The Optina Pustyn Male Choir consists of six to nine professional musicians trained at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The choir tours and has produced five CDs to date, but they are also part of the regular monastic choir at the Optina Pustyn Monastery in St. Petersburg. Singing in the tradition of the world famous Don Cossack Chorus directed by Sergei Jaroff the choir sings Russian traditional songs including favourites such as the 'Volga Boat Men' and the 'Legend of the Twelve Robbers' and others. Information in English, German, French and Spanish, plus complete lyrics in Russian with English translations.

Listen to The Little Cuckoo in RealAudio.

The male choir of the Optina Pustyn Monastery in St. Petersburg was established in 1996 and consists of 6-9 professional singers with impressive voices. Their main goal is the cultivation of the heritage of the old Russian Church polyphony in its different styles, such as: Znamenny, Bulgarian, Greek, Byzantine chants, etc. This recording is an impressive example of orthodox chants and shows the beauty of Russia's religious songs. Information in 4 languages.