trysts Philharmonique: Russian Winter playlist

If you don't plan to hit up the Art Sled Rally this Saturday at Powderhorn Park, you might consider getting down with Devereux instead. The Minnesota Opera kicks off Donizetti's Roberto Devereux- a tale of lusty monarchy, trysts with Duchesses and Earls, treason and vengeance! (that's my friend Ben Johnson kissing the neck of the queen)

It's been a month jam-packed with fabulous performances from the MN Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Hopefully some of you got to make it out to one of the SPCO's Stravinsky Festival shows. My empty pockets and busy schedule kept me from going, so I consoled myself by compiling the Russian Winter playlist below. I did however, purchase tickets to MN Opera's much anticipated La Boheme in March, after months of scrimping and saving! In a future blog post, I'll explore the irony of starving-artist bohemes like myself being unable to afford the $100 tickets it takes to see an opera about starving-artist bohemes ;)

AND NOW... THE RUSSIAN WINTER PLAYLIST

There’s a kind of solidarity between the inhabitants of two frozen tundra lands. I think that’s why Minnesota winter seems the perfect season for fiery, steely-souled Russian music. Just like how in high school I had certain albums that acted as soundtracks for the different seasons- U2’s Unforgettable Fire for November, Bjork’s Vespertine in February- this Russian Winter playlist has been my fur hat- clad, Cossack-style soundtrack for the subzero months.

On the playlist, are 2 of my very favorite composers- Igor Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. I grew up dancing the ballets of these Russian masters. Stravinsky’s eery Petrushka, the story of a love triangle between a creepy clown, rag doll, and Moor doll; his mysterious, exotic Firebird; his raw, tribal Rite of Spring. Then there’s the lesser known Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov whose sultry Scheherazade tells of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. And of course I danced the classic Tchaikovskys- Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Nutcracker. I’ve also included works by the famous “Five” or Mighty Handful: the Romantic-era composers Borodin, Cui, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov, whose epic, nationalist works have become anthems of Russia.

portraits of the composers Glinka (top) and Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov (below) by Russian painter Ilya Repin.

You can listen/watch the playlist via Youtube videos by clicking the link below. If you hit “play all” it will auto play the whole thing. You can also listen to my past playlists on the Trysts Philharmonique Youtube channel. Or you can hear excerpts on this page using the player at the top of the sidebar, and enjoy some pictures of Russian stuff...

Mikhail Glinka - “Ivan Susanin”
Igor Stravinsky – “Petrushka”
Modest Mussorgsky – “The Great Gates of Kiev”
Igor Stravinsky – “Firebird”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – “The Snow Maiden”
Sergei Prokofiev – “Scythian Suite”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – “Russian Dances” (from Swan Lake)
Mily Balakirev – “Tamaras”
Sergei Rachmaninoff – “Isle of the Dead”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – “Song of India” (from Sadko)

painting by Minneapolis' own Luke Hillestad-a reference to Repin's Ivan the Terrible

the Mariinsky Theater

more Repin paintings

Russian fashion Galliano style, Chanel's matrioshka doll purse and pendant, Stravinsky, and faberge eggs

painting of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna by Ivan Makarov / John Galliano fashion inspired by the Snow Maiden opera by Rimsky-Korsakov

In my years of classical ballet training in the Russian Vaganova style, I was fortunate to be taught by several great Russian instructors, Gabriela Komleva, Alla Sizova, Luba Gulyaeva, Kaleria Fedicheva- principal dancers with the Kirov and Bolshoi ballets- whose fierce, perfectionistic coaching struck the fear of god into my arabesques and taught me the value of striving and suffering for one’s craft. I will also always remember the great Russian maestros Ilya and Tatiana, who accompanied our dancing with beautiful piano.

my Russian ballet teachers...