DE 3304

DE 3304
Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Vocal Cycles of the ‘Fifties (1950–1956)
Two Romances to Lyrics by M. Lermontov, Op. 84 (1950) WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
1. A Morning In The Caucasus (3:09)
2. Ballad (5:47)
Natalia Biryukova, mezzo-soprano
Four Songs to Lyrics by E. Dolmatovsky, Op. 86 (1951) WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
3. The Motherland Hears (2:32)
4. Rescue Me (2:07)
5. Loves — Or Loves Not (2:08)
6. Lullaby (2:46)
Victoria Evtodieva, soprano
Four Monologues to Words By A. Pushkin, Op. 91 (1952) FIRST APPEARANCE ON CD
7. A Fragment (5:49)
8. What’s in My Name to You?… (2:26)
9. In the Depth of Siberian Mines… (3:00)
10. Parting (2:27)
Fyodor Kuznetsov, bass
Greek Songs (1952–1953) WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
11. Forward! (words by K. Palamas, original composition by A. Xenos)
(Russian version by S. Bolotin and T. Sikorskaya) (2:14)
12. Penthosalis (Folk Song) (Russian version by S. Bolotin) (1:37)
13. Zolongo (Folk Song) (Russian version by T. Sikorskaya) (3:38)
14. The Hymn Of ELLAS (words by S. Mavroidi-Papadaki, original composition by N.
Tsakonas) (Russian version by S. Bolotin) (1:07)
Mikhail Lukonin, baritone
Five Songs to lyrics by E. Dolmatovsky, Op. 98 (1954) FIRST APPEARANCE ON CD
15. The Day of Meeting (2:15)
16. The Day of Declaration (2:14)
17. The Day of Grievances (3:25)
18. The Day of Joy (2:05)
19. The Day of Memories (2:16)
Fyodor Kuznetsov, bass
Spanish Songs, Op. 100 (1956) FIRST APPEARANCE ON CD
20.
Farewell to Granada (Russian version by S. Bolotin) (3:41)
21.
Little Stars (Russian version by T. Sikorskaya) (2:04)
22.
The First Time I Met You (Russian version by S. Bolotin) (3:35)
23.
Ronda (Russian version by T. Sikorskaya) (1:55)
24.
Black-Eyed Girl (Russian version by T. Sikorskaya) (2:41)
25.
Dream (Russian version by S. Bolotin and T. Sikorskaya) (2:13)
Mikhail Lukonin, baritone
Yuri Serov, piano
Total Playing Time: 71:00
ARTISTS
FEATURED
ON THIS
RECORDING
clockwise:
Victoria Evtodieva, soprano
Natalia Biryukova, mezzo-soprano
Fyodor Kuznetsov, bass
Mikhail Lukonin, baritone
Yuri Serov, piano
Recorded: St. Petersburg, May 2001, by Northern Flowers
Sound recording & supervision: Viktor Dinov
Text: Yuri Serov
English translation: Sergey Suslov
Russian transliteration: Lev Khrol
Creative Direction: Harry Pack, Tri-Arts and Associates
Graphics: Mark Evans
0 N 2001 Delos Productions, Inc.,
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NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
The vocal cycles by Dmitri Shostakovich presented in
this selection were composed in the years 1950 to 1956.
They are written in a simple musical language and offer
a new perspective on the creative output of this great
twentieth-century composer.
The early year 1948 brought a new and very painful
blow for Shostakovich. The Communist Party Committee’s resolution of February 10th obliged the composer to
make his music accessible to the broad masses of working people. Everyone around was raging with disgusted
public criticism, from the Party bosses to his closest
friends among fellow musicians. Shostakovich did not
feel strong enough to resist. He publicly “repented” and
promised to become simpler and plainer, “…to try and
compose works close to, and understandable by common people, to write, again and again, Soviet songs for
the masses….” His pieces were no longer performed,
and he was expelled from the faculty of the Leningrad
Conservatory. The problem of mere survival and making
a living became as acute as in the days of his youth, in
the early ‘20s, in starving post-revolutionary Petrograd.
For the next several years the composer actively
worked for the cinema, writing sound tracks for feature
films and documentaries by the best Soviet directors of
the time. He wrote music for the theatre, choral pieces,
and arrangements of folk songs. By all standards, his
vocal pieces of those years should be viewed within the
context of the historical and political circumstances described above, although any overly strict framework for
understanding Shostakovich’s music still runs the risk of
being too narrow and not sufficient to embrace the giant
scope of his talent.
Not all of the vocal compositions from the ‘fifties have
found their way into performers’ repertoire. Some of the
opuses have never been recorded before, and one would
be accurate in saying that this compact disc presents all
the cycles for voice and piano created by Dmitri
Shostakovich in those years for the very first time.
Two Romances on Lyrics by M. Lermontov were composed by Shostakovich in the summer of 1950 in his Komarovo country cottage near Leningrad. This is his only
venture into works of the poet known as “Number Two”
in Russian poetry’s hierarchy (Pushkin always remaining “Number One”). Both poems, a romantic ballad and
Boston,
a sketch on Caucasian themes,
arec. 1900
quite typical of Lermontov, the rebel Romantic, the “Russian Lord Byron”, a
man of heroic attitudes, longing for freedom, light, and
sincerity. In his Lermontovian songs, the composer refers
to the traditions of Russian vocal music of the nineteenth
century: In the Ballad, the music is well-measured and
narrative in its utterance, emotionally restrained, using
recitative as a basis for delivering the words and self-restriction in its mode of expression; while the picture of a
dawn in the Caucasus Mountains is somewhat static,
transparent, and rendered in tender, watercolor-like
shadings. All this makes the Two Romances sound akin to
many vocal compositions of Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin,
Mussorgsky, or Balakirev.
Shostakovich made the acquaintance of Evgeny Dolmatovsky soon after the war, in a compartment of the
Moscow-Leningrad train. The poet was back from the
Stalingrad steppe and was enthusiastically talking about
saving forests from dry winds, an ecological problem that
was actively being discussed in the USSR at the time.
Shostakovich asked Dolmatovsky to write some poems,
which later formed the basis of his oratorio Song of the
Forests, composed in 1949. After that, poet and composer
collaborated on the film The Fall of Berlin, the cantata The
Sun Shines on Our Motherland, and a number of songs and
romances. For Song of the Forests and the film soundtrack
the composer was awarded the State Prize, the highest
award for Soviet “cultural workers.” Their collaboration
solidified the friendship between Shostakovich and Dolmatovsky. As the latter recalls: “We were young. Intensity in work and life was a pleasure.”
In the terrible years of reaction during the late forties
and early fifties, when Shostakovich’s music was banned
in accordance with Party and governmental decrees, one
of the few ways the composer could still write music
and earn his living was to create pompous oratorios and
cantatas along with soundtracks for official films. The
unpretentious but sincere poetry of Dolmatovsky, a man
who as a boy had recited his verses to Mayakovsky, who
had survived the trials of the “gigantic constructions,”
who had been wounded in the war, and who had been
shaped entirely by the existing “system,” helped
Shostakovich to go on composing in those years.
