The Nightingales of Siberia. O Only Begotten Son

The Nightingales of Siberia are a lovely female chorus from Novosibirsk in Siberia. In this video, they sing Bortiansky’s setting of Yedinorodny Syne i Slove Bozhii (O Only Begotten Son and Word of God).

Ave Maria. Schubert. Sarah Brightman (with Russian icons)

Ave Maria by Schubert is one of the “old warhorses” of the repertoire. Therefore, one has to do something DIFFERENT with it. This performance is backed by icons of the Mother of God of a specific pattern, “of Vladimir”. This is a variant of the umileniye (“of Tenderness”) type, it is very popular in Russia. The first image is the classic prototype of them all, the one painted by St Andrei Rublyov the Iconographer.

Vasili Belyaev. St Mikhail and the Angelic Hosts (Spas na Krovi, St Petersburg, RF). no date (1890s-1900s)

St Mikhail and the Angelic Hosts (Vasili Belyaev, no date (1890s-1900s?))

There has been a good reaction to the postings on the mosaics of the Spas na Krovi (Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood) in St Petersburg. Here is another example. Believe me, there is much more, but, a little at a time, dear people. Click on the image to see it in its entirety. This is worth the bandwidth!

Leonid Baranov. Bust of S Zhafarova

Bust of S Zhafarova (Leonid Baranov, 1987)

A good example of a modern portrait-bust, it is a coloured plaster cast.