a Slavic Heart

In her New York orchestral debut with conductor Philippe Entremont, Anna Petrova was praised for her 'ultra-smooth playing style' [New York Fine Arts Examiner].

Ses premiers pas de soliste sous la baguette de Philippe Entremont à New York, suivis d’un enregistrement chez Naxos des Noces de Stravinski dirigé par JoAnn Falletta avaient mis en alerte la presse musicale internationale, notamment la BBC qui retient ses "performances lumineuses" : voici le moment venu pour la pianiste bulgare Anna Petrova de se jeter à l’eau et nous présenter son premier album en solitaire.

Soprano Natalya Romaniw and pianist Lada Valešová take us on a journey through Slavic song on this sumptuous album. Welsh-born soprano Natalya Romaniw is of Ukrainian descent, roots she explores in this recital, which is dedicated to her Ukrainian grandfather. The generous programme encompasses a wealth of music by Russian and Czech composers. Dvorák's Love Songs, Op.83, are at the heart of the album, and his idiomatic Czech style influenced Janácek, from whom we hear a selection of Moravian folk songs. Novák in turn was fascinated by Moravian folk music and was influenced by Janácek; Novák's gift for melody shines in Romaniw's interpretations of his songs. From Russia, meanwhile, we hear magical, almost operatic music from Rimsky-Korsakov, powerful passion from Tchaikovsky, and some of Rachmaninov's most exquisite songs. Natalya Romaniw is often noted for the Slavic character of her voice, a quality heard to full effect on this recording.

Soprano Natalya Romaniw and pianist Lada Valešová take us on a journey through Slavic song on this sumptuous album. Welsh-born soprano Natalya Romaniw is of Ukrainian descent, roots she explores in this recital, which is dedicated to her Ukrainian grandfather.

A Pulitzer-nominated author and one of the great public intellectuals of Slavic culture bring to life the unfamiliar myths and legends of the Slavic world.

It was in Prague and Brno, the two largest cities in what is now the Czech Republic, that Antonín Dvorák and Leo Janácek the principal representatives of the nineteenth-century Czech national school, along with Bedrich Smetana launched their respective compositional careers. While Janácek, thirteen years younger than Dvorák, saw the latter as a father figure, the two men shared the same poetic Slavic soul. Indeed, Janácek said of Dvorák: I could exchange his personality for his works; it is as if his melodies came straight from my heart. Nothing can ever break such a bond.