Four Songs on Lyrics by E Dolmatovsky were composed in 1951 and were designed for the staging of Dolmatovsky’s play Peace at the Vakhtangov Theater in
Moscow. The production was not well received, and the
poet withdrew his play from the stage. Shostakovich, believing that his labor should not be lost, revised the
pieces and combined them into a small vocal cycle. The
first of them, The Motherland Hears, became exceptionally
popular. It was heard during the first manned space
flight, as cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin sang it in his spaceship. For many decades, the song’s tune was the theme
of the All-Union Radio: several times a day, the entire
Soviet populace heard this clear and pure melody, not
suspecting for a moment that it was composed by the
author of complex symphonies and string quartets.
A simplistic approach to the works of Shostakovich
typically relates tragic motifs in his music to dramatic
milestones of Russian history. This idea, however, often
does not stand the test, when coupled with the facts of
the composer’s biography. Some of his gloomiest music
was composed in times when historical events did not
suggest such a disposition. And conversely, the brightness of the Festive Overture (1954) seemingly does not
correlate with the recent death of Stalin (1953). Still,
Shostakovich’s choice of verses for the song cycle dedicated to the 115th anniversary of Pushkin’s death clearly
reflects the darkest impressions of the final years of the
Stalinist era. In no other way can we explain this predominance of tragic, mournful colors so uncharacteristic
for Pushkin, the sunniest of all Russian poets, in a composition already laden with anxiety and depression.
Four Monologues on Words by A. Pushkin were written
during the final act of the horrible regime that was about
to end, and its echoing of past epochs is most evident in
the monologue In the Depth of Siberian Mines. This “anticzarist” poem by Pushkin, which everybody learned in
school from official reading-books, takes on quite a different meaning in the context of the year 1952: “The
heavy chains will drop, // The prisons will fall, and freedom //
Will meet you happily at the entrance, // And your brothers
will hand the sword back to you.”
In the fifties, Shostakovich eagerly worked on
arrangements of traditional songs, as evidenced by his
several choral cycles of Russian songs, as well as Spanish
songs, and the Greek Songs for voice and piano. The
composer definitely sympathized with the heroes of the
Greek Resistance; this can be heard in the manly and sincere melodic character of the arrangements themselves,
the tunes for which were sung to the composer by M.
Beiku, a Greek woman who lived in Moscow at that
time. All the pieces in the cycle are closely related to various dramatic events that fill the history of Greece: the
song Forward is a battle hymn of Greek guerrilla warriors; Penthosalis is a Cretan folk dance; and the tragic
Zolongo was sung as a memorial to a heroic deed of
Greek women, who, surrounded by Turks on Zolongo
Mountain, dived into the abyss with their children so as
not to be captured by the enemy. This peculiar four-part
opus ends with the most popular song of the Greek Resistance, The Hymn of ELLAS.
In 1954, Shostakovich received from Evgeny Dolmatovsky several lyric poems dealing with love and friendship, a kind of “narrative” of feelings that have left
tender memories. The theme clearly attracted the composer; he had not set love lyrics from the time of his
songs on words by Japanese poets (1928-1932). The result
was Five Songs on Lyrics by E. Dolmatovsky, an opus
somewhat unusual even in the light of Shostakovich’s
tendency to simplify his musical language in the ‘50s: it is
not just the desire to be brief or clear, but even to avoid
anything that requires the slightest effort in listening. The
composer seems to take pleasure in combining simple
song-like tunes with the subtle nuances of the Russian
classical romance. Clear harmonies, catchy tunes and
nearly classical forms, the use of easily identifiable waltzlike or march-like musical structures—everything here
bespeaks of the composer’s desire (whether natural or
enforced by the circumstances) to be understandable, to
be “closer to the people.”
In 1956, the fifty-year-old composer suddenly got
married for the second time. His young wife, a former
Young Communist executive, soon became accustomed
to Shostakovich’s agreeable character. One day she
praised songs by Solovyov-Sedoy (a very popular songwriter for the masses) and added, “Wouldn’t it be great
if you, Mitya, also wrote a song or two like these.” As it
turned out, he was able to compose such songs as well.
Beginning with Glinka’s Jota aragonesa, nearly all the
great Russian composers have readily made use of Spanish tunes in their compositions. Evidently, musicians of
the northern land felt a special affinity for the fiery
rhythms and mellow harmonies of the south. Moreover,
from the mid-1930s, the Spanish theme became very topical in the Soviet Union, as its volunteers went to help
Spanish Communists in their fight against Franco’s
regime. Soviet newspapers published supportive articles
and letters; numerous poems and songs were composed;
even chocolate factories were given Spanish names.
After the defeat of the resistance, many Spanish orphaned children were brought to Moscow. In the fifties,
singer Zara Dolukhanova, the original and to-date unsurpassed interpreter of Shostakovich’s vocal cycle From
Traditional Jewish Poetry, heard one such young man performing some charming traditional Spanish songs, full
of nostalgia for the lost homeland and of passionate
lovers’ vows. The singer gave the recorded tunes to
Shostakovich, and in 1956 he adapted the melodies to
create a collection that he entitled Spanish Songs.
The composition turned out warm, subtle, and “fra-
grant”: the piano accompaniment is transparent and
tidy. The cycle immediately became popular both with
audiences and performers. And although the material
initially handed to the composer did not include proper
translations (they were revised and improved during the
entire work on the songs)—Shostakovich himself had to
fit the fragmentary lyrics to the traditional tunes—the
opus is amazingly organic in the way it matches the typically Spanish melodic and rhythmic patterns to the
words dealing with love and separation, the suffering resulting from loss, and the pleasures of first love, which
are so common both to the Russian soul and to the Spanish tradition, as embodied in Russian culture.
Yuri Serov
VOCAL TEXTS
Dva romansa na slova M. Lermontova
Two Romances to Lyrics by M. Lermontov
Utro na Kavkaze
Svetayet —vyotsa dikoy pelenoy
Vokrug lesistïh gor tuman nochnoy;
Yescho u nog Kavkaza tishina;
Molchit tabun, reka zhurchit odna.
Vot na skale novorozhdionnïy luch
Zardelsia vdrug, prorezavshis’ mezh tuch,
I rozovïy po rechke i shatram
Razlilsia blesk, i svetit tam i tam:
Tak devushki, kupayasia f teni,
Kogda uvidiat yunoshu oni,
Krasneyut fse, k zemle skloniayut vzor:
No kak bezhat’, kol’ blizok milïy vor!..
A Morning In The Caucasus
The day is breaking. The night’s mist swirls in a wild veil
Round the wooded mountains;
At the foot of the Caucasus it is still silent;
The herd is quiet, the river alone is murmuring,
And there on a rock, a new-born ray of light
Appears suddenly out of the clouds, blushing,
And its pink radiance spreads over the river
And the tents, shining here and there:
Likewise, young maids bathing in the shade
All blush, and cast their glance downward,
When they see a young lad;
But how can they run away, when the lovely thief is so near!…
Ballada
Nad morem krasavitsa-deva sidit;
I k drugu, laskayasia, tak govorit:
Ballad
The beautiful maiden sits by the sea,
And she says to her friend so sweetly:
«Dostan’ ozherel’ye, spustisia na dno;
Sevodnia v puchinu upalo ono!
“Pluck my necklace from the sea bottom,
For it was dropped there today!
Tï etim dokazhesh svoyu mne liubof’!»
Vskipela lihaya u yunoshi krof’,
Thus you will prove your love to me!”
The lad’s boiling blood runs hot,
I um yevo obnial nevol’nïy nedug,
On v pennuyu bezdnu kidaetsa vdrug.
