Mykola Lysenko: Complete Music for Violin & Piano

Featuring

Arthur Greene
Solomia Soroka
Mykola Lysenko
Victor Kaminsky

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Performer Biography

Solomia Soroka, the violinist on this album, has made eight solo compact discs for Naxos and Toccata Classics, six of which are world premiere recordings.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Lysenko's Ukrainian identity was a vital part of his music, and he refused to allow his opera Taras Bulba to be performed in Russian, despite it being a career-milestone opportunity.

Composer Biography

Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912) is recognized as the father of Ukrainian classical music, and his statue stands outside the Opera House in Kyiv.

Historical Context

The Ems Ukaz of 1876, signed by Tsar Alexander II, prohibited any publication, stage performance, lecture, or imported publication in the Ukrainian language.

Composer Biography

Lysenko was a pallbearer at the funeral of Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko in 1861 and later set many of Shevchenko's poems to music.

Historical Context

At Lysenko's funeral procession in Kyiv, attended by 100,000 mourners, the police prevented the singing of a popular march from his incidental music for fear of an uprising.