Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Kalinka
2. Partisan's Song
3. Souliko
4. Korobelniki
5. On the Road (A soldier's song)
6. My Country
7. The Red Army is the Strongest
8. Moscow Nights
9. Along Peterskaia Street
10. Smuglianka
11. Troika Gallop
12. Ah Nastassia
13. Echelon's Song
14. My Army
15. Civil War Songs
16. Bella Ciao

Disc 2:

1. National Anthem of the USSR
2. Oh Fields, My Fields
3. The Cliff
4. The Cossacks
5. In the Central Steppes
6. Gandzia
7. Cossack's Song
8. The Roads
9. Song of the Volga Boatman
10. Dark Eyes
11. Let's Go
12. The Birch Tree
13. The Road Song
14. The Samovars
15. Varchavianka
16. Slavery and Suffering

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22407 in Music
• Released on: 2002-07-01
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Customer Reviews

The Red majestic Army Choir !
.
This is the RED ARMY CHOIR, founded in 1929. For two generations, the Red Army was the most powerful army ever seen. Therefore, it is with a certain credability the choir sing "The Red Army is the strongest", or the grandiose "National Anthem of the USSR" as well as old soldier's or partisan's songs. One have not to understand russian to catch the feeling, and some of the lyrics can be found translated into english.

This is an exceptional choir. Incomparable, I'd say. Would give them 5+ anytime for performance. Recordings was made in Moscow over a number of years. All are with the entiere choir, unlike some other recordings that used a reduced troupe.

The downside:
Technical quality of some tracks doesn't make the choir full justice. Some tracks are in mono [well, mono can be excellent too] and some has been restored. And yes, some tracks suffer from distorsion, noise -or a less perfect mix.
When listening, I am sometimes transformed to an old black and white propaganda film from the war, sometimes to an auditorium where people cough and move, then to a studio-like set-up where a wonderful male voice appear in full strength out of the black silence. This is very confusing, and I can't help thinking of it -every time!

I'll re-arrange the tracks and put them on a CD-R. Then I will enjoy to the fullest!

Exceptional
A double CD of magnificant songs, full of poignant grandeur and stirring melodies. Has there ever been a more magnificent national anthem than that of the Soviet Union, recorded here in all its splendour? This is a record of a lost era and a lost ideology, and somehow it rises above the tragic reality of the Soviet Union. Evoking the glories of Red Sqaure on a frozen winter's day, it sends a shiver down your spine. Abandon your 21st century cynicism: this is a stupendous achievement in choral musicianship. Top marks and long may the Choir continue to sing.

Sing to the motherland!!
Since I heard a midi version of the Soviet National Anthem back in 2000 I've been hooked on this kind of martial Russian style music. I recently bought this CD and it is awesome.

The main song for me really is the National Anthem. No anthem, hell, NO SONG comes close to beating this opus for granduer, glory, pomp and meaning. The feeling it instills upon the listener is endearing and great. "The Cliff" is my second favourite. It alike the national anthem is wonderfully crafted and performed and too is inspirational.

The rest of the album is awesome and to a similiar ultra-high quality of performance by the ensemble and of the writing of the music itself. The CD insert says that some of the tracks were originally recorded in Mono or may be lacking in quality, but after listening to it with high quality (Gigaworks S750) speakers at quite a high volume I couldn't notice any bad patches.

And for all the people saying "I don't understand the lyrics" : you don't have to. If the Red Army Choir did one thing excellently it was getting across the message through music and performance: "The Red Army is the Strongest."

If you liked the soundtrack to "The Hunt For Red October," or martial choral music such as Laibach then I recommend this CD. Or vice versa.