His mind is obsessed with an unwitting affliction,
And he suddenly plunges into the foaming abyss.
Iz bezdnï perlovïe brïzgi letiat,
I volnï tesniatsa, i mchatsa nazad,
Pearly splashes rise from the abyss,
The waves clash, and retreat,
I snova prihodiat i o bereg byut,
Vot milovo druga oni prinesut.
And arrive again, and beat against the shore,
In a moment, they will bring back the loving friend.
O schastye! On zhiv, on skalu uhvatil,
V ruke ozherel’ye, no mrachen kak bïl.
Oh happiness! He is alive, he has gripped the rock,
The necklace is in his hand, but he is gloomy.
On verit’ boitsa ustalïm nogam,
I vlazhnïye kudri begut po plecham…
He is scared to trust his weary feet,
His wet locks stick to his shoulders…
«Skazhu, ne liubliu il’ liubliu ya tebia,
Dlia perlov prekrasnoy i zhizn’ ne schadia,
“Tell me now, have I not proved my love to you?
I did not spare my life for my beauty’s pearls,
Po slovu spustilsia na chornoye dno,
V korallovom grote lezhalo ono. —
Devotedly, I plunged down to the black seabed,
And found the necklace in a coral grotto —
Voz’mi», — i pechal’nïy on vzor ustremil
Na to, shto dorozhe on zhizni liubil.
Take it,” and he cast a sad glance
To the one he loved more than his life.
Otvet bïl: «O milïy, o yunosha moy,
Dostan’, yesli liubish, korall dorogoy».
The answer was, “Oh sweet one, oh my darling,
If you love me, pluck me a precious coral.”
S dushoy beznadiozhnoy mladoy udalets
Prïgnul, chtob nayti il’ korall, il’ konets.
The daring hero, hopeless in his heart,
Plunged in to find a coral, or his death.
Iz bezdnï perlovïe brïzgi letiat,
I volnï tesniatsa, i mchatsa nazad,
Pearly splashes rise from the abyss,
The waves clash, and retreat,
I snova prihodiat i o bereg byut,
No milovo druga oni ne nesut.
And arrive again, and beat against the shore,
But they do not bring back the loving friend.
Chetyre pesni na slova E. Dolmatovskogo
Four Songs to Lyrics by E. Dolmatovsky
1. Rodina slyshit
Rodina slïshit, Rodina znayet,
Gde v oblakah eyo sïn proletayet.
S druzheskoy laskoy,
nezhnoy liubovyu
Alïmi zviozdami bashen moskovskih,
Bashen kremliovskih
Smotrit ona za toboyu.
Rodina slïshit, Rodina znayet,
Kak nelegko eyo sïn pobezhdayet.
No ne sdayotsa
Pravïy i smelïy!
Vseyu sud’boy svoyey tï utverzhdayesh,
Tï zaschischayesh
Mira velikoye delo.
Rodina slïshit, Rodina znayet,
Chto eyo syn na doroge vstrechayet,
Kak tï skvoz’ tuchi
Put’ probivayesh.
Skol’ko by chornaya buria ne zlilas’,
Shto b ni sluchilos’ —
Bud’ nepreklonnïm, tovarisch!
The Motherland Hears
The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows
Where her son flies through the clouds.
With friendly embrace,
With tender love,
She watches over you
With the scarlet stars of Moscow’s towers,
Of the Kremlin’s towers.
The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows
How hard it is for her son to win,
But he who is brave and who is right
Never gives up.
With all your fate you maintain,
You defend
The great cause of peace.
The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows
What her son has to face on his way,
How you thread your way
Through thunder-clouds.
However fierce the black storm may be,
Whatever may happen —
Remain staunch, Comrade!
2. Vïruchi menia
Protekli za ogradoy koliuchey
moyi molodïe goda.
Zalivayas’ slezoyu goriuchey,
nashi devushki peli togda:
«Nedrugov gonia,
vïruchi menia,
kak v chudesnoy skazke,
rïtsar’ molodoy
s krasnoyu zvezdoy
Rescue Me
My young days were spent
behind barbed wire.
Shedding bitter tears,
our girls used to sing:
“Driving out the enemy,
rescue me,
like in a fairy tale,
O young knight,
with a red star
na zelionoy kaske»
Mï v rodnïye lachugi vernulis’,
v pechal’nuyu nashu stranu.
Na kamniah obezdolennïh ulits
ya poyu, kak pevala v plenu:
«Nedrugov gonia,
vïruchi menia,
kak v chudesnoy skazke,
rïtsar’ molodoy
s krasnoyu zvezdoy
na zelionoy kaske»
on your green helmet.”
We went back to the ruins of our homes,
to our sad country.
I sing on the stones of widowed streets,
like I used to sing in prison:
“Driving out the enemy,
rescue me,
like in a fairy tale,
O young knight,
with a red star
on your green helmet.”
3. Liubit — ne liubit
Yest’ devushek mnogo u nas v gorodke,
No ta, shto vstrechayet s tsvetami v ruke,
V tebia vliublena,
No znay, shto ona
gadat’ na romashke ne budet.
Liubit — ne liubit,
Liubit — ne liubit,
Liubit — ne liubit…
Geroyam fsegda prepodnosiat tsvetï,
Ya veriu, shto stanesh geroyem i tï.
Ne stanu gadat’,
No budu ya zhdat’,
I serdtse nichto ne ostudit.
Liubit — ne liubit,
Liubit — ne liubit,
Liubit — ne liubit…
Yest’ devushek mnogo, no tol’ko odna,
Bït’ mozhet, naveki v tebia vliublena.
S liubovyu bol’shoy
S otkrïtoy dushoy
Dlia schastya vstrechayutsa liudi.
Liubit — ne liubit,
Liubit — ne liubit,
Liubit — ne liubit
Loves — Or Loves Not
There are many girls in our town,
But the one who meets you with flowers in her hand,
Is in love with you.
But she will not try to tell her fortune
Plucking daisy petals.
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not,
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not,
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not…
Heroes are always greeted with flowers,
And I believe you too will be a hero.
I won’t try to tell your fortune,
But I’ll be waiting,
And nothing will cool my heart.
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not,
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not,
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not…
There are many girls, but only one of them
May be in love with you for all time.
When love is great,
When souls are open,
People meet for happiness.
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not,
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not,
(S)he loves me — (s)he loves me not…
4. Kolïbel’naya
Spi, moy horoshiy, spi moy rodnoy.
Ty poyavilsia zelionoy vesnoy.
Tot, kto rodilsia posle voyny,
vidit lish samïye mirnïye snï.
Spi, moy horoshiy, nezhno liubia,
ya zaschischu ot nevzgodï tebia.
Mirnïye liudi strazhu nesut,
tronut’ detey nikomu ne dadut.
Spi, moy horoshiy, nochyu i dniom
s blizhnih stroitel’stv donositsa grom.
Pust’ eti gromï budut slïshnï.
Detiam i vzroslïm oni ne strashnï.
Lullaby
Sleep my darling, sleep my sweet one.
You came to the world in green spring.
Those who are born after a war
See only most peaceful dreams.
Sleep my darling, I love you tenderly
And cover you from hardships.
Peaceful people are on watch
And won’t let anyone hurt children.
Sleep my darling, day and night
Thunder is heard from nearby construction sites.
Let this thunder resound,
For it never frightens either children or grown-ups.
