To devotees of recorded vocal art, the voice of Nina Koshetz epitomises that special quality associated with the finest Russian lyric sopranos; a warm and unaffected lower register, (almost mezzo-soprano in colour) suffused with the romantic timbre inherent in the Russian language, and coupled with a delivery tinged with a melancholy that in Koshetz case was no doubt due in part to her Jewish heritage.

The total number of Koshetz electrical recordings exceeds the length of one CD but are not quite enough to fill a second disc. We have therefore taken the opportunity to present recordings made by a contemporary artist who remained in Russia and is little known outside her homeland - Odarka Trifonieva Sprishevskaya (1885-1969). She embodies many of those excellent qualities so admired in Koshetz.