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SOMM Recordings

Arensky & Rachmaninoff: Romances

Romantic Nostalgic Melancholic Intimate
$20.99

Details

Composer
Anton Arensky, Sergei Rachmaninoff
Artist
Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
Format
CD
Label
SOMM Recordings
Released
Feb 20, 2026
Catalog #
SOMMCD 0716
UPC
748871071629

About

MM Recordings presents a seductive and captivating release of Russian art songs, an intriguing juxtaposition of Russian Romances for voice and piano by Anton Arensky (1861-1906) and his student Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). The recital, "performed with great charm and sympathy" (Opera Today), features two artists making their debut for SOMM: lyric coloratura soprano Anastasia Prokofieva-a rising young star in the opera world, described as "striking" by Opera Magazine-and London-based conductor, pianist, and vocal coach Sergey Rybin, an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied under SOMM recording artist Malcolm Martineau. Sergey Rybin's excellent notes, together with full texts and translations, help bring these neglected gems to light and highlight the inner connection between Arensky and Rachmaninoff. While there is no doubt that Rachmaninoff was possessed of a unique and innate musical gift, he acknowledged the profound influence of his teacher and mentor Arensky, who was his professor of harmony, counterpoint, and free composition at the Moscow Conservatory between 1885 and 1888, when Rachmaninoff was still a teenager. Arensky's writing-and Rachmaninoff's, too-is full of eminently singable melodies that are deeply connected both to bel canto and to a Russian folk aesthetic. Sergey Rybin also makes the point that a certain virtuosic flair in the piano parts of these románsy, by both the professor and the pupil, "are unmistakably the branches of the same stylistic tree." Anton Arensky studied composition with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and he was just twenty-one when he began teaching harmony and counterpoint-and later, instrumentation and free composition-at the Moscow Conservatory. While his role as a teacher may well be his most lasting contribution, he remained active as a composer of operas, symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and piano works. He also wrote fifty-seven románsy, which show his affinity for intimate, emotional expression. Included among the thirteen art songs by Arensky on this release are the Five Romances, Op. 70 from 1900, and the five-song cycle Reminiscence, Op. 71, circa 1905. Before Rachmaninoff left Russia permanently in 1917, he composed a total of eighty-three románsy for voice and piano. His gift for lush melodies, expansive emotional range, and exceptionally difficult piano works makes him one of the last great Romantic pianist-composers, and these stellar qualities are evident in his art songs. Thirteen are presented on this programme. The earliest, from his Six Songs, Op. 8 written in 1893, include Child! You are as beautiful as a flower and Dream. The Twelve Songs, Op. 21, composed in 1902, include some of his finest vocal writing, Lilacs being an exquisite example. Rachmaninoff's last compositions in the genre of románsy were the Six Songs, Op. 38 in 1916; four from this set close the recital.