Chetïre monologa na slova A.Pushkina
Four Monologues To Words By A. Pushkin
1. Otrïvok
V yevreyskoy hizhine lampada
V odnom uglu bledna gorit,
Pered lampadoyu starik
Chitaet Bibliyu. Sedïye
Na knigu padayut vlasï.
Nad kolïbeliyu pustoy
Yevreyka plachet molodaya.
Sidit v drugom uglu, glavoy
Poniknuf, molodoy yevrey,
Gluboko v dumu pogruzhonnïy.
V pechal’noy hizhine starushka
Gotovit pozdniuyu trapezu.
Starik, zakrïf sviatuyu knigy,
Zastiozhki mednïye somknul.
Staruha stavit bednïy uzhin
Na stol i vsiu semyu zoviot.
Nikto neydiot, zabyv o pische.
Tekut v bezmolvii chasy.
Usnulo vsio pod sen’yu nochi.
Yevreyskoy hizhinï odnoy
Ne posetil otradnïy son.
Na kolokol’ne gorodskoy
Byot polnoch. — Vdrug rukoy tiazholoy
Stuchatsa k nim. Semya vzdrognula,
Mladoy yevrey vstayot i dver’
S nedoumen’yem otvoriaet I vhodit neznakomïy strannik
V yego ruke dorozhnïy posoh.
A Fragment
In the Jewish hut, a pale lamp
Burns in a corner;
At the lamp, an old man
Is reading the Bible.
His grey hair hangs down onto the book.
A young Jewess weeps
Over an empty cradle.
In another corner, a young Jew
Sits with his head down,
Deep in his thoughts.
An old woman cooks a late supper
In that sad hut.
The old man closes the holy book
And fastens its copper clasps.
The old woman puts the meager supper
On the table, and calls the whole family.
No one comes, they neglect the meals.
Hours run on in silence.
All is asleep in the shade of night,
The Jewish hut alone
Has amiable sleep bypassed.
The town belfry’s clock
Strikes midnight. — Suddenly, a heavy hand
Knocks at the door. The family starts,
The young Jew then gets up and,
Bewildered, opens the door.
And lo, an unknown stranger comes in,
A traveller’s staff in his hand.
2. Shto v imeni tebe moyom?..
Shto v imeni tebe moyom?
Ono umriot, kak shum pechal’nïy
Volnï, plesnufshey v bereg dal’niy,
Kak zvuk nochnoy v lesu gluhom.
What’s In My Name To You?
What’s in my name to you?
It will die like the sad murmur
Of a wave striking some far-off shore,
Like a night sound in forlorn woods.
Ono na pamiatnom listke
Ostavit miortvïy sled, podobnïy
Uzoru nadpisi nadgrobnoy
Na neponiatnom yazïke.
It will leave a dead trace
On a memorial slip of paper,
Like a tracing of a gravestone inscription
In an unknown language.
Shto v niom? Zabïtoye davno
V volnen’yah novïh i miatezhnïh,
Tvoyey dushe ne dast ono
Vospominaniy chistïh, nezhnïh.
No v dni pechali, v tishine,
Proiznesi yevo toskuya;
Skazhi: yest’ pamiat’ obo mne,
Yest’ v mire serdtse, gde zhivu ya.
3. Vo glubine sibirskih rud…
Vo glubine sibirskih rud
Hranite gordoye terpen’ye,
Ne propadiot vash skorbnïy trud
I dum vïsokoye stremlen’ye.
In The Depth Of Siberian Mines
In the depth of Siberian mines
Preserve your proud patience.
Your woeful toil will not be lost,
Nor the noble aspirations of your thought.
Neschast’yu vernaya sestra,
Nadezhda v mrachnom podzemel’ye
Razbudit bodrost’ i vesel’ye,
Pridiot zhelannaya pora:
Hope, Misfortune’s faithful sister,
Even in your gloomy dungeon
Will awaken vigor and rejoicing,
And the hoped for time will come:
Liubof’ i druzhestvo do vas
Doydut skvoz’ mrachnïye zatvory,
Kak v vashi katorzhnïye norï
Dohodit moy svobodnïy glas.
Love and friendship will reach you
Across the gloomy bolted doors,
Just as my free voice
Reaches into your prison caves.
Okovy tiazhkie padut,
Temnitsï ruhnut i svoboda
Vas primet radostno u vhoda,
I brat’ya mech vam otdadut.
The heavy chains will drop,
The jails will crumble, and freedom
Will meet you happily at the entrance
And your brothers will hand the sword back to you.
4. Proschanie
V posledniy raz tvoy obraz milïy
Derzayu mïslenno laskat’,
Budit’ mechtu serdechnoy siloy
I s negoy robkoy i unïloy
Tvoyu liubof’ vospominat’.
Parting
For the last time I dare to caress
Your sweet image in my thoughts,
To awaken the dream with power of heart
And to recollect your love
With timid and wistful bliss.
Begut meniayas’ nashi leta.
Meniaya vsio, meniaya nas,
Uzh tï dlia svoyego poeta
Mogilnïm sumrakom odeta,
I dlia tebia tvoy drug ugas.
Our years run by, changing,
Changing all and changing us,
Now for your poet
You are shrouded in the twilight of the grave
And for you your friend has faded as well.
Primi zhe, dal’niaya podruga.
Proschan’ye serdtsa moyevo,
Kak ovdovevshaya supruga,
Kak drug, obniavshiy molcha druga
Pred zatocheniem yevo.
So accept, far-off friend of mine,
This, my heart’s farewell,
Like a widowed wife,
Like a friend silently embracing his friend
Before he goes to prison.
Grecheskiye pesni
Greek Songs
What’s in it? It is long forgotten
In new, tumultuous worries,
It will not give your soul
Any pure and gentle reminiscences.
1. Fperiod!
Fperiod, geroi Gretsii!
Za rodinu svobodnuyu!
Gotov liuboy borets yeyo
Delit’ sud’bu narodnuyu.
Forward! Words by K. Palamas.
Forward, heroes of Greece!
For the free homeland!
Its every fighter is willing
To share the people’s destiny.
But pronounce it in days of sorrow,
In silence, when you’re sick at heart;
Say: there’s remembrance of me,
There’s a heart in the world where I live.
Ot Pinda do Egeyskih vod
Groza grohochet nad gorami
Eto buria, eto plamia,
Eto mïsl’ odna - fperiod!
From Pindes to Aegean waters
A thunderstorm roars over the mountains
It’s storm, it’s flame,
It’s one thought, “Forward!”
Fperiod, na kruchi gornïye,
V prostor morey nevedomïy!
Nad bezdnoy nepokornoyu
Vzovyom svoy stiag pobednïy mï.
Forward, up to steep mountain peaks,
Into unknown tracts of seas!
Over the unyielding abyss
We will fly our victorious banner.
Opiat’ prizïvnïy rog poyot,
Opiat’ zoviot geroyev Rigas…
Sumrak nochi nas ne vïdast,
Gornïye orlï, fperiod!
The urgent trumpet sings again,
And Rigas summons its heroes again…
The cloud of night won’t betray us,
Mountain eagles, forward!
Fperiod, otriadï groznïye!
Klinki blesnut, kak molnii.
Rasskazhut nochi zviozdnïye,
Kak mï svoy dolg ispolnili!
Forward, fierce troops!
The blades will glisten like lightnings.
The starry nights will tell
How we did our duty!
