for all his famously silky tones and deep-brown vocal shading Hvorostovsky does shape the lines meaningfully, and his delivery suits these songs admirably...Not everyone needs to respond to the 'Russian soul', of course; but for those who do, this is a fascinating recital - even if it's best not listened to all in one go.

Though Dmitri Hvorostovsky revisits repertoire he recorded in his 1991 'Russian Romantics'...he has little to fear from comparisons with his more svelte-voiced younger self...his long-admired breath control is, if anything, more impressive...his baritone has a far richer palette of vocal resources to call upon...This is as fine as any currently available single-disc collection of Rachmaninov songs.

This is still a full-throated, virile baritone of great beauty, capable of dramatic declaration. It verges on the over-heated, but it's impossible to approach this 'heart-on-the-sleeve' repertoire without anything less than total commitment...Ivari Ilja tackles Rachmaninov's elaborate piano accompaniments with equal commitment.

This recording should come with the warning "too hot to handle", such is the combustible combination of Dmitri Hvorostovsky's heroic baritone with the flaming passion of intensely romantic Russian poetry...the listener is left quite drained but also lost in wonder at the beauty of the melodic line.