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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long-awaited follow-up to "Dark Eyes", January 3, 2003
Ever since "Dark Eyes", one of the first albums of Dmitri Hvorostovsky, came out, I've been wishing for the baritone to record more Russian romances. Looks like Delos is more committed to preserving this magnificent voice on record more than Philips did. After all, "Dark Eyes" had a lot of orchestral music, though wonderfully performed by Ossipov orchestra, it effectively reduced the sang material by some about 15 minutes or so. This is certainly not the case here. Well oven an hour of excellent singing is recorded (close-miked) with no interruptions. The songs themselves are the ones most often performed as encored by Russian singers. While baritones or basses have the strongest claim to them, most likely stemming from a long Russian tradidion of low male voice solo, tenors and even mezzo-sopranos have performed some of those to great acclaim.
The absolute hardest thing about performing these songs is not to make them sound sappy, vulgar, or over-done. Of all Russian singers who dealt with this material, I most often think of bass Boris Shtokolov, who sang them with utmost care. Dmitri does just that here. His care for the texts is what strikes me first while listening to "I Met You", a reflective serenade to love long lost. While all songs are spectacularly presented, I would like to mention "Misty Morning" and "I loved you". Like the title song, they are both filled with gentle melancholy, and sang with great tenderness and feeling. Some high-energy items, such as "Troika" seem just a little out of place, but the voice is a sheer pleasure to listen to. In "Oh, Could I in Song Tell My Sorrow", there's a strange change from traditional "your heart would break" to "my heart would break". I am not sure as to why this was done, particularly since the Cyrillic texts are absent.
In liner notes, Hvorostovsky explains the dedication of this album to his father, a chemical engineer, who managed to convey his love for the classical music and Russian romances to his son. I think all fathers need to learn from this man. Wondrous results stem from right upbringing!
The only minor quibble I have is the cover picture. It seems like the producers wanted to target exclusively the female part of the audience by using lots of shades of red color and lots of subdued candlelight. Well, I am sure there are lots of Dmitri's fans among men, particularly those of us who study voice, so I wish Delos would not make the cover so extravagant.
The engineering of this album, though, is very appropriate. The voice is placed well above orchestra (conducted with perfection by Constantine Orbelian) and each word is clearly heard. Together with Verdi Arias recording this shows that Delos engineers are fully capable of capturing the voice of this size and beauty well on record, something I doubted when listening to an otherwise lovely album of Neapolitan Songs.
I am sure non-Russian speakers will enjoy this CD just as much as Russians. After all, we all feel the same, and Dmitri's exceptional talent just makes it easier to communicate across cultural barriers.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dmitri at his best, October 9, 2002
What a treat this CD is. I've been waiting years for the great Hvorostovsky to record another album of Russian folk music, and this is arguably his best collection of that genre to date. Recorded in August, 2001, Hvorostovsky has never sounded better, and the sound quality admirably complements his rich, velvety baritone. Unlike his earlier collection of Neapolitan songs for the same label (DELOS), the recording balance between singer and orchestra will please everyone this time. Furthermore, the CD benefits from stylishly idiomatic arrangements, some fine conducting from Constantine Orbelian, and the sympathetic support of both the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the Russian folk music performers, the Style of Five.The 19 songs on the CD are described as "Old Russian Romances", or in professional music terminology as "Russian Domestic (Household) Romances". These are passionate songs of love, "often against the background of vast, empty Russian landscapes with long roads under foggy, gray skies", as the liner notes tell us. Hvorostovsky's dark, expressive baritone is ideally suited to such music, and Dmitri aficionados will no doubt recognise two songs from his earlier CDs of this genre, the haunting title track and the wistful "O, If Only I Could Express In Sounds". The latter was featured on his best-selling 1991 "Russian Romances" CD for Philips, but here - if anything - his singing is even more poetic than in earlier days. Comparing the two versions, one is immediately aware of how much freer Hvorostovsky's top notes are on the latest CD, with his upper register showing none of the slightly constricted quality that occasionally marred the earlier CD. This is the voice of a mature artist, and it is rare indeed to hear such committed singing from the soul. As if the above wasn't enough, the CD comes with translations, generous liner notes, and an alluring cover photo of the handsome Siberian.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ANOTHER WONDERFUL ALBUM FROM DMITRI, October 11, 2002
Once again, Dmitri Hvorostovsky has done another beautiful album. I'm completely thrilled with his last three releases on the Delos lable--the Verdi Album, the Passione di Napoli album and this new Russian love song album. As I have previously indicated on my review of his Passione di Napoli album, I've been a fan of his since his very beginnings in opera, and I do feel that he is truly in his vocal prime.
This album is for the "romantic at heart". The songs are beautiful as is the singing. All I can say of this endeavor is Bravo!!
I'm truly grateful that Hvorostovky's recording career was extended by the Delos lable!!
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~ Dmitri Hvorostovsky
~ Dmitri Hvorostovsky
DVD ~ Dmitri Hvorostovsky
~ Vincenzo Bellini
~ et al Constantine Orberian (Performer)
by Moscow Chamber Orchestra 
