“This recording presents an orchestration of Sviridov’s song-cycle on verses by Yesenin, Russia Cast Adrift, in a remarkable arrangement made by Evgeny Stetsyuk for orchestra and Russian folk instruments. It is remarkable because it brings out all the colour inherent in the piano original – think of the ‘symphonic dimension’ of the piano accompaniments of Mussorgsky or Shostakovich – without sacrificing anything of Sviridov’s fluid style. … It is a perfect vehicle for Hvorostovsky’s voice, enabling him to exploit its power and resonance to the full, for example, in the third song, ‘Open before me, O my guardian angel’, though some of the most memorable moments are more intimate and reflective, as in the fourth, ‘Silver Path’, and the sixth, ‘Simon, Peter …’, in which the singer beautifully displays his silvery high register. … The extra track, ‘The Virgin in the City’ from another work by Sviridov, Petersburg, a Vocal Poem, is particularly moving. Both performance and recording (made at the Radio House in St Petersburg) are surely everything the composer would have wanted.” —Ivan Moody, Gramophone
See the full review on gramophone.co.uk
