Review: Russian Music

By Elizabeth Gregory

The other day I was browsing at the bookstore. I wandered into the CD section in search of expanding my world music collection. I lucked out and found a no-name sort of "best of Russian music" CD on clearance for $5. I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality on such a cheap CD, but even more than that much of this music was very traditional Russian dance pieces according to a friend who is from Bulgaria and knows a lot about Russian music. Some of it sounded familiar (a la Crimson Tide) but much of it was new to me and very interesting. So if you're in the mood for festive, orchestral, rich music I highly recommend some traditional Russian music. It makes good cleaning music too! Next up, I'll be looking for some Irish ballads.