JOHN THORNE (Baritone)
EILEEN ANDJELKOVITCH (Violin) GREGORI TCHERNIAK (Balalaika)
THE WIRELESS ORCHESTRA
Conducted by JonN ANSELL
THE Gopak is a lively Russian dance with two beats in the bar, one which it is easy to think of as being danced by Russians in the open air with their winter boots on. It is full of that kind of energy which suggests strenuous exercise amid the cold of winter. The Fair of Sorotchinsk, from which this one is taken, is an opera founded on one of Gogol's Russian stories; Moussorgsky left it unfinished at his death. The dance begins with a few introductory bars, and then the lively tune is taken up by woodwinds and violins with the other strings accompanying, pizzicato. It grows to a boisterous climax and then dies away quietly without slackening speed.