8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rich full voices of Russia, February 9, 2000
This review is from: Wild Field (Audio CD)
The Gorbechev Award-winning Pokrovsky ensemble has crafted a album of intense a capella performances. Most tracks are a complex layering of voices, sometimes all male, sometimes all female, sometimes everyone together, and in between are short, breathy (kaliuki) flute pieces.
The songs have an ancient texture to them, and it's easy to close your eyes and imagine yourself in a village in old Russia while listening to these well-used and confident voices.
The liner notes are good and convey the meaning of each song, but not the exact lyrics. The disc is short, but the intensity is such that 30 minutes packs quite a punch.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Old World Folk, September 30, 2009
This review is from: Wild Field (Audio CD)
If you love lilting Irish music, this probably isn't the album for you. These a-capella singers are weavers of sound and story; sometimes the harmonies are beautiful and sometimes they're dissonant. This is precisely what I love about Russian music, from folk to the grand masters Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Their passion for harmony and storytelling is inspiring.
I tracked down THE WILD FIELD because I heard the song "Mosquito" on another album, a sampler titled VOICES OF THE REAL WORLD. I still love "Mosquito," but my favorite songs on this album are "Porushka" (track 6), and "On The Street" (track 12). The samples on the site don't quite give you the best impression of this album, so I'm adding my two cents. I like to play THE WILD FIELD from beginning to end, and it always leaves me feeling that I've visted Old World Russia, the land of Sadko and Baba Yaga. I give it my highest recommendation.
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