IAIN BURNSIDE: RUSSIAN SONG
© Gerard Collett
The art of Russian song
Pianist Iain Burnside introduces his Russian Songs series at Wigmore Hall, which began in September 2018
14 The Green Room Winter 2018
Where does your interest in Russian songs come from? A few years back I was lucky enough to play for the soprano Galina Gorchakova. We did recitals all over – in Europe, America, Japan. That gave me both a wonderful grounding in the central Russian Romance repertoire and a delight in engaging with the fiery Slav temperament. Galina liked minimal rehearsal, which kept me on my toes and made every concert an adventure. Although I can’t speak Russian, I do know Polish – I studied for two years in Warsaw – and that’s made a huge difference in understanding. Just as in German Lieder the same words
and concepts keep reappearing, so in Russian song, once your ear is attuned, the vocabulary of star gazing, breast beating and soul searching quickly becomes familiar. How did your Wigmore Hall series come about? In the 2014 season I curated a number of afternoon recitals at Wigmore Hall, responding to the success of the complete Rachmaninov songs CDs on the Delphian label. The Hall’s Director, John Gilhooly, then extended a wonderful invitation to collaborate on a wider survey of Romantic Russian repertoire, keeping