Tracklist 26 tracks

  1. 1 No. 1. Schast'ye 02:04
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 1. Schast'ye
    Duration
    02:04
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  2. 2 No. 2. Osen' 02:30
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 2. Osen'
    Duration
    02:30
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  3. 3 No. 3. Kolybel'naya 02:22
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 3. Kolybel'naya
    Duration
    02:22
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  4. 4 No. 4. Nebosklon oslepitel'no-siniy 02:34
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 4. Nebosklon oslepitel'no-siniy
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  5. 5 No. 5. Ya na tebya glyazhu s ulybkoy 01:28
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 5. Ya na tebya glyazhu s ulybkoy
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  6. 6 12 Songs, Op. 14: No. 1. Ya zhdu tebya (I wait for you) 01:43
    Track
    6
    Title
    12 Songs, Op. 14: No. 1. Ya zhdu tebya (I wait for you)
    Duration
    01:43
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  7. 7 12 Songs, Op. 21: No. 5. Siren' (Lilacs) 02:08
    Track
    7
    Title
    12 Songs, Op. 21: No. 5. Siren' (Lilacs)
    Duration
    02:08
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  8. 8 No. 2. Ditja! Kak cvetok ty prekrasna (Child! You are as beautiful as a flower) 01:51
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 2. Ditja! Kak cvetok ty prekrasna (Child! You are as beautiful as a flower)
    Duration
    01:51
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  9. 9 No. 5. Son (Dream) 01:30
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 5. Son (Dream)
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  10. 10 No. 4. One otvechali (They Answered) 01:48
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 4. One otvechali (They Answered)
    Duration
    01:48
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  11. 11 No. 7. Zdes' khorosho (How fair this spot!) 02:01
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 7. Zdes' khorosho (How fair this spot!)
    Duration
    02:01
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  12. 12 5 Romances: No. 1. Poėziya (Poetry) 02:56
    Track
    12
    Title
    5 Romances: No. 1. Poėziya (Poetry)
    Duration
    02:56
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  13. 13 5 Romances, Op. 64: No. 3. Gornimi tikho letela dusha nebesami 02:32
    Track
    13
    Title
    5 Romances, Op. 64: No. 3. Gornimi tikho letela dusha nebesami
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  14. 14 6 Romances, Op. 27: No. 2. Osen' (Autumn) 02:05
    Track
    14
    Title
    6 Romances, Op. 27: No. 2. Osen' (Autumn)
    Duration
    02:05
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  15. 15 No. 1. Iz divnykh dney (Now the last day of many years) 02:19
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 1. Iz divnykh dney (Now the last day of many years)
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  16. 16 No. 2. Nad morem spal sosnovy les (We wander'd to the pine forest) 02:03
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 2. Nad morem spal sosnovy les (We wander'd to the pine forest)
    Duration
    02:03
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  17. 17 No. 3. Drug s drugom sosnï obnyalis' (The Pines Embraced One Another) 02:16
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 3. Drug s drugom sosnï obnyalis' (The Pines Embraced One Another)
    Duration
    02:16
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  18. 18 No. 4. Kak tikho vsyo! (How calm it was!) 02:21
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 4. Kak tikho vsyo! (How calm it was!)
    Duration
    02:21
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  19. 19 No. 5. I dolgo myi, sklonivshi vzor (We paused beside the pools that lie) 04:01
    Track
    19
    Title
    No. 5. I dolgo myi, sklonivshi vzor (We paused beside the pools that lie)
    Duration
    04:01
    Composer
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  20. 20 15 Songs, Op. 26: No. 12. Noch' pechal'na (Night is Mournful) 02:06
    Track
    20
    Title
    15 Songs, Op. 26: No. 12. Noch' pechal'na (Night is Mournful)
    Duration
    02:06
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  21. 21 12 Songs, Op. 21: No. 3. Sumerki (Twilight) 02:12
    Track
    21
    Title
    12 Songs, Op. 21: No. 3. Sumerki (Twilight)
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  22. 22 14 Songs, Op. 34: No. 4. Veter perelyotniy (The Migrant Wind) 03:02
    Track
    22
    Title
    14 Songs, Op. 34: No. 4. Veter perelyotniy (The Migrant Wind)
    Duration
    03:02
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  23. 23 No. 3. Margaritki (Daisies) 02:25
    Track
    23
    Title
    No. 3. Margaritki (Daisies)
    Duration
    02:25
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  24. 24 No. 4. Krisolov (The Rat-Catcher) 03:03
    Track
    24
    Title
    No. 4. Krisolov (The Rat-Catcher)
    Duration
    03:03
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  25. 25 No. 5. Son (A Dream) 03:27
    Track
    25
    Title
    No. 5. Son (A Dream)
    Duration
    03:27
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin
  26. 26 No. 6. A-u! 02:15
    Track
    26
    Title
    No. 6. A-u!
    Duration
    02:15
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Anastasia Prokofieva, Sergey Rybin