Episode 59

Russian Diction is back this week--Katja Sapega Klein discusses the texts to Olga's Aria from Евгений Онегин (Yevgeniy Onegin) and Tchaikovsky's "Нам звёзды кроткие сияли", the last song of his Opus 60. Our focus this time is on what happens when 2 vowels come together in Russian, the devoicing (or not!) of consonants and double soft consonant/vowel combinations. Olga's aria, "Ах, Таня, Таня! Всегда мечтаешь ты... Я не способна к грусти томной" can be found through an online libretto for Евгений Онегин, just scroll down to "page 16". If you want to check your homework after you've translated this aria :-) try Google translate--it does a pretty good job at quick translations from/to almost any language we would ever need and will even allow for alternate translations if you highlight a specific word. "Нам звёзды кроткие сияли" ("Nam zvjozdy krotkije sijali") is a text by Aleksey Pleshcheyev, a radical 19th Century Russian poet who was imprisoned and exiled. Be sure to look on the 7 Steps to Learn Music/Language Learning Tips page for this week's tips on studying foreign languages. The podcasts that I mention at the beginning of this episode are also listed on the Resources page. Please feel free to contact me with questions, comments or suggestions here, through the Facebook page, on Twitter @dictionpolice or directly at [email protected]