Well known pianist and conductor Vladimir Stoupel writes of his new album: “For me it has been a great joy to conceive and record the...

Well known pianist and conductor Vladimir Stoupel writes of his new album: “For me it has been a great joy to conceive and record the programme featured on this [release]. The idea that inspired it was twofold: on the one hand, it is made up of variation cycles (with the exception of the Rondo brillante on a theme from Bellini’s opera ‘I Capuletti ed I Montecchi’). On the other hand, the programme’s chronological order not only traces the fascinating evolution of Glinka’s composition technique, but also the manner in which his successors used what he had invented: the “Glinka-type variation” where the theme and/or structure are usually not modified, but the accompaniment is subjected to a great variety of transformations. Glinka was held in high regard as the “father of Russian music.” Many Russian composers made his variation technique their own and developed it further- for example, Tchaikovsky in the Finale of his 4th Symphony. I therefore decided to include two further works that refer to Glinka: the Paraphrase on Glinka’s Song ‘The Lark’ by Mily Balakirev, and Variations on a Theme by Glinka by Anatoly Lyadov.”