"Melodiya" - famous Russian company - produced my new solo album "Masterpieces of five centuries"!
Western European and Russian music of the XVI-XXI centuries:
D. Dowland, G. Purcell, M. Mare, K.F. Abel, S. Aksenov, N. Alexandrov, F. Sor – V. Morkov, A. Mosolov, V. Shebalin, Y. Finkelstein. The absolute majority of the pieces included in the album were recorded on classical guitar for the first time!
Here's what Melodiya writes:
"The program of the album "Masterpieces of Five Centuries" is unique.
The works of the great gambists Maren Mare and Carl Friedrich Abel will be an opening for the listener. The zenith of viola da gamba's fame fell at the turn of the XVII–XVIII centuries, but the compositions remained and found a new life in classical guitar performance. For the first time, this instrument also plays the touching piece "The Stars will no longer hurt you, and your life will be filled with love and peace", written by the master of the English Baroque Henry Purcell. All arrangements for the disc were made by Evgeny Finkelstein.
The Russian guitar music included in the album covers three centuries. Variations on the theme of the folk song "Among the Valley of Rovny" by Semyon Aksenov and the play "Adieu (Melancholic Waltz)" by Nikolai Alexandrov are works of the XIX century created for the seven-string guitar popular at that time. In the twentieth century, the six-string guitar took over the hearts of Russian performers and listeners, and the unique repertoire of the XIX century was in the shadow for a long time. Thanks to the magnificent arrangements by Sergei Rudnev, these intimate, native compositions begin to sound again. Evgeny Finkelstein became one of the first performers to include these pieces in their concert programs. They were recorded on a six-string guitar for the first time.
The 20-th century is represented by plays that have not been performed for more than half a century: Alexander Mosolov's Etude (the composer's only work for guitar), "Lullaby" and "Little Waltz" by Vissarion Shebalin. The recording of these masterpieces can be considered their revival.
Three waltzes for solo guitar and toccata "June" by Yuliya Finkelstein, composer, musicologist, laureate of international competitions, wife of Eugene Finkelstein, belong to the XXI century. Exquisite, with an element of the grotesque, Waltzes became Yuliya's first work created for classical guitar. The energetic and furious toccata is part of the "Seasons" cycle. In 2020, this piece won the 1st prize at the International Guitar Composition Competition.
Evgeny Finkelstein is an outstanding Russian guitarist who performs solo concerts on the largest stages of the world: in the halls of the Moscow Conservatory, in the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Gasteig in Munich, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and many others. The musician studied with the luminaries of the Russian guitar — Camille and Alexander Frauchi, Nikita Koshkin, Alexander Gitman. His playing is distinguished by the amazing beauty of sound and great expressive power"
Link to the album "Masterpieces of five centuries" on the official site by "Melodiya" company.
Listeners can visit the Melodiya website, choose a digital platform convenient for them and listen to the album, purchasing it in the necessary digital form.
I sincerely thank
the "Melodiya" company, which immediately supported the idea and release of the new album,
Dmitry Chuvelev, a wonderful sound engineer and musician, my friend, with whom we spent a lifetime in the studio recording an album,
Sergei Rudnev, an outstanding composer and guitarist, Sergey Ivanovich opened for me a whole world of wonderful Russian guitar music of the XIX century,
Yuliya Finkelstein, a talented composer, Julia wrote great pieces, and also invited me to perform the music of Mosolov and Shebalin,
Andrey Chernyshov, a great lutenist, who gave me the idea to transcribe and perform the music of the great gambists,
Alice Kalinina, a great photographer who takes live photos,
my great Teachers: Alexander Kamillovich Frauchi, Kamill Arturovich Frauchi, Nikita Arnoldovich Koshkin, Alexander Fomich Gitman,
my dear mother, who always helped me and believed in me.