Memory of the Heart (Live)

Andrei Petrenko directs the Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Choir in Memory of the Heart (Live), a program of famous folk melodies that draw on ancient traditions from the countries that used to be Soviet republics. The songs are performed in their original languages: Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Tatar, Latvian, Estonian and Armenian. Although these ethnic groups differ in their musical language, they converge in their desire to express themselves with the most natural of instruments – the human voice. This idea is echoed by the Russian playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, who declared, "Song is the soul of people". This diverse compilation of songs is testament to the quality inherent in the Russian mentality that Dostoyevsky referred to as ‘all-world responsiveness’. Each song on this album has its own place, and each one is special to both the singers and the listeners. The songs all deal with universal themes: the vicissitudes of fate; images of nature, such as the vast Russian steppes or a Georgian lake reflecting heavenly light; and love in all its forms, whether mutual or unrequited, lived for in dreams or realized in a joyful wedding.

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Andrei Petrenko, Direction Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Choir