Zoryana Kushpler - Ukrainian Intermezzo - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Dmitri Shostakovich is one of the indubitably great composers of the 20th century and left works of greatness in every genre, from the symphonies to opera, film- and light music, concertos, and, of course, chamber music. This collection offers a great overview of his contributions to that genre. It features a few favorites, like Rudolf Barshai's Chamber Symphony (arranged from String Quartet No.8), String Quartet No.1, and the Piano Quintet to lesser-known gems and rarely heard works for two pianos like the tiny, witty Tarantella or his dramatic, cinematic Concertino. It is capped with Alfred Schnittke's tribute to the master, the Prelude in Memory of Dmitri Shostakovich.

The Ukrainian folk song is unquestionably a unique phenomenon. No nation in history has amassed such a wealth of songs as those created by the Ukrainian people. UNESCO has an impressive audio library of folk songs from all over the world. The Ukrainian contribution amounts to some 15,500 songs and is far and away the biggest collection in the library. Folk music in the Ukrainian language originated in the 9th century at the time when Kyivan Rus was founded; the authors of the texts of most songs have long since been forgotten. Over the years, many composers researched and arranged them, principally for voice and piano, and transformed them into InchRomancesInch, art songs, like German Lieder. The program includes 15 songs three romances by four composers and three folk songs. Each work has accompanied the artist's life in one way or another, so it has a special meaning for Lena Belkina. Many of the works on this album are being recorded for the first time - and this is a great opportunity to discover Ukrainian music, it's character, it's temperament, it's melodic language and the influence of time upon it. The program is emotional and multi-faceted and would not have sounded so authentic without the pianist Violina Petrychenko. She is making Ukrainian piano music known around the world, recording composers like Kosenko, Revutskyi, Barvinskyi and other artists little known in the wider world. This duet is a union of opposites that are brought together to complement one another, to reflect personal strength and passion for music. The artists united by a common goal - showing Ukrainian art full of love for their country to the whole world.

Ukrainian PreludesSome years ago, I received a mail from Russia sent by a music-lover as yet unknown to me. His name was Alexander Plekhanov. He knew me from my CDs of works by persecuted composers and and wanted to draw my attention to a Ukrainian Jewish composer whom I had never heard of - Matvey Gozenpud. Attached to the email were a few of his compositions. I was busy on other projects at the time and neglected to answer him. In fact some time went by before I remembered the email with the scores and played them through at the piano - and was delighted. I was particularly taken by Gozenpud's cycle of 12 Preludes. I contacted Alexander Plekhanov, who I'm glad to say was not put out by my long silence. On the contrary he was very pleased to learn I was interested and sent me many more scores in the following weeks and months by various Soviet composers of that period. Plekhanov is still a young man and he sees it as his mission to bring back to life music that has fallen into undeserved oblivion. He spends his spare time in Moscow's large music libraries in search of interesting compositions and has a strong commitment to composers from Ukraine. He publishes many of these rediscovered works in his online library and apart from that, he seeks to approach musicians directly and enlist their support for his discoveries. This CD, which brings together music by three composers from Ukraine, is thus our joint project, although we have yet to meet in real life. (Jascha Nemtsov)