech laskaïet slukh, But your voice caresses my hearing, Tvoïo legko prikosnovenïe, Your touch is as light Kak ot tsvetov let’ash’iï pukh, As the down flying from the flowers, Kak maïskoï nochi dunovenïe. Like a breeze of the May night. 4 25 booklet-paginated:cover 11/09/2017 12:02 Page 9 22 Anchar Op.49, No.1 The Upas Tree Alexander Pushkin V pustyne chakhloï i skupoï, Amid a desert, arid and bare, Na pochve, znoïem raskalennoï, In soil, flaming with heat, Anchar, kak groznyï chasovoï, The Upas tree, like a fearsome guard, Stoit odin vo vseï vselennoï. Stands alone in the entire universe. Priroda zhazhdush’ikh stepeï The nature of the barren steppes 13 Across the midnight sky (Angel) (Mikhail Lermontov) b 3’34 Ïego v den’ gneva porodila Created it in the day of wrath I zelen’ mertvuïu vetveï, And soaked with deadly poison 14 The rose enchants the nightingale (Aleksey Koltsov) a 3’08 I korni ïadom napoila. Its green branches and its roots. 15 Sun of the sleepless (Aleksey Tolstoy after Lord Byron) b 1’56 Ïad kaplet skvoz’ ïego koru, The poison percolates through its bark 16 The Poet (Alexander Pushkin) a 2’36 K poludn’u rastop’as’ ot znoïu, Melting from the midday heat, I zastyvaïet vvecheru And congeals by evening 17 In the dark grove, the nightingale is silent (Ivan Nikitin) b 2’49 Gustoï, prozrachnoïu smoloïu. Into a dense translucent resin. 18 Svitez maiden (Lev Mei after Adam Mickiewicz) a 3’26 K nemu i ptitsa ne letit, Birds nor beasts roam not near it: 19 Not a sound from the sea (Aleksey Tolstoy) b 2’07 I zver’ neïd’ot: lish vikhor’chornyï Only a black whirlwind Na drevo smerti nabezhit – Occasionally would fly nearby – 20 Slowly drag my days (Alexander Pushkin) b 2’27 I mchits’a proch uzhe tletvornyï. And rush away, but already deadly. 21 The Beauty (Alexander Pushkin) a 2’37 I ïesli tucha orosit, And if a wondering cloud would sprinkle 22 The Upas Tree (Alexander Pushkin) b 4’38 Bluzhdaïa, list ïego dremuchiï, Upon its dense foliage, S ïego vetveï uzh ïadovit From its branches, the toxic rain 23 Not the wind blowing from on high (Aleksey Tolstoy) a 2’01 Stekaïet dozhd’ v pesok gor’uchiï. Flows down into the sizzling sand. 24 The Prophet (Alexander Pushkin) b 4’09 No cheloveka chelovek But a human sent another human Poslal k ancharu vlastnym vzgl’adom; To the Upas tree with a commanding glance; 65’36 I on poslushno v put’ pot’ok, And he obediently set off on a journey, I k utru vozvratils’a s ïadom. Returning by the morning with the poison. Anush Hovhannisyan soprano a Yuriy Yurchuk baritone b Sergey Rybin piano 24 5 booklet-paginated:cover 11/09/2017 12:02 Page 11 RIMSKY-KORSAKOV ROMANCES 21 Krasavitsa Op.51, No.4 The Beauty During the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris, famous among other things for adding Alexander Pushkin the Eiffel Tower to Paris’ skyline, on the opposite side of the Seine, at the Palais du Trocadéro, Vs’o v neï garmoniïa, vs’o divo, Everything in her is harmony, a marvel, on 22 and 29 June, Paris audiences were treated to two concerts of Russian music organized Vs’o vyshe mira i strasteï, Everything is above the world and passions, and financed by prominent arts parton and publisher Mitrofan Belyaev. Under the direction Ona pokoits’a stydlivo She rests modestly of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov on the conductor’s podium, a comprehensive selection of V krase torzhestvennoï svoïeï; Within her solemn beauty; Russian music was presented, including Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila and Kamarinskaïa overtures, the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto, Musorgsky’s Night on a Ona krugom seb’a vziraïet: She looks around: bare Mountain, Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov’s own Ïeï net sopernits, net pordrug; There are no rivals or equals to her, Piano Concerto, symphonic poem Antar and Capriccio Espagnol. The interest towards the Inykh krasavits blednyï krug The usual pale circle of beauties Russian composer’s school, perhaps nurtured by these events, and its increasing influence in V ïeïo siïanïi ischezaïet. Disappears in her brilliance. Europe would eventually culminate during the early years of the twentieth century in a huge Kuda by ty ne pospeshal, Wherever you are hurrying, creative outburst of Russian Art, closely associated with the name of Sergey Dyagilev.