Track Listing

1. Somewhere Far Away (Gde-To Daleko (Pesnya O Dalekoy Rodine))
2. Dark Is the Night (Tiomnaia Noch)
3. Unexpected Waltz (Slutchaynyy Val's)
4. Where Are You, My Brothers? (Gde Zhe Vy Teper', Druz'ya-Odnopolchane)
5. On a Nameless Hill (Na Bezymiannoy Vysote)
6. Roads (Dorogi)
7. Soldiers Are Coming (Vot Soldaty Idut)
8. Cranes (Zhuravli)
9. In the Trenches (V Zemlianke)
10. Sacred Stone (Zavetnyy Kamen)
11. Katyusha (Katyusha)
12. Cossacks in Berlin (Kazaki V Berline)
13. My Moscow (Moia Moskva)
14. Road to the Front (Dorozhka Frontovaia (Pesenka Frontovogo Shofiora))
15. Hills of Manchuria [Na Sopkakh Mandzhurii]
16. Lonely Accordion (Odinokaia Garmon)
17. Last Battle (Posledniy Boi)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112810 in Music
• Released on: 2003-12-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 57 minutes

Customer Reviews

songs of courage, loneliness, patriotism
Of my nearly 20 Dmitri Hvorostovsky albums, this one is in the Top 3, which has Dmitri singing in quite a different style than what he is most famous for, as one of the great operatic singers of our era, and this CD is far from the "opera singer does crossover CD" type of recording, which can sometimes be quite awful, but sings softly and with intense passion and sincerity, his dark honey toned baritone perfect for these melodious, gorgeous songs.
Though the focus of the songs is WWII, some were written as early as 1905 ("The Hills of Manchuria"), to the wonderful "Cranes" from 1969, and "Somewhere Far Away" was the title for a TV series ("17 Moments of Spring"), about a Russian spy in Nazi Germany, that was shown in 1973.

Some songs are more sublime than others, like "Unexpected Waltz" and "On a Nameless Hill", but there isn't a single composition that isn't filled with beauty and performed to perfection. Hvorostovsky has a voice that is a gift of God, with the technique of a master, and the soul of a true artist.
He is backed brilliantly by Constantine Orbelian and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the folk group Style of Five, and the rousing sound of the Spiritual Revival Choir of Russia.
The booklet insert is excellent, with liner notes, bios, lyrics in English and transliterated Russian; the sound is good and total playing time is 57'28.