Customer Reviews

Russian Songs and Arias: Phonetic Readings Word by Word Translations

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This book is a treasure.
The phonetic readings of well over one hundred Russian songs and arias offer access to a repertoire that is increasingly chic and in demand, but that would probably otherwise be unapproachable for non-speakers of Russian.
Jean Piatak worked on these readings with Mme. Vitya Vronsky Babin, whose musicality and artistry are legendary. Vitya Vronsky Babin was a pianist, but she personally told me that her favorite repertoire was song repertoire. I am sure that she carefully and affectionately considered the choices concerning the diction represented in this book. Knowing that she instructed Ms. Piatak gives extra validity to these readings.

This is certainly a great guide to learning to sing in Russian. Especially helpful are the large Russian letters that enable one to clearly see each character of the Russian alphabet. The vowel sounds are not as thoroughly covered as the consonant sounds however, and this can prove troublesome for beginners. I would only recommend this book to someone who needs to review his/her Russian pronunciation.