A photo of Alexander, Sergey, Igor and Boris, the four very manly-looking Russian men, dressed in matching black, shiny Russian dress shirts, who form the Konevets quartet graces the back page of the liner notes for 'Russian Festival 2008.' On the cover is an illustration of a beautiful Russian snow princess. Inside is the two page songlist, with brief descriptions of what the songs are about, for instance, 'Through the endless plain:' A young recruit, far away from home and his beloved, sings of his hard fate. Soldiers in the Tsar's army served for 25 years. Some other favorites are the Russian Naval hymn from 1905, 'The Cruiser Varyag,' 'The young girl walked in the furrows,' the Christmas tunes 'Carol of the Bells' and 'The night is silent over Palestine;' 'Ballad of Prince Oleg,' the cossack's song 'It's good, brothers, to be alive!,' 'Snowstorm,' the brigands' campfire song 'Rise o red sun,' 'Through the unknown Taiga,' the comic song 'Tula, my home' and the folk song 'Evening bells.' Wonderful deep-voiced harmonies and deeply-felt emotions from this powerful, veteran Russian quartet!

For some years now, the all-male Konevets Quartet has given summer concerts at the New Valamo monastery of Heinavesi. This is a live recording of 27 songs, sung in the wonderful acoustics of the monastery. Favorites include 'The Sicheron of the the Litiia for the Transfiguration of Christ,' the soaring 'Our Father,' the plaintive 'The Good Thief,' 'Hail Mary, Mother of God,' 'The Angel Cried unto Thee,' the chant 'The Gates of Repentence,' 'Now the Powers of Heaven,' 'We Hymn Thee,' 'Praise the Lord from the Heavens,' 'O my Soul' and 'Valaam, the Wondrous Island.' These are all powerful, all a cappella, richly harmonic, deeply-felt songs, sung by this veteran Russian folk quartet. Settle back and enjoy!

Music Conservatoire in July 1992. The Quartet takes its name from the Konevets Island and Monastery, some 160 kilometers northeast of St. Petersburg, on Lake Ladoga. It was there, over 600 years ago, that St. Arseny Konevsky founded a cloister in the honour of the birth of Mary, Mother of God. The repertoire on this, their sixth recording is comprised of Russian folk songs based on ballads, dances and regimental songs and marches of the Tsarist armies, and from the old military academies, forbidden during Communist times. If you have ever been moved by the glorious, robust singing of the Russian peoples, this is a chance to experience the same music polished to perfection by a concert trained quartet. Wonderful!

Recorded at the monastery of Konovets, this CD is a compilation of some of the best Russian sacred music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As the first recording of spiritual music in the history of the monastery, this CD allows the listener to enjoy the unique acoustics of the church. The album begins and ends with the ringing of the church bells. There is some glorious singing from this wonderful quartet. They begin with the well known 'O come let us worship' from Rachmaninov's Vespers. The remainder of the recording is comprised of pieces by less well known composers, but includes many works by Chesnokov. The Konovets Quartet presents a fascinating program.