Russian musicians playing Irish music for Russian set-dancers is not something you see every day! We wanted to tell you our story, so the album features a painstakingly-designed 40-page illustrated booklet, revealing how Polca an Rí came to be, where the journey of playing for the sets has brought us, how we got all these wonderful tunes, and what Irish-Russian musical connections we've forged along the way. It comes in hard cover with fantastical art by Sophie Petkevich.
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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Anton Zille – fiddle & tinwhistle
Evgeny Kazenkov – bouzouki & mandolin
Sophie Petkevich – accordions & keyboards
Alexander Shimchyuk – flute & uilleann pipes
Tatyana Vasilyeva – flute
Katerina Moskovskova – harp
Igor Yudintsev – accordion
Guest musicians:
Pavel Galushko – bouzouki
Philipp Barsky – harp
Polca an Rí began in 2011 as a trio playing traditional music for the sets, and has since spread across several Russian cities, attracting musicians who like playing for social dances and have a thing for the musical wonders of Sliabh Luachra, West Kerry and Clare. We ended up having different line-ups for the Russian set-dancing capitals of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Kirov with fiddle, bouzouki and flute or button-box trios at their core.
What unites us all is an informal and passionate approach to the music, where the spirit, the humour and the good fun of it all shines through at live gigs. We like to enjoy the moment and share this enjoyment with the dancers – a special relationship born in our own little world of “Sliabh Moscow” that will hopefully be there for many years to come.
Our friend Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich coined “Sliabh Moscow” amid our blissful polka shenanigans in Russia in 2010. There’s something else he’ll have to be quoted on: “The Beauty of Imperfection!” Polca an Rí has always been one big musical journey, but this album is even more so. It was recorded on a now-or-never drive in August-September 2017 after sound engineer Philipp Barsky, who we’d had the pleasure of recording us live, said he had only weeks left of renting his large studio (in a Soviet-era factory building... once a radar testing centre!) Tatyana was also about to get very busy with her soon-to-be born daughter. And so Tony set in motion the NIIDAR factory sessions, with band members and friends coming from as far away as St. Petersburg and Kirov to play their parts. There’s not a hope this plan could have churned out something perfect – but it’s what the band has always been, a collection of talents and visions brought together spontaneously from all over the place, and united by a common love for the live, spirited traditional dance music. The roads may be bumpy and the distances vast – but we’re delighted to bring you along on this journey through the musical landscape of “Russian Ireland!”
credits
released July 4, 2021
Polca an Rí – From Sliabh Moscó to Cathair Pheadair (2021)
Produced by Anton Zille
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Philipp Barsky of Tangerine Studio in:
* Vermel club, Moscow, February 2016
* ‘True Sound Records’ studio, NIIDAR, Moscow, August–September 2017. Special thanks to Alexander Chikanov, who built that space.
* Tangerine Studio, Ra’anana, 2021
Cover art by Sophie Petkevich
Design & sleeve notes by Anton Zille
Proofreading by Shane MacCabe
We’d like to thank:
* our loved ones for tolerating our music-making over the past 10 years
* our set-dancing partners, especially the heads of Moscow dance schools Alexey Popov (Folkdance ru) and Mikhail Didkovsky (MKINT) who’ve organised the vast majority of céilís with Polca an Rí
* our audience, largely made up of set-dancing and sean-nós dance enthusiasts – who’ve been the best audience ever!
* our friends at Irish dance schools across Russia – in Kirov, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg and Vologda – for organising our little céilí tours
* our friends in Ireland who so generously share with us the traditional music lore and who’ve given us endless lifts to all sorts of places!
* Yuri Andreichuk for helping us with the foreword as Gaeilge, and for having been Russia’s Irish culture trailblazer for so many years
* massive thanks to Rosaline Lardner for making our Irish text more poetic!
A beautiful duo of our flute player Tatyana Vasilyeva and a long-time friend of Polca an Rí, harp player Katerina Merkulova. Featuring Celtic harp, hammered dulcimer, flutes and whistles galore. Polca an Rí
Sliabh Luachra's finest - and star guests inspired by music of the area - are featured in this recording promoting a festival in Scully's, Newmarket, Co. Cork, home to a legendary 40-year-old session! Polca an Rí
Featuring some rarely-recorded Sliabh Luachra musicians, this album contains local legends that you've only seen in tune names! For more recent recordings be sure to visit sliabhluachra.bandcamp.com Polca an Rí
supported by 16 fans who also own “From Sliabh Moscó to Cathair Pheadair”
I love the whole album and it’s so carefully curated! Thank you for adding the origins of the tunes. I absolutely loved the slow air,An Raibh Tu an an gCarraig and now I’m going to have to get the Star an over the Garter! I am glad to be able to listen to music from that era. My Grandaddy was a fiddle player from Donegal and though we spent every summer there I can’t remember what he played. I’m learning to play the fiddle at the age of 60 which is the hardest thing I’ve done in my li carmelg
supported by 15 fans who also own “From Sliabh Moscó to Cathair Pheadair”
Masterful box playing. Has some very appealing, unusual quality to it - hard to put into words... might be the Sliabh Luachra style peeping through. musicstillspeaks
