Sergei Alexashkin recital

Part I

Georgy Sviridov. Songs to poems by Robert Burns
1. Autumn
2. The Soldier's Return
3. John Anderson
4. Robin
5. Hielan' Laddie
6. Findlay
7. Gane Is the Day, and Mirk's the Night
8. Farewell
9. Honest Poverty

Part II

Romances by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
1. Sleza drozhit (text by Alexei Tolstoi)
2. Na son gryadushchy (text by Nikolai Ogaryov)
3. Reconcilliation (text by Nikolai Shcherbina)
4. Blagoslavlyayu vas, lesa (text by Alexei Tolstoi)
5. Don Juan's Serenade (text by Alexei Tolstoi)

Romances by Sergei Rakhmaninov
1. V molchani nochi tainoi (text by Afanasy Fet)
2. Kak mne bolno... (text by Glafira Galina)
3. Vchera my vstretilis (text by Yakov Polonsky)
4. Sudba (text by Alexei Apukhtin)

Aleko's cavatina from Sergei Rakhmaninov's opera Aleko

Piano - Anatoly Kuznetsov

People's Artist of Russia and Mariinsky Theatre bass, Sergei Alexashkin magnificently succeeds in combining his dazzling vocal gifts and his tremendous acting abilities. The singer's repertoire includes many roles from Russian and European operas, which he never fails to perform with unusual conviction and immense emotional intensity. His versatility on stage is incredibly great - from the comic Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni to the charismatically tragic figures of Tsar Boris Godunov in Musorgsky's opera of the same name and Ivan Susanin in Glinka's A Life for the Tsar. It was for these two key roles in the Russian opera repertoire that Sergei Alexashkin is a double recipient of St Petersburg's highest theatre prize the Golden Sofit (2002 and 2004). In addition to opera, Sergei Alexashkin also performs to great acclaim in cantata and oratorio works. The singer is famed for his wonderful interpretations of the bass roles in Shostakovich's Thirteenth and Fourteenth Symphonies, which he has performed several times and recorded on CD with outstanding conductors Sir Georg Solti and Eliahu Inbal. Together with the Mariinsky Opera Company under Valery Gergiev, Sergei Alexashkin has frequently toured all over the world, appearing at all the major opera houses. The singer also takes part in the largest and most prestigious international music festivals. The Russian and foreign press comments that Sergei Alexashkin has attracted never fail to praise his singing and acting to the utmost. Audiences are invariably moved by this singer, with his brilliant vocal technique, true nobleness and refined intellect.