Prokofiev: Songs & Romances Classical Vocal & Song Naxos

Prokofiev: Songs & Romances

Show recording details

NX 4030

Prokofiev: Songs & Romances

Label Catalogue Number:
8.574030

Running Time: 01:05:42

Release Date: May 2020
Originally recorded in 2019

Genre:
Classical
Vocal & Song

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Reviews

"...Margarita Gritskova is a young Russian mezzo who was born and educated in St. Petersburg; she is currently a member of the Vienna State Opera. Her voice, at least for these songs, is a very bright, high mezzo, almost a soprano, with none of the darker tones often heard from mezzos. The songs from Lieutenant Kijé and from Alexander Nevsky are familiar; “Mark ye bright falcons” is known in the oratorio as “The field of the dead.” “The Chatterbox” is a delightful children’s song, delivered with spirit and panache by Gritskova. Maria Prinz is the perfect accompanist… "

James H North - Fanfare - November/December 2020

CD of the Month

"...Gritskova and her sensitive pianistic accompanist Maria Prinz are convincing at every stage. Brava!"

Gerhard Persche - Fono Forum - October 2020

"…This collection is as good as I could ask for. Saint Petersburg-born and trained Gritskova has an excellent voice and a wide range of colors and interpretive inflections. Prinz matches her with seamless (and quite difficult) piano parts. Besides The Ugly Duckling, the program includes 5 Poems of Anna Akhmatova. There are 10 other songs here, selections from Opp 23, 36, 60, 66, 68, 73, 78, and 104, with dates ranging from 1915 to 1944. Even though there is a great range of notes, dynamics, and styles here, there are also songs like the Romance, Op. 73:2, with many verses that go on forever. ‘The Field of the Dead’ from Alexander Nevsky is beautiful and powerful here."

James Harrington - American Record Guide - September/October 2020

Performance 10 Recording 10

"...Gritskova and Prokofiev are an ideal match. Her dark timbre and effortless elocution seem tailor-made for the composer’s idiom. She negotiates wide interval leaps with the utmost ease (The Chatterbox), and floats the Lieutenant Kijé excerpt’s long lines with the most ravishingly supple legato. What is more, the sheer beauty and flexibility of Gritskova’s vocalism go hand in hand with her instinct for word painting. Pianist Maria Prinz is every inch the precisionist and colorist as the singer she supports …listeners coming to this repertoire anew will find a perfect guide in Gritskova."

Jed Distler - ClassicsToday.com - August 2020

Recommended

“Further evidence of the versatility of Margarita Gritskova as a song interpreter.”

Goran Forsling – MusicWeb-International.com – 6 August 2020

"... Gritskova's performances are a delight ... She has a light, flexible mezzo - she's sung a fair number of Rossini roles - and displays an engaging personality, particularly in 'The Rosy Dawn', a song of mock-innocence about a shepherdess trying to pluck cherries. She releates the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale with ebullience and there's a twinkle in her eye in 'Katerina', one of the Op 104 Russian Folksongs..."

Mark Pullinger - Gramophone magazine - August 2020

Recommended

“… this Naxos disc is highly recommended for the outstanding performances of both the singer and pianist.”

Robert Cummings – MusicWeb-International.com – 16 June 2020

Pizzicato Supersonic

“… We can therefore warmly recommend these exquisite, intelligent and always immediately appealing performances. And since this part of Prokofiev’s work is underrepresented in the recording catalogues, one can consider the new CD as really important.”

Remy Franck – Pizzicato.lu – 2 June 2020

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