Ray Conniff In Moscow (CD cover)Ray Conniff In Moscow

  1. Ray Conniff In Moscow
  2. Keep It Slow
  3. Melody
  4. The Little Prince
  5. A Song Of Gena the Crocodile
  6. The Wild Horses
  7. Moscow Windows
  8. Birch Sap
  9. A Happy Day
  10. Fleeting Moments
  11. I Will Not Come Back To You
  12. This Can Never Be Again



Russian reissueThis album was reissued in 1999 (Music Boheme CDBMR 907078 / Medodiya MEL CD 60 00453). It features a new cover (shown above) and liner notes. A new version of the CD (with the same label & catalog numbers) was recently found by Igor Karpov featuring the cover shown on the right (December 2002). For the original album covers, photos, and liner notes see Ray Conniff In Moscow.

There is a minor flaw in track 10 of the CD (both versions). There is a noise spike around 30 seconds into the track. It is easily correctable using sound edit software.

Liner notes from CD reissue:

The album which you have in your hands opens a series to be released jointly by the "Boheme Music" and the "Melodiya" Firm. It is based on the unique archive recordings made in the distant and partly forgotten time before "perestroika", when the arrival of such top level artists in the USSR was a great event and therefore echoed widely. Ray Conniff, who by that time had recorded together with his orchestra over 50 LPs with the original arrangements of well-known melodies for less than twenty years, already enjoyed world fame. His coming to Moscow and work with Soviet musicians made a great contribution to the cultural life of our country. The professionalism of our musicians confirmed the high level of performance in the Russian school. Invited to record that disc were the "Melodiya" ensemble headed by Georgy Garanian, the Moscow Chamber Choir conducted by Vladimir Minin and the "Ulybka" vocal quartet. Ray Conniff said about their joint work, "They are real professionals. I have never worked with the singers so willing to work and so selflessly committed to creative endeavors. I myself have always been a strict judge of my recordings. I am really happy with only few of my numerous discs. I hope that our joint work in Moscow will be close to the best of what I have done earlier. I will be proud to see my name with the names of wonderful Soviet musicians. The melodies of Russian and Soviet composers have been heard at our concerts more than once and have always been enthusiastically welcomed by the listeners. Therefore, I was delighted to be invited to Moscow to record a programme of the works by Soviet composers. My knowledge of Russian music helped me a lot. I have liked it since my childhood when I was learning to play piano. While arranging the works by my Soviet colleagues I tried to grasp the specific features of your songs. It will be the listeners who will judge whether I managed too do this." The programme recorded in December 1974 at the All-Union Studio of Recordings and presented on the CD includes instrumental versions of songs by Soviet composers popular at that time (except the first composition) in Ray Conniff's arrangement. - Boheme Music (BMR)

 

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