V ogne Rumeli. Krit fstayot.
Grohochut pushki na Olimpe…
Vzveytes’ k nebu, alïy vïmpel,
Smelïye serdtsa, fperiod!
Rumeli is on fire. Crete is revolting.
Cannons thunder on Olympus…
Scarlet banner, soar aloft!
Forward, brave hearts!
2. Pentozalis
Prokliatye! Vechno dolzhen zhdat’
Tebia ya pered fsemi.
A vremia ne verniotsa vspiat’,
Na to ono i vremia!
Ne hochesh tselovat’ menia,
Hot’ tak tebia liubliu ya,
A net, kak dïma bez ognia,
Liubvi bez potseluya!
Penthosalis. Folk Song.
Damnation! Why do I always have
For you in front of everyone.
Time will never come back,
Such is its habit!
You don’t want to kiss me,
Even though I love you so?
But can there be smoke without fire,
And can there be love without kisses?
Fsegda vdvoyom rastut tsvetï
Dushistoy baziliki.
Zachem poniat’ ne hochesh tï
Moyey liubvi velikoy?
Kogda umru, tï nado mnoy
Ne ley naprasno sliozï…
Poplach, pokuda ya zhivoy,
Poka yescho ne pozdno!
Fragrant basil-flowers
Always grow in pairs.
Why don’t you want to understand
My great love?
When I die, do not shed your tears
Over me in vain…
Weep now when I’m living,
While it’s not too late!
Liubof’ bïla, kak rozï tsvet,
Teper’ kolïuchkoy budet.
A gde lïubof’? Bïla i net.
Na nas diviatsa liudi.
Ne hochesh tselovat’ menia,
Hot’ tak tebia liubliu ya,
A net, kak dïma bez ognia,
Liubvi bez potseluya!
Our love was rose blossom,
Now it’s going to be a thorn.
Where’s our love gone?
People stare at us amazed.
You don’t want to kiss me,
Even though I love you so?
But can there be smoke without fire,
And can there be love without kisses?
3. Zolongo
O mir moy chudesnïy, o mir moy pechal’nïy,
Gde tak redki radost’ i svet!
Slïshish li nïnche tï moy golos dal’niy,
Bednoy rabï skorbnuyu pesniu i zov proschal’nïy,
Zolongo. Folk Song.
O my wonderful world, o my sorrowful world,
Where joy and light are so rare!
Do you hear now my voice from far away,
The mournful song and farewell call of a poor slave woman,
Zhalobu serdtsa, moy posledniy privet?
Lament of my heart, and my last greeting?
Kray moy skorbnïy, kray tï moy gornïy,
Gibnet tvoy narod nepokornïy.
Gorï, lesa i reki, proschayus’ s vami naveki!
Gorï, lesa i reki, proschayus’ s vami naveki!
My land of grief, my land of mountains,
Your unyielding people is perishing
Mountains, rivers and woods, goodbye forever!
Mountains, rivers and woods, goodbye forever!
Tesno rïbke na dne bol’shoy lodki,
Byotsa bedniashka v seti rïbaka!
Fsio, chto mne shliot sud’ba, snoshu ya krotko,
Tol’ko v rabstve zhizni netu dlia Suliotki:
Dolia eta serdtsu slishkom gor’ka!
A little fish feels small on a big boat’s deck,
The poor one struggles in the fisherman’s net!
I meekly endure all my destiny gives to me,
But a Suliote girl cannot live enslaved;
This lot is too heavy for my heart!
Kray moy skorbnïy, kray tï moy gornïy,
Gibnet tvoy narod nepokornïy.
Gory, lesa i reki, proschayus’ s vami naveki!
Gory, lesa i reki, proschayus’ s vami naveki!
My land of grief, my land of mountains,
Your unyielding people is perishing
Mountains, rivers and woods, goodbye forever!
Mountains, rivers and woods, goodbye forever!
4. Gimn ELAS
S vintovkoy vernoyu shagaya
Po derevniam i gorodam,
Ya za tebia borius’, svoboda,
I za tebia ya zhizn’ otdam.
The Hymn Of ELLAS
Marching with my trusty rifle
Over villages and towns,
I fight for you, Freedom,
And for you I’ll sacrifice my life.
Fperiod, ELAS, za spravedlivost’,
Za schastye Gretsii vperiod.
Pust’ etot klich na boy sviaschennïy
Sïnov otechestva zoviot.
March on, ELLAS, for justice,
For Greece’s happiness, forward!
Let this war-cry call sons of my country
For a sacred battle..
Kogda idiot na bitvu voin,
Zvuchit vezde tvoy veschiy glas,
I gorï, ehom otzïvayas’,
Gremiat v otvet: ELAS, ELAS!
When warriors march to a battle,
Your prophetic call is heard everywhere,
And mountains resound
And thunder in reply, “ELLAS, ELLAS!”
Piat’ romansov na slova Ye.Dolmatovskogo
Five Songs to Lyrics by E. Dolmatovsky
1. Den’ vstrechi
Davno my ne videlis’…
Pravda! Ne den’ i ne god.
Fsiu zhizn’ ne fstrechalis’,
No znali, shto vremia pridiot,
No verili: fstrecha nastanet,
Kak veriat, shto solntse vzoydiot.
Tak vot tï kakaya,
Rodnaya, rodnaya!..
The Day of Meeting
We’ve not seen each other for so long…
It’s true! Not a day, or a year,
We haven’t met our entire life.
But we always knew the time would come,
But we believed we would finally meet,
Just like we believe that the sun will rise.
So this is you at last,
My sweet darling!..
V glaza tvoi ya ne mogu nagliadetsa.
Ya v nih ne smotrel nikogda.
Vdali drug ot druga proshlo nashe detstvo
I skhlïnula yunost’, kak veshniaya voda.
I never tire of looking into your eyes.
I have never looked in them before.
Our childhood was spent miles and miles apart,
And our youth vanished like water from spring fields.
Pust’ oba mï vzroslïye stali,
No schast’ye ot etogo men’she ne budet.
No matter that we have both grown up,
Our happiness will not be less.
Ya fsio povtoriayu: rodnaya, rodnaya…
I krïl’ya rastut u menia.
Chestnoye slovo, ya prosto ne znayu,
Kak zhil ya do etogo dnia.
I’ll say it again, my sweet darling…
I feel like I’m growing wings.
Upon my word, I simply don’t know
How I managed to live until this day.
2. Den’ priznaniy
Tropinkoyu uzkoy mï shli,
Drug druga stesniayas’ nemnogo,
I fsio nam kazalos’: vdali
Vidneyetsa smutno bolshaya doroga.
The Day of Declarations
We were walking along a narrow path,
We felt a bit self-conscious,
And it seemed to us that a great wide road
Loomed far ahead in a haze.
Vokrug podnimalis’ tsvetï,
Na nas udivlionno smotreli.
Zapel solovey, i vpervïye uslïshala tï
Yevo priïhan’ya, ruladï i treli.
Flowers were surrounding us,
Looking at us surprised.
A nightingale started to sing, and you heard for the first time
Its warbles, roulades, and trills.
Ya v knigah chital, shto strashna
Minuta priznan’ya,
No nam okazalas’ ona ne nuzhna Zachem ob’yasniatsa? Ne znayu…
I’ve read in books that the moment of declaration
Is frightening,
But it turns out that we don’t need it.
