Strong performances of unjustly neglected songs
Steve Bryant | Seattle, WA USA | 02/24/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Kazarnovskaya's full-bodied soprano is a perfect match for these songs. Any disk full of songs risks a grinding sameness, but these artist draw out the individual character of each song. Quite satisfying, and at a bargain price. Why aren't these songs performed more often? Most American and European singers don't bother mastering the Cyrillic alphabet and sometimes perplexing diction. Add to that Cold War politics that made it acceptable to like Nutcracker but not the language of Rusky songs. It's time to put these restraints behind us and hear much more of these masterful miniatures."