Under the scepter of the Orthodox Romanov Tsars, the Russian Empire grew to encompass one sixth of the earth¿s total land area until, on the eve of the conflagration of 1914, it stretched from Finland to Alaska. Following the reforms of Tsar Peter the Great (who ruled from 1682 to 1725), a unique civilization arose in that vast landmass; best described as the amalgamation of ancient Russian traditions with cultural, administrative and technological borrowings from Western Europe, its historic achievement was nothing less than the transformation of Russia into one of the world"s great powers virtually overnight.

Nothing exemplified this new Russian civilization better than the city that arose on the Neva marshes in 1703, willed into existence by the visionary Peter the Great; the fantastic, seaward-looking northern capital located just seven degrees south of the Arctic Circle; a city noted for its vast palaces, its indoor gardens, its canals and its grand open squares: Saint Petersburg, the pastel-colored "Venice of the North" and seat of the Tsars of all the Russias until 1917.

This magnificent CD by the St. Petersburg Admiralty Navy Band (itself founded in 1703) features a collection of military marches and waltzes that would have been heard during parades and open-air concerts on the streets of Peter's imperial city during the halcyon years of the Russian Empire. Many of these selections naturally recall Russia¿s august military heritage and celebrate such illustrious commanders as Marshals Suvorov and Kutuzov, while others reaffirm the Romanov dynasty's strong ties to the reigning houses of Prussia and Austria. Still other selections, such as the waltzes "On the Hills of Manchuria" and "Waves of the Amur," reflect a uniquely Russian romanticism and almost Dostoyevskian "Weltschmerz" as they recall the Russian Empire's Herculean but ill-fated military efforts in the Far East in 1904-05. Among the other noteworthy selections presented on this CD are the "Kronstadt March," a piece dedicated to Tsar Alexander III and written by a French bandmaster on the occasion of the French Naval Squadron¿s visit to Kronstadt in 1891; and a thundering rendition of the Finale from Mikhail Glinka¿s Opera "A Life for the Tsar," featuring the theme which (as "Glory to our Russian Tsar!") served as the de facto second national anthem of Imperial Russia.

The complete contents of this superbly engineered CD include: Approved March of the Russian Navy, 1857 (Nikolaevsky) / March of the 11th Phanagoriisky Grenadier Regiment "Generalissimo Prince Suvorov" (W. A. Mozart) / Ancient March of the Jäger Regiments (Trad.) / March of the Jäger Regiments at Leipzig, 1813 (Trad.) / Old Jäger March 1813-1815 (Trad.) / Alexander March (Persius) / Prince Bagration March (Leisek) / Waltz "On the Hills of Manchuria" (Shatrov) / Tsarevich Alexander March (Leonhardt) / Waltz "Waves of the Amur" (Kuss) / Prince Kutuzov Solemn March (Leisek) / Waltz "Destiny" (Baynes) / Kolonny March (Leisek) / Waltz "Remembrance" (Joyce) / March "Saint George's Banner" (Leisek) / Waltz "Over the Waves" (Rosas) / Kronstadt March (Wettge) / Finale from the Opera "A Life for the Tsar" (Glinka). Conducted by Commander Alexei Karabanov of the Navy of the Russian Federation and recorded in Catherine the Great's own Hermitage Theater in Saint Petersburg in March 2005.

Total Time: 66:28

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