Why should I declare anything? Don’t know…
Zachem obyasniatsa, ved’ slovo luboye
Zvuchit kak, «liubliu» i velikoyu dïshit lïubovyu.
What need is there to declare anything? When any word
Sounds like “I love you” and breathes great love.
Mï shli fsio bïstreye, bïstreye,
I fdrug rasstupilis’ derev’ya,
I fsio tak nezhdanno sluchilos’,
Kak zhdali vliublionnïye nashi serdtsa.
Bol’shaya doroga pred nami otkrïlas’,
I kraya yey net, i ne budet kontsa.
We walked faster and faster,
And the trees suddenly made way,
And all that happened was so unexpected,
And was just as our loving hearts desired.
We saw a great wide road ahead,
A limitless one, an endless one.
3. Den’ obid
Ya ne znayu, otchego tï tak grustna.
U samogo na serdtse kamen’.
I ne uteshit nas vesna
Svoyey golubiznoy, svoimi lepestkami.
The Day of Grievances
I don’t know why you are so sad.
I too feel a weight on my heart.
Spring cannot soothe us
With its blue sky and lovely petals.
L’udi s dushoyu chorstvoy
Dali voliu zloslov’yu.
Vidno, ochen’ legko i prosto
Nad chuzhoy izdevatsa liubovyu.
Cold-hearted people
Have given way to slander.
They seem to feel so easy and happy
Sneering at someone else’s love.
Shepchutsa, shepchutsa, shepchutsa, shepchutsa:
Eta liubof’ ne protianet i mesiatsa.
Zhaliat pri vstreche ulïbkoy pritvornoyu,
Zlïm bezrazlichiyem, zavist’yu chornoyu.
They whisper, and whisper, and whisper, and whisper,
Saying our love won’t last a month.
They sting us with false smiles,
With evil disregard, with black envy.
Shto vam nuzhno? Kakoye vam delo?
Chem liubof’ nasha vas zadela?
What do you need? Is it your business?
How has our love harmed you?
Mne tiazhelo i grustno.
Tol’ko tï ne grusti.
Da budut sviaschennïmi chistïye chustva,
I feel heavy and sad.
But you should not be unhappy.
Let our pure feelings, our sunny ways,
Svetlïye nashi puti.
Let them be sacred forever.
4. Den’ radosti
Solntse yarko zasiyalo,
Svetlïy put’ otkrït vesne.
Tak legko na serdtse stalo
I tebe, i mne.
The Day of Joy
The sun is shining brightly,
A cheerful way is open to Spring.
You and I, our hearts now
Feel so light!
Potomu shto mï s toboyu
Fhodim v mir, v ruke ruka,
Skreplenï odnoy sud’boyu,
Slovno lepestki tsvetka.
Because you and I
Are entering the world, your hand in mine,
Fastened together with one destiny,
Like two petals of a flower.
Fse sbudutsa mechtï! Konechno, sbudutsa!
A nashi goresti? A goresti zabudutsa.
Kakaya tï schastlivaya, kakaya tï krasivaya,
Shto fse toboy liubuyutsa.
Our dreams will come true, surely they will!
And our sorrows? They’ll be forgotten.
You’re so happy, you’re so beautiful,
No wonder everyone admires you.
No ne serdis’, moya liubof’,
Kol’ sam sebe zavidovat’ nachnu ya.
Ya tak gorzhus’ toboy,
Shto, kazhetsa, ko vsem tebia revnuyu.
But my love, don’t be angry,
When I become envious to myself.
I’m so proud of you,
That I seem to be jealous of everyone.
Solntse yarko zasiyalo,
Svetlïy put’ otkrït vesne.
Tak legko na serdtse stalo
I tebe, i mne!
The sun is shining brightly,
A cheerful way is open to Spring.
You and I, our hearts now
Feel so light!
5. Den’ vospominaniy
Bïla takaya pesenka odna,
Poroyu vesela, poroy grustna,
Poroy grustna, poroyu vesela,
Ona vliublionnïh k fstreche privela.
The Day of Memories
There was a little song.
Sometimes it was merry, sometimes sad,
Sometimes it was sad, and sometimes merry,
And it brought the lovers to their meeting.
Yeyo v serdtsah sumeli my zberech,—
Ona vsegda zalog horoshih fstrech.
Horoshih fstrech ona fsegda zalog.
I s ney v razluke legche dal’ dorog.
We managed to save it in our hearts It always promises a happy meeting.
Yes, it always means a happy meeting,
And cheers you up when travelling far way.
Pust’ yunost’ pesni novïye poyot.
Napev, dlia nas rodnoy, i v nih zhiviot.
I v nih zhiviot napev, dlia nas rodnoy.
Mï ne izmenim pesenke odnoy.
Let Youth sing new songs.
The tune so dear to us lives in them too.
It’s in them too, the tune so dear to us.
We will not betray that one song.
Nam goria mnogo dovelos’ uznat’.
Zapeli solovyi vesnoy opiat’.
Vesnoy opiat’ zapeli solovyi
O vernosti, o druzbe, o liubvi.
We’ve had enough of sorrow.
Nightingales sing again in spring,
It’s spring, and nightingales they sing again
Of loyalty, of friendship, and of love.
Ispanskiye pesni
1. Proschay, Grenada!
Proschay, Grenada, moya Grenada,
s toboy naveki mne rasstatsa nado!
Spanish Songs
Farewell to Granada
Farewell, Granada, my Granada,
I have to leave you forever!
Proschay, liubimïy kray, ochey uslada,
navek proschay! Ah!
Budet pamiat’ o tebe moey yedinstvennoy otradoy,
moy liubimïy, moy rodimïy kray!
Navek mne serdtse toska pronzila,
pogiblo fsio, shto v zhizni bïlo milo,
moya liubov’ ushla vo mrak mogily,
i zhizn’ ushla! Ah!
I vokrug mne fsio postylo, zhit’, kak prezhde net uzh
sily
tam, gde yunost’ tak bïla svetla!
Farewell, dear place, so pleasing to my eye,
farewell forever! Ah!
The memories of you will be my only consolation,
my dear place, my home place!
I am forever pierced with sorrow,
all I cared for is lost,
my love is gone into the darkness of the grave,
and my life is gone too… Ah!
I am annoyed with what’s around me, I cannot live as
before
in the place where my youth was so bright!
2. Zviozdochki
Pod kiparisami starïmi
serebritsa pribrezhnaya glad’.
K miloy idu ya s gitaroyu,
shtobï pesniam yeyo obuchat’.
No uchit’ besplatno mne net ohotï:
ya beru s neyo potseluy za notu.
Stranno, shto ona k utru uznayot
fsio, krome not!
Zhal’, shto nachat’ snova pozdno!
Zhal’, shto uzhe svetel vozduh!
Zhal’, shto i dniom ne drozhat puglivo
nad zalivom zviozdï…
Little Stars
Under the old cypresses
the water near the shore is gleaming.
I am coming to my sweetheart with my guitar
to teach her songs.
But my teaching will not be free:
I charge her a kiss for every note.
Strangely, by the morning she learns everything
except the notes!
Pity, it’s too late to start again…
Pity, it’s getting light already…
Pity, the stars o’er the bay
do not tremble shyly also in the daylight…
V zviozdockah nebo beskrayneye,
imi zviozdnaya noch polna.
Miloy moyey nazïvayu ya
fseh beschislennïh zviozd imena.
