Composer: Borys Lyatoshynsky
Performer: Vassily Savenko, Alexander Blok
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0053
Release: 2013
Size: 186 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
5 Romances, Op. 5
01. No. 1, After the Battle
02. No. 2, Death
03. No. 3, An Old Song
04. No. 4, A Dirge
05. No. 5, I Dreamed, the Moon Shone Sadly
3 Stikhotvoreniya P. Shelli, Op. 14
06. No. 3, Good Night
07. Ozymandias (Ozymandiya) Sonnet Op. 15, 1924 (Bal’mont / Shelley)
3 Romances, Op. 6
08. No. 1, Accursed Place
09. No. 2, The Tomb
10. No. 3, At the Crossroads
4 Romances to Verses by Pushkin, Op. 27
11. No. 1, On the Hills of Georgia
12. No. 2, Three Springs
13. No. 3, There on the Shore
14. The Sun
5 Romances to Verses by I. Franko, Op. 31
15. No. 1, Your Eyes are like the Sea
16. No. 3, Boundless Plain
17. No. 4, Why Do You Never Laugh?
18. No. 5, Do Not Pass By So Proudly My Child
2 Romances to Verses by Pervomaysky, Op. 32
19. No. 2, Recurring Dreams
Romances, Op. 57
20. No. 1, A Letter to Siberia
21. No. 2, Elegy
2 Romances, Op. 37
22. No. 1, The Star
23. No. 2, The Height of Happiness
The music of the Ukrainian composer Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895–1968) is familiar in his home country but sorely neglected abroad. Lyatoshynsky’s songs are neglected even there: this anthology of his best romantsiy for low voice and piano contains many first recordings. The songs meld intense Scriabinesque expressionism with elements of Ukrainian folksong in a language that embraces both the lyrical and the dramatic. His setting of Shelley’s Ozymandias, with its warning of the impermanence of power, was a brave act in the Soviet Union of 1924. The booklet contains full sung texts, with English translations by Russian-music expert Anthony Phillips, who also provides an extensive introduction to Lyatoshynsky, his songs and his artistic milieu.