Two Romances on Verses by M. Lermontov
Opus 84
1950 year
premiere:
02-October-1984
Duisberg, Germany, International Shostakovich Festival radio concert. Irina Bogacheva (mezzo-soprano) and Igor Lebedev (piano).
first publication:
1982. D. Shostakovich, Collected Works, Vol. 32, Moscow.
manuscripts:
Hand-written score in the Russian State Archive for Literature and Art (Stack 2048, Inv. 3, Item 10): drafts (Stack 2048, Inv. 1, Item 52).
Two Romances on Verses by Mikhail Lermontov
For Voice and Piano, op. 84
Two Romances on Verses by Mikhail Lermontov, Op. 84, was written in the summer of 1950. There is a date, 25.VI.1950, on the last page of the draft of the romance ‘Ballad’. The fair author’s manuscript of the romance is also dated ‘26 June 1950, Komarovo’. The author’s manuscripts of the second romance are not dated. The draft of ‘Morning in the Caucasus’ was written immediately after the draft of ‘Ballad’, on the same sheet of 30-line score paper. It was evidently composed immediately after the first.
Two Romances on Verses by Mikhail Lermontov was not performed or published during the composer’s life time, nor is it mentioned in any of his correspondence that has been published to date.
The premiere of the romances was held on 2 October 1984 in Duisburg (Germany) in the programme of a radio concert at the International Shostakovich Festival. They were performed by Irina Bogacheva (mezzo-soprano) and Igor Lebedev (piano).
A CD recording was first put out by the DELOS Company (DE 3304) in 2002 performed by Mikhail Lukonin (baritone) and Yuri Serov (piano).