Tchaikovsky: Why did I dream of you?, Op. 28 No. 3

As one of the leading interpreters of Russian music, and Benjamin Britten’s soprano of choice for some of his works, including the mighty War Requiem, it may come as a surprise to some that Galina Vishnevskaya began her professional career in 1944, singing, of all things, Viennese operettas (in Russian translation!) in the chorus of a travelling company. When the company’s leading soubrette broke her leg, Vishnevskaya graduated to lead roles, but her destiny lay elsewhere. As a girl, she had been fascinated with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and it was in the role of Tatiana that she made her operatic debut, in 1953, at the Bolshoi Theatre. Other roles followed, including Leonore in Fidelio (1954), Cherubino (!) in Le nozze di Figaro (1957), Madama Butterfly (1957) and Aida (1958). It was in the latter role that she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1962, and she added Liù (from Puccini’s Turandot) for her La Scala debut in 1964. Western critics were agog over this force of nature who had come, if not from out of nowhere, then at least from behind the Iron Curtain. They spoke of her in the same breath as Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson and other giants of the era.

In 1955, she married Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and together, they braved the Cold War tensions that continued to chill life in the Soviet Union. Rostropovich was, of course, a highly gifted pianist as well and accompanied his wife in recital on the stage and in the recording studio.

In 1961, under the supervision of Mercury Living Presence’s executive producer Wilma Cozart-Fine, they recorded material for soprano and piano key to Vishnevskaya’s life and career. Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death she called ‘one of the most important projects of [her] career’ and wrote that the performances of this song-cycle made her feel, ‘for the first time, [her] ethnic identity as a Russian singer’.

In addition to three Tchaikovsky songs recorded at these sessions, a further six were added to her discography seven years later, for Decca, these receiving their first release on CD.

Elisabeth Söderström was a born storyteller. She told stories not just in music, but also peppered her recitals on stage with tales and anecdotes. It made her a perfect interpreter for the collection of children’s songs by Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Gretchaninov she recorded with Vladimir Ashkenazy in 1977–78 which appear on CD2 of this set, the first (LP) issue greeted with enthusiasm by Gramophone reviewer W.S.M. with the words ‘the best record of song to appear in 1979’. It later went on to win the 1979 Gramophone’s Solo Vocal Award. But there was more: a selection of Tchaikovsky songs over two LPs; a substantial survey of the Rachmaninov songs (‘one of the gramophone’s crown jewels’ wrote John Steane in Gramophone) as well as the complete Sibelius songs.

Born in Stockholm on 7 May 1927 to a Russian mother and Swedish father, Söderström she was a talented recitalist, as much in demand in the concert hall as she was in the opera theatre. From 1991–96 she also directed the Drottingholm Festival Opera with much success. The two LPs of Tchaikovsky songs were issued in part by Decca on CD and this is their first complete release in this format. Overshadowed by his orchestral works, they are nonetheless absolute gems, with their piano parts of almost orchestral scope. Ashkenazy’s is, too, the disembodied voice that speaks a few of Pushkin’s lines in the early setting of Zemfira's song.

‘Söderström came to be known internationally in the late 1950s,’ wrote John Steane, ‘and over the next three decades, on until her retirement from singing in the early 1990s she never “blotted her copybook”. She neither sought nor won cheap success.’ Söderström passed away in Stockholm on 20 November 2009, aged 82, from complications from a stroke.

This release marks the launch of an Eloquence series of notable recitals of songs and opera arias by some of the great voices of Decca and Deutsche Grammophon.

‘I find this British singer’s identification with Tchaikovsky almost uncanny. Having heard countless performances … in my native Russia, I was totally overcome by Rodgers’ unaffectedness and sincerity … her intonation is faultless, her Russian excellent. A rare treat indeed’ (Vladimir Ashkenazy)

Tchaikovsky wrote over 100 romances, settings of short poems, which are touching and sincere. The melodies are diverse and original and the accompaniment is rich and often very independent. These compositions are performed here by some outstanding Russian vocalists. As well as those listed above, the recording includes performances by the tenor Lemshev.

VAI Audio is proud to present one of the most exciting new voices of our time in her CD recital debut. The young Russian mezzo-soprano Irina Mishura brings an extraordinary palette of vocal colors and emotional expression to this program of songs by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich. Included is the premiere recording of Shostakovich’s hauntingly beautiful and emotionally searing song cycle Six Poems of Marina Tsvetayeva, op. 143, in its original scoring for voice and piano. Lawrence B. Johnson of the Detroit News has written of Mishura, "Her glorious sound [is] fluid and . . . solidly focussed over a stunning range. . . . [She] displayed not just the vocal prowess but also the intelligence that distinguishes great singers."The rising young Russian conductor Valéry Ryvkin accompanies at the piano. Booklet includes complete Russian texts (in transliteration) and English translations.