St Petersburg and Leningrad

Soprano Christine Brandes and pianist Stanislav Khristenko join violinist Tatiana Chulochnikova, cellist Loretta O'Sullivan and harpsichordist Andrew Appel in an exploration of the two cities on one spot and the painful but musically brilliant history of St. Petersburg-Leningrad.  The Italianate taste of Catherine the Great and her patronage of Paisiello, Galuppi and Cimarosa, the birth of a virtuoso culture for the violin, and a recognition of Russia's folk music treasures in the late 1700's will be set in dialogue with the music that emanated from the late 19th century with pre and post revolutionary piano music and songs of Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky.