When I was a small child my father worked the mines in Northern Ontario. To make ends meet my parents boarded out rooms to other miners. Some of them were from Eastern Block countries and were trying to make a life for themselves here in Canada. I remember one Christmas, during the gift exchange two Russian men gave as a present to my mother a head of cabbage and to all six children a nickel.

At that time the children felt jilted and my parents laughed about the head of cabbage, but they accepted it gracefully. Today I now know what a simple head of cabbage meant to them.

That special Christmas night they sang some Russian music. After some research I'm pretty sure these were two of them.

Bulat Okudzhava Molitva was a Russian Poet and song writer. (May 9, 1924 June 12, 1997). His father was wrongly executed  for being a German  spy and his mother spent eighteen years in the Gulag. His genre was something called authors song, which he help founded.

His chording is simple and blends beautifully with his singing style. He led quite an interesting life and I think his music reflects that even if it is in Russian. Some will like this, most will not.



From the Russian movie Kavkaskaya Plennitsa (Kidnapping Caucasussian Style / Prisoner of Caucasus)
Starring Aleksandr Demyanenko & Natalya Varley
:My favorite scene from the movie, a song about bears:
"The bears rub their backs against the axis of the earth, seas are sleeping beneath the ice, years go round and round"
"They are working hard, turning it, so the lovers can meet sooner"

The dancing scene at 2:00 is hilarious.



 

Thought I'd throw this in. It reminded of me when I played piano on acid, many years ago. Shit I even think she has my posture.

THE GREAT GEORGIAN PIANIST ELISSO BOLKVADZE PLAYS PROKOFIEV SONATE 7 FINAL from musicpromotions on Vimeo.

THE GREAT GEORGIAN PIANIST ELISSO BOLKVADZE PLAYS PROKOFIEV SONATE 7 FINAL from musicpromotions on Vimeo.