The romance is a special direction in music, a vocal piece composed to small lyrical verse. It originated from the song. The term “romance” appeared in Spain in the Middle Ages, originally meaning a secular song in Spanish (“Romance”). Soon it appeared in other countries, including Russia, where it was formed under the influence of romanticism in the first half of the 19th century.
A concert of Olga Kalinina, Russian romance singer from Vologda, took place in our museum on January 3. Olga is the winner of Interregional festival-contest “Classical Roses” and the finalist of the popular show of Channel One “Minute of Fame”. She executed the best pieces of Russian composers and poets in the conference hall.
After the performance, Olga Kalinina answered some questions and told a little bit about herself.
“I have been singing from childhood. I am fond of singing and I give a lot of time to it. I studied in the Vologda Music College during four years. Then I got higher education which was not connected with music at all. But I returned to the profession many years later and started to sing. I don’t like to sing anything modern and that’s why I have chosen Russian romances, very soulful and lyrical”.
Olga prepares her programs together with her accompanist Marina Belova. Their duet gives concerts all over the Vologda region.
