Kozlovsky recordings

† The dates of these recordings are unclear. Melodiya D 028063, issued in 1970, gives the recordings on the side containing Op 36 no 1 as 1945-59 and omits the pianist. The other LPs do not give a recording date. D 5976/7 was released in 1960 and D 8617/8 in 1961 but it is possible that these too are earlier recordings. Both these LPs give the pianist.

There is confusion in the two previous discographies. For Angel in Melodiya D 028063/4 both Bennett's Melodiya: a Soviet Russian L.P. discography and the BIRS discography assume Op 1a. The record cover shows it is the Pushkin not the Lermonotov setting. Bennett omits Op 36 no 2 from Melodiya D 5976. In Melodiya M10-35697/700 the BIRS discography incorrectly gives Arkhipova as the singer. I am unable to verify that the items on Melodiya D 8617/8 are correct, but the two discographies agree.

†† Not listed in the BIRS discography

‡ In English. See notes to Op 15

** Incorrectly transliterated as Zureneva in the BIRS discography, and misprinted D 19283/4 in Bennett's book

*** Spanish Romance listed in error as Op 52 no 5 rather than Op 36 no 4 in Bennett's book

Dolukhanova recordings

**** Stated to be recorded in 1958 with Svetlanova by Vista Vera, 1966-68 with Svetlanova by Russian Disc, and 1950s with Kozel by Guild. The BIRS discography lists all five Dolukhanova songs as accompanied by Berta Kozel, two of them on both the 78 and the early Melodiya LP and the other three on the LP. Three of the Melodiya recordings are on the Monitor LP, the cover of which gives Kozel for two of them and Alexander Erokhin for Op 37 no 1. However Nina Svetlanova's website lists the Russian Disc in her discography of Dolukhanova, and the Monitor LP but with herself as pianist.

I have USSR D 3238 and can assert that all the Medtner tracks on the Vista Vera, Russian Disc and Guild CDs use these recordings. Barring an unlikely error in the label, the pianist in all five songs is Berta Markova Kozel. The release dates of the Melodiya 78 and the early LP would both be 1956, the 78 being early in the sequence for that year. The Melodiya reissue (taken from Flamm's discography) would have been released in 1989.

The Vista Vera and Russian Disc CDs have four Rachmaninoff songs in common, and here again the details differ: the Russian Disc gives 1966-8 with Svetlanova and Vista Vera 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1958 with Kozel.

The Russian Disc CD includes all five Medtner songs and it is these transfers that are offered for download. Vista Vera's Dolukhanova Anthology of Russian Romances includes four of the songs in volume 2 and Op 37 no 1 in volume 3. The Guild issue is a 4-CD set that omits Op 32 no 5 and Op 37 no 1. The Guild transfers are inferior to those on Russian Disc and Vista Vera. I suspect the Guild issue may have been made from the later Melodiya LP as it has the same three songs. Russian Disc had formal contracts with the post-Soviet radio archives and probably had access to the original masters.

Zara Dolukhanova died on 4 December 2007, aged 89.