A while ago, I was writing my monthly listings for the North America edition of Gramophone when, in working on a piece about the Minnesota Orchestra’s Composer Institute, I discovered Polina Nazaykinskaya thanks to works posted on WQXR and the University of Texas Composition Department. Polina’s the kind of person you simultaneously love and hate; her command of the orchestral form is disarming and reminiscent of the likes of Shostakovich, Glazunov and Korngold. She’s also a zygote. As such, her youthful ardor and honesty shows, but it’s matched by a probing maturity that the 26-year-olds playing teenagers on TV could only dream of achieving. She’s unabashed with a lot to say, the tools to say it and the intelligence not to say it all at once. It’s hard not to envy her for that. Admittedly, I’m a Russophile and a sucker for a wintry soul, but in a time like this where snow falls on days that end in “y,” I’ll happily take some Polina with my mulled wine and new translation of Doctor Zhivago. More like this, please.
Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady
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Wow – thanks for sharing this find. I’m relishing both pieces, but Ophelia’s Song especially. (How IS the new translation of Dr. Zhivago, by the way?)
Equally stunning to Nazaykinskaya’s works. Loved their last translation of War & Peace. So profoundly fluid and natural.
You need to look up the word zygote in a dictionary.
Calling a mature adult a zygote is not only a error in judgment, but also shows lack of of knowledge of basic biology.
hy·per·bo·le
noun \hī-ˈpər-bə-(ˌ)lē\
Definition of HYPERBOLE
: extravagant exaggeration (as “mile-high ice-cream cones”)
(Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hyperbole)
It’s more like denigration, than hyperbole, in my humble opinion.
Less is more.
Olivia! I am glad you liked my music:)) Thanks for this post!
I`d like to show you a different recording of my “Winter Bells”. This particular one was made in Russia ( by Russian National Orchestra) in kind of a rush, so I have a better recording ( from the premiere performance on Dec. 11 2009 by the Yale Philharmonia) let me know if you wanna hear it!;) ( it is ssoooo much better than this one!)
Also, the Ophelia`s Song comes with another one- “The Image”. I am so lazy to post my music on the web space, so it`s my fault. I think I posted this one only to show people from Los Angeles`s craiglist that I can write “sweet” music for their films.
The words from this particular Ophelia`s song are by Alexander Blok, and they are amazing. The story is famous but his setting of it is just stunning. Let me know if you want to get the translation of it.
Anyway! Nice to meet you, Olivia!
Winter night, hot earl great tea and ARVO PART`s Sanctus- this is my favorite scene:))
P