Poets Without Heros

Twentieth-century Russian artists had to balance their creativity with the realities of Soviet society. Living a double life as outlaws and reluctant conformists, the poets and composers of this program wrote their own complex, multi-layered story of Russia's history in song. Including poems by Alexander Blok, Anna Akhmatova and their circle, with music by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Slonimsky, and Shostakovich. Performed by soprano Dina Kuznetsova, baritone Nicolai Janitzky, and pianist Steven Blier with Juliette Kang, violin, Thomas Kraines, cello and Kathleen Chalfant, narrator.

Prokoviev: The Room Was Filled with Sunlight; Real Tenderness; The Grey-Eyed King
Sviridov: Russia Cast Adrift
Slonimsky: A Girl Was Singing in Church
Cui: The Statue at Tsarskoye-Selo
Shostakovich: Romance-Suite on Poems by Blok
Rachmaninoff: This Little Island