Rachmaninov: Sing not, O lovely one (Ne poi, krasavitsa, pri mne), Op. 4 No. 4 (Ne poy, krasavitsa)

Nicolai Gedda, the most recorded tenor in history, is an exceptionally versatile artist who has excelled in a wide variety of operatic roles as well as in the art song. With a magnificent lyric tenor voice and extraordinary range, Gedda makes the notorious top D at the end of ‘Mes amis, écoutez l’histoire’ sound positively effortless. This collection offers a wealth of repertoire that has helped to cement Gedda’s reputation as one of the greatest tenors of his generation.

Filled with beauty, passion and drama, these Russian songs and arias go straight to the heart of the nation’s 19th century musical soul. Rachmaninov’s popular Vocalise is part of a line which includes songs of love and sadness such as Tchaikovsky’s Op. 47, two of which are included here, while yearning melodies, high drama and vivid orchestral colour are to be found in the operas of all three featured composers. Montserrat Caballé has described soprano Dinara Alieva’s rare talent as ‘the gift of Heaven’.

Barbara Hendricks' voice — particularly suited to Mozart, Debussy, Fauré, and the lighter roles of Puccini and Richard Strauss — has a warm, crystalline quality that has kept her in demand on stage and in recording studios. Her performances have embraced everything from contemporary music to popular standards, including songs of Duke Ellington and several world premieres. She has been careful with her choices of repertoire, avoiding roles that would overextend her essentially lyric instrument. Aside from music, she is deeply committed to humanitarian work, with a particular concern for refugees and those in war or poverty zones. She sang a concert in Sarajevo in 1993 while the city was being shelled, in which she had to wear a bulletproof vest and helmet.

Hendricks has appeared on nearly 80 recordings spread over a variety of major labels. Her first of many recordings for EMI was in the small part of the Celestial Voice in Don Carlo in 1978. For nearly twenty years her solo recordings have been made exclusively for EMI Classics.

Few Russian composers could resist setting verses by Alexander Pushkin, and his influence on the development of Russian music was indirectly as great as his influence on literature. This collection demonstrates the compelling power of the poet, and the beauty of the music he inspired. It is performed by Joan Rodgers, herself an acknowledged master of Russian repertoire, and Malcolm Martineau.

Elena Kelessidi is one of opera’s most touching and fiery artists and the most international Greek soprano of today. Here she makes her recital debut with this heartfelt programme of songs from a country whose language is natural to her.

Born in Kazakhstan of Greek parentage, Kelessidi sprang to International attention in 1996 when she made a highly auspicious stage debut at London's Royal Opera House as Violetta in La traviata and was hailed as an important new discovery by the British musical press. She has returned to sing with the Royal Opera every year since and graced every important world opera house including Paris, the Met, Berlin and Vienna. Her signature roles apart from Violetta are Mimi in La Boheme and Liu in Turandot.

Elena’s programme runs the gamut of Russian song, from Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov, some familiar songs from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov through to some real discoveries from Cui, Darghomyzhsky and the 20th century composer Vladmir Vlasov.

Elena’s pianist is the ever-superb Malcolm Martineau, also appearing this month on ONYX in Susan Graham’s recital, with previous ONYX releases from Amanda Roocroft and Barbara Bonney and a forthcoming recital from the outstanding Austrian bass-baritone Florian Boesch.