In the brilliant constellation of singers whose art made the glory of the Bolshoi theatre between the 20s and 40s, a place of prominence is unquestionably occupied by Valeria Barsova. A magnificent voice, striking talent and supreme devotion to opera have made Barsova's name synonymous with perfection. The singer spent her childhood in Astrakhan, a city renowned in the early twentieth century for its rich musical traditions. She learned to play piano at a local music school, headed at the time by the prominent Estonian composer and teacher Arthur Kapp. At the same time the budding singer mastered the fundamentals of vocal art in which her teacher of many years was her sister Maria Vladimirova, a gifted instructor, who later became professor of the Moscow Conservatoire. It was here that Valeria Barsova completed her education, first as a pianist and then as a singer (in 1919) — in the class of famous Umberto Masetti. Masetti taught many outstanding Russian singers, including Antonina Nezhdanova, who was for Barsova the ideal of opera singer. Valeria Barsova began her professional career while still a student when she appeared in a cabaret show of the Bat theatre. Here she was immediately noticed by Sergei Zimin, a founder of a private Moscow opera, who offered to give her a trial in his theatre. In the spring of 1917 the singer made her debut as Gilda in Verdi's "Rigoletto". Joining the theatre studio of the new Art Enlightenment Union of Workers's Organisations immediately after the revolution of 1917, Barsova appeared in a number of leading classic opera parts. An event of moment in those years was her meeting with Feodor Chaliapin. In the summer of 1919 at the Hermitage theatre Barsova substituted for Nezhdanova, who was ill, as Rosina in the "Barber of Seville" where Chaliapin appeared as Don Basilio. The first few years after the revolution were unforgettable. New audience, concert appearances at political meetings and before soldiers leaving for the front — everything was fresh, novel and interesting, giving a sense of importance. The invitation to join the Bolshoi company (1920) was a landmark. Along with other talented young singers Barsova attended the studio at the theatre, headed by Stanislavsky. The singer always remembered with gratitude the lessons of the great actor and director, an unsurpassed teacher of true-to-life acting.

Vladimir Nemirovich-Darichenko was also instrumental in the artistic blossoming of Barsova when he invited her to his music studio to sing Clarette in Lecocq's "La fille de madame Angot", a part she subsequently appeared in more than a hundred times. Barsova came to the Bolshoi with considerable stage experience which soon helped her to become one of the leading soloists. The singer's repertoire is enormous, but still the palm goes to Russian opera. Barsova is known as an unrivalled performer of such "fairy-tale" parts in Rimsky-Korsakov's operas as the Snow-Maiden, Volkhova, the Queen Swan and the Queen of Shemakha. One of the pinnacles of her achievement was Marfa in "Tsar's Bride". Her Vioietta, Cho-Cho-San, Manon, Gilda and Rosina from Western European opera classics also bear the hallmark of impeccable artistry and creative inspiration. But the acme of her skill were the parts of Ludmila and Antonida in Glinka's operas in which the singer appeared in the late 30s. As Ludmila, Barsova combined the most typical traits of both Pushkin's and Glinka's heroines, the vitality and coyness of the former and the verifiably Russian spirituality of the latter. During the Great Patriotic War Barsova often appeared before soldiers' audience, many times in military hospitals. Her last appearance on the Bolshoi stage was on April 16, 1947 when she sang the part of Marfa in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Tsar's Bride".
Her retirement from the Bolshoi did not put an end to her artistic career, however. She wholly devoted herself to chamber singing which had always occupied an important place in her life. Barsova's concert selections always bore the imprint of originality, taste and perfection of form. Her chamber repertoire was truly inexhaustible — from classics operatic arias to rarely performed works by the old masters, and from popular Russian romances to songs of the peoples of the world. Contemporary composers also featured prominently in her concert programs. Barsova was a notable public figure. A deputy to the RSFSR Supreme Soviet and a Moscow City council, she held important posts in the Central House of Workers of the Arts, the Bolshoi opera studio, the Presidium of the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations and was on the juries of many competitions and contests. Valeria Barsova was a Professor of the Moscow Conservatoire, where she taught beginning with 1950. She was a People's Artists of the USSR and a State Prize-winner.

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CD Length and Format:

CD 1 72.53 minutes
CD 2 72.43 minutes

The CDs are in MP3 Format (320 kbps), with Cue Sheets.