Ya poznan’yami dorozhu svoimi
i beru platu s neyo potseluy za imia.
Stranno, chto urok kazhetsa yey prost,
fsio, krome zviozd!
Zhal’, shto nachat’ snova pozdno!
Zhal’, shto uzhe svetel vozduh!
Zhal’, shto i dniom ne drozhat puglivo
nad zalivom zviozdï…
The limitless sky is covered with little stars,
they are abundant in the starry night.
I tell my sweetheart
the names of all these numberless stars.
I value my knowledge
and charge her a kiss for every name.
Strange, the lesson seems easy to her,
everything but the stars!
Pity, it’s too late to start again…
Pity, it’s getting light already…
Pity, the stars o’er the bay
do not tremble shyly also in the daylight…
3. Pervaya fstrecha
Tï u ruchya vodï mne dala kogda-to,
svezhey vodï, holodnoy, kak sneg v uschel’yah sinih
gor.
Nochi temney tvoy vzor,
v kosah aromat lepestkov dikoy miatï…
The First Time I Met You
Once you gave me some water near the stream;
it was fresh and cold like snow in blue mountains’
canyons.
Your eyes are darker than night,
and your braids have the aroma of wild mint petals…
Vidish, opiat’ kruzhit horovod,
buben gremit, zvenit i poyot.
Kazhdïy tantsor podruzhku vediot,
smotrit na nih, liubuyas’, narod.
Bey, moy buben, bey, gremi, budto grom!
S miloyu moyey my tantsuem vdvoyom.
Lenta na tebie nebes golubey!
See the round-dance spinning again,
hear the tambourine rattling, jingling and singing.
Each dancer is leading his girlfriend,
people are looking at them in admiration.
Beat, tambourine, beat, rattle like thunder!
I am dancing with my sweetheart,
her ribbon is azure as the sky!
Bey, moy buben, bey! Buben, bey! Buben, bey!
Beat, tambourine, beat! Beat, tambourine! Beat, tambourine!
Mne ne zabït’ vovek etoy pervoy fstrechi,
laskovïh slov i smugloy ruki, i bleska chornïh glaz…
Ponial ya v etot chas,
shto tiebia liubliu i liubit’ budu vechno!
I’ll never forget that first time I met you,
tender words, and swarthy hand, and shining black eyes…
It was then that I understood
that I loved you and would love you forever!
Vidish, opiat’ kruzhit horovod,
buben gremit, zvenit i poyot.
Kazhdïy tantsor podruzhku vediot,
smotrit na nih, liubuyas’ narod.
Bey, moy buben, bey, gremi, budto grom!
S miloyu moyey mï tantsuyem vdvoyom.
Lenta na tebe nebes golubey!
Bey, moy buben, bey! Buben, bey! Buben, bey!
See the round-dance spinning again,
hear the tambourine rattling, jingling and singing.
Each dancer is leading his girlfriend,
people are looking at them in admiration.
Beat, tambourine, beat, rattle like thunder!
I am dancing with my sweetheart,
her ribbon is azure as the sky!
Beat, tambourine, beat! Beat, tambourine! Beat, tambourine!
4. Ronda
Shumit horovod u nashih dverey,
vesel’ya pora nastala.
Idi tantsevat’ so mnoyu skorey,
gvozdiki tsvetochek alïy!
V lunnoy tishine ne slïshen zvon ruchya…
Day ruku mne, devushka moya,
gvozdiki tsvetochek alïy!
Ronda
The round dance is heard near our door,
it’s time for rejoicing.
Come and dance with me,
you little scarlet carnation flower!
In the moonlit silence, even the stream’s ringing is not heard…
Give me your hand, my girl,
you little scarlet carnation flower!
Ulitsa slovno yarkiy sad.
Shutki zveniat, glaza blestiat.
Ronda kruzhitsa i poyot,
svetitsa zviozdnïm serebrom nebosvod,
mchatsa vesiolye parï…
Eto radostnïy prazdnik pervïh tsvetov,
eto prazdnik nashey liubvi!
The street is like a bright orchard.
Laughter rings out, and eyes shine.
Ronda spins round and sings,
the sky gleams in starry silver,
and merry couples are whirling…
It’s a joyful feast of first flowers,
it’s a feast of our love!
Igrayut v luche lunï na okne
derev’yev mindal’nïh teni…
Kogda zhe siuda tï vïydesh ko mne,
moy nezhnïy tsvetok vesenniy?
Vetku mindalia s dereva sorvi,
yeyo mne day v znak tvoyey liubvi,
moy nezhnïy tsvetok vesenniy!
The shades of almond-trees on the window
Are playing in moonbeams…
When will you come out to me,
my sweet spring flower?
Pluck an almond twig from a tree,
give it to me as a token of your love,
my sweet spring flower!
Ulitsa slovno yarkiy sad.
Shutki zveniat, glaza blestiat.
Ronda kruzhitsa i poyot,
svetitsa zviozdnïm serebrom nebosvod,
mchatsa vesiolye parï…
Eto radostnïy prazdnik pervïh tsvetov,
eto prazdnik nashey liubvi!
The street is like a bright orchard.
Laughter rings out, and eyes shine.
Ronda spins round and sings,
the sky gleams in starry silver,
and merry couples are whirling…
It’s a joyful feast of first flowers,
it’s a feast of our love!
5. Chernookaya
Mat’ dala tebe ochi zvezdï,
nezhnïy tsvet tvoih smuglïh schok,
milaya moya!
Black-Eyed Girl
Your mother gave you starry eyes,
and gentle color of your dark cheeks,
my sweetheart!
S bol’yu f serdtse nochyu pozdney
bez tebia ya brozhu, odinok,
milaya moya!
Ah, za chto ya nakazan bïl sud’boy?
Ah, zachem povstrechalsia ya s toboy?
Ya umru ot liubvi bezumnoy, yesli tï ne poliubish menia,
milaya moya!
With pain in my heart, late at night,
I wander alone, without you.
my sweetheart!
Ah, why does my fate punish me so?
Ah, why did I meet you at all?
I will die of my desperate love if you won’t love me,
my sweetheart!
6. Son
Ne znayu, shto eto znachit…
Son chudesnïy prisnilsia mne,
kak budto v lodke rïbachyey
ya plïvu po burnoy volne.
Choln bez v’osel,
ya ih brosil…
Dream
I do not know what this could mean…
I had a marvellous dream,
as if I was riding in a fishing boat
over stormy waves…
The boat has no oars,
I have dropped them…
Mat’ dala tebe stan vïsokiy,
chornïy blesk nepokornïh kudrey,
milaya moya!
Proklinayu rok zhestokiy,
bol’ i muki dushi moyey,
milaya moya!
O, zachem zhe tebe sumela mat’
Mne nazlo krasotu takuyu dat’?
Ya umru ot liubvi bezumnoy, yesli tï ne poliubish menia,
milaya moya!
Your mother gave you a tall stature,
and the black shine of unruly locks,
my sweetheart!
I curse my cruel fate,
the pain and tortures of my soul,
my sweetheart!
Oh, why did your mother manage
to give you such beauty, the worse for me?
I will die of my desperate love if you won’t love me,
my sweetheart!
Volnï peniatsa, zliatsa i topiat moy choln,
no otvazhno mchus’ ya sredi tiomnïh, sred’ ogromnïh
voln,
ottovo, shto v rïbachyey etoy lodke
po morskoy nepokornoy glubi mchishsa tï,
moya gordaya, mchishsia vmeste so mnoy
i menia tï budto tozhe liubish!
