Listen to this for: something a little different and more modern: piano works and song

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to track down Yuriy Mynenko. For someone who has such a fabulous voice – his Megabise in Artaserse was immensely impressive – he hasn’t recorded very much at all and, although he has a website, it doesn’t seem to list any forthcoming concert dates. I eventually found this album of piano music by the Belgian composer Lodewijk Mortelmans (1868-1952), which features three songs performed by Mynenko: Hoe schoon de morgendauw, Perels and Als de ziele luistert. Huge credit for not only singing in Dutch but making it sound beautiful.

It’s just a taster of his voice, unfortunately, but its power and grandeur come through very clearly and I really hope he gets round to recording more Baroque music. I should add that the pure piano tracks, performed by Peter Vanhove, are also wonderful to listen to: fluid, sweeping and very relaxing (perfect listening for a lazy Sunday breakfast). But if anyone knows of anywhere I can find more Mynenko, I’ll be grateful.

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