Album Notes

This disc includes final ten songs from Alexander Feht's Arion: Pushkin Songs cycle, comprising the second part of the cycle. These songs were recorded during several sessions in Kondrashin Studio, Moscow, in 2007 and 2008.

For more information, original Russian lyrics and translations, concert videos, etc., visit http://www.feht.com

ALEXANDER FEHT (composer)
Alexander Feht was born in 1961 near Siberian city of Novosibirsk in Russia. He received formal musical education (piano, violin, musical theory and composition) but considers himself mostly self-taught. In 1987 he emigrated with his wife and son to the United States as a political refugee. He currently earns his living as a translator, and writes Russian poetry and music in Colorado Rocky Mountains. So far, he has written more than 100 art songs inspired by Russian, English, American, French, Italian, and German classical poetry, a one-act opera (The City of the Plague), three string quartets, four piano and violin sonatas, and several other works for chamber ensembles.

NIKOLAY DOROZHKIN (tenor)
Nikolay Dorozhkin was born in Moscow, and started his musical career as a soloist in Children's Choir of The Bolshoi Theater. He graduated from the Gnessin's College in Moscow as a musical theater actor, studied in the Moscow Conservatory, and later was privately coached by Claude Thiolas and at the Conservatory Castelfranco Veneto in Italy. In 1998 he participated in Arrigo Pola's Master Class in Modena. Nikolay won prizes at the International Vocal Competition in Italy and at the 2nd International Singing Competition in Budapest. Since 1998 he is a principal singer with the Moscow Helicon Opera, where he performs all leading tenor parts. In 2002 he made his debut with the Estonian National Opera as Don Jose. Previous CD recordings: Orfeo ed Euridice by J. Haydn, conductor R. Bonynge (Finland); Cendrillion by Nicolo Isouard, conductor R. Bonynge (Moscow); Demon by Alexander Feht (Kondrashin Studio, Moscow).

SERGEY CHECHYOTKO (piano)
Sergey Chechyotko was born in Saratov region of Russian Federation. He graduated from Yoshkar-Ola musical college and from Kazan State Conservatory. Later, he attended post-graduate classes in the Moscow State Conservatory and in the Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland. In 2004 he entered Gnessin's College in Moscow. Sergey is a laureate of two All-Russian Young Musicians' Competitions (Yoshkar-Ola, 1993; Kazan, 1994), of the Yesenin Composers' Competition (Moscow, 2005), and of the 3rd Shishakov Harp Competition. He is a member of the Original Authors' & Composers' Association (SACEM, France), and currently cooperates with the Robert Martin Publishing House (France).