Album Notes

S. Rachmaninov started workng on "Bells" (verses by E.Poe, translated into Russian by K. Balmont) in spring of 1913 in Rome where the clavier of "Bells" was completed on March 27, 1913. The score was finished in Ivankovka, Russia on July 27 of the same year. Soon after that, the first concert performance of the "Poem for orchestra, chorus and soloists" (as the composer called it) took place.
Rachmaninov conducted "Bells" at the premiere – first in St. Petersburg (November 30, 1913), then in Moscow (February 8, 1914).
"Bells" is one of the most outstanding works of vocal-symphonic music of the 20th century. It consists of four parts, as if reflecting periods of a human life: serene, hilarious green years; happy youth, bursting with love; mature years filled with fight and suffering and the tragic finale of being – death. A definite musical poetic analogue, a bell chime, accompanies theses pictures. In each part, its sound obtains different meaning and gains a new shade of color.
"Spring" Cantata, Op.20, created in 1902, is uses lyrics by N. Nekrasov's "Green Noise" for baritone, chorus and orchestra. Particularly successful are the choral episodes so typically of Rachmaninov reflecting the feeling of nature’s poetry. In some respects these episodes are related to the "Spring Waters" Romance.
The USSR People’s Artist, Lenin prize winning conductor Evgeni Svetlanov, was educated at the Gnessin Pedagogical Institute of Music, then at the Moscow Conservatory both in the class of composition (under Professor Yu. Shaporin) and conducting (under Professor A. Gauk). Svetlanov worked with the USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra, later took over the USSR Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and since 1965 he has been Chief Conductor of the USSR Symphony Orchestra.