O, moya golubka!
Posmotri zhe, kak nesiotsa v svoyey lodochke hrupkoy
po moriu bednïy paren’,
shto tak krepko liubit tebia!
The waves are foaming angrily, trying to sink my boat,
but I am bravely riding among enormous dark waves,
because you, too, are riding,
in that fishing boat, my proud one, together with me,
and you seem to love me too!
O my dove!
See how this poor guy who loves you so
is dashing across the sea
in his fragile little boat!
Russian transliteration: Lev Hrol, ed. V. Morosan
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Soprano Victoria Evtodieva graduated from the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory (student of Prof. E. Perlassova) and finished her postgraduate studies (with Prof. K. Izotova) in 1995. In
recent years she has been the leading soprano of the Conservatory’s
Musical Theatre where she has sung the parts of Tatyana and Iolanta
(Eugene Onegin and Iolanta), Marguerite (Faust), Cio-Cio-San (Madam
Butterfly), Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) and others. In 1993, at the invitation of Galina Vishnevskaya, she participated in the performance
of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta in Salzburg.
In 1994 she won First Prize at the International Vocal Competition
in Enschede, Holland; in 1997, First Prize at the Shostakovich International Competition in Hannover, Germany; and in June 1998, Third
Prize at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow.
Victoria Evtodieva has toured many cities of Russia, the UK, Spain,
Belgium, Brazil, Austria, Germany and Holland, recorded several CDs
(Songs of Prokofiev for Delos, Handel’s Johannes Passion for Colibri.)
Since 1994, Victoria Evtodieva has been teaching voice at the St.
Petersburg Conservatory.
Mezzo-soprano Natalia Biryukova was born in Donetsk, Ukraine
and first studied piano at the Donetsk College of Music. In 1998, she
graduated from the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
(where she studied with famous Russian mezzo-soprano, professor
Irina Bogachova). Completed her postgraduate courses at the same
Conservatory in 2000. Winner of the All-Russian Vocal Competition
in Moscow (1994); winner of the International Opera Singers’ Competition in Alcamo, Italy (1998).
Since 1996, Natalia Biryukova has been a leading soloist of the
Mussorgsky Opera House in St. Petersburg. On this stage, she has
sung several key roles for mezzo-soprano in operas by Russian and
Western composers.
Natalia Biryukova regularly performs with the Philharmonic Or-
chestra of St. Petersburg. She has sung Carmen and Olga (Eugene
Onegin) in Germany, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Tokyo and
Osaka, Verdi’s Requiem in Palermo and Messina, Olga in Amsterdam
and Rotterdam, a recital of Russian songs in Glasgow, and Russian
sacred music in Scandinavia.
Baritone Mikhail Lukonin graduated from the Music School in
Nizhny-Novgorod (formerly Gorky) as a trombone player, and later
as a vocalist from the Glinka Conservatory in Nizhny-Novgorod.
While still a student of the Conservatory, Lukonin was invited to be
a soloist at the Nizhny-Novgorod Opera Theatre, where he performed, over the course of several years, many principal roles for
lyric baritone: Onegin (Eugene Onegin), Robert (Iolanta), Prince Yeletsky (Queen of Spades), Schelkalov (Boris Godunov), Figaro (Il barbiere di
Siviglia), Germont (La Traviata), Rodrigo di Posa (Don Carlo), Silvio (I
pagliacci) etc.
Since 1992 Mr. Lukonin has been a soloist with the St. Petersburg
Opera, where he has sung several notable roles in comical operas of
Donizetti and performed a number of roles in operas from the contemporary repertoire.
As a soloist, and as a member of the ensemble “Neva,” he often
performs in recitals throughout Russia and in other European countries (Poland, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark,
Switzerland, Italy). He has recorded several compact discs and major
programs for radio.
Bass Fyodor Kuznetsov, a native of Sverdlovsk, graduated from the
Music Conservatory of Nizhny-Novgorod (formerly Gorky) and
joined St. Petersburg’s Mussorgsky Opera Theater in 1987. Roles performed in that house include Boris/Pimen (Boris Godunov), Dosifei
(Khovanshchina), King Rene (Iolanta), Gremin (Eugene Onegin),
Philip/Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlo), Colline (La Boheme), as well as
the title roles of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan and
Petrov’s Peter the Great. (For his performance in the latter work, he
won the 1994 St. Petersburg Laureate Prize.) As a member of the
Mussorgsky company he has been lauded in France, Italy, Japan,
Greece, Germany and the United States.
A principal singer of the Mariinsky Theatre/Kirov Opera since
1996, he has performed there as Varlaam (Boris Godunov), Farlaf
(Ruslan and Lyudmila), Ivan Grozny (Pskovitianka), the King (Aida), Il
Grande Inquisitore (Don Carlo), Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia),
Klingsor (Parsifal), Hunding (Die Walkiire), and Mendoza (Betrothal in
a Monastery). He debuted at the Salzburg Festival as Varlaam (Boris
Godunov) in 1997, at the San Francisco Opera as Augustin (Betrothal
in a Monastery) 1998, and at the Santiago Municipal Theatre as Klingsor and Titurel (Parsifal) in 1999.
He has traveled with the Kirov to Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Spain, England, Argentina, Chile and the United States (Metropolitan Opera), among others. His concert repertoire includes
Mozart’s Requiem, Bruckner’s Missa Solemnis, Rossini’s Stabat Mater,
and Mahler’s Eighth, Beethoven’s Ninth and Shostakovich’s Fourteenth symphonies. Kuznetsov can be heard on recordings of Betrothal in a Monastery and Boris Godunov on the Philips label.
Pianist Yuri Serov graduated from the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in 1991 and completed his postgraduate studies
in 1993 (with Prof. R. Lebedev, piano, Prof. T. Fidler, chamber ensemble, and Prof. H. Serova, piano accompaniment). He has also studied
with Hartmut Hoell in Salzburg and Weimar.
As a soloist, a member of a piano duo and an accompanist, Yuri
Serov has toured many cities in Russia, Latvia, Finland, Norway,
Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, Austria, Switzerland,
Brazil, and the United States. He has performed with the Philharmonic Orchestras of St. Petersburg, Saratov, Samara (Russia), Odense
(Denmark) and several others. He has recorded several major programs for TV and radio in Russia, Norway and Belgium, featuring
music by Hugo Wolf, Schubert, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich,
and others. Serov has recorded over 20 CDs for a number of labels in
Russia, Belgium, Japan and the US, and is the author of many articles and essays on music. At present, he teaches chamber music at
the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
S H O S TA K OV I C H C O M P L E T E S O N G S O N D E L O S
Shostakovich Complete Songs
Volume One • Vocal Cycles of
the Fifties, 1950-1956 • DE 3304
Shostakovich Complete Songs
Volume Two • The Last Years,
1965-1974 • DE 3307
Shostakovich Complete Songs
Volume Three • Early Works,
1922-1942 • DE 3309
Shostakovich Complete Songs
Volume Four • Unknown
Shostakovich - Motion Pictures,
Satires Anti-Formalistic Raree
Show, 1932-1968 • DE 3313
Shostakovich Complete Songs
Volume Five • Famous Vocal Cycles, 1948-1974• DE 3317