Heart on Snow

2003 studio album by Marc Almond

Heart on Snow is the twelfth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. It was released by Blue Star Music, in conjunction with XIII BIS Records, on 21 October 2003.

Background

An article by the BBC describes how Almond "went to St Petersburg to interpret traditional Russian romance songs" to make what "may have become his most ambitious album so far".^[1] Almond mostly sang cover versions of traditional Russian songs, including a number from the Russian romance canon, and collaborated with a number of Russian artists on the album, such as Alla Bayanova and Lyudmila Zykina.

The album was released as a standard jewel case CD and a limited edition CD book in a slipcase containing a 44-page book with extensive background notes to all of the songs.

The single "Gone But Not Forgotten" was released from the album in September 2003 with two tracks ("Gosudaryunia" and "Just One Chance") and the video for the title track.

Critical reception

Reviews for Heart on Snow were mixed. Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian describes Heart on Snow as "a labour of love for which it's hard to feel much affection" and as lacking "the sly humour of Soft Cell and his best solo work" yet admires the "boldness and integrity in making an album that only uses Russian musicians".^[3] The review in Uncut states that Almond keeps his versions of the material "respectful which, despite the lack of Russian wildness, makes it (Heart on Snow) all the more moving".^[2] Paul Taylor in the Manchester Evening News describes the album as "a cunning mixture of smooth, westernised productions and balalaika-plucking, raw Russky folk stylings" and states that "anyone remotely broad-minded about their music would find this a joy".^[6].

A Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda praised the interpretation of Gypsy romances ("Two Guitars", "The Glance of Your Dark Eyes"), described "Oh, My Soul" and "Luna" as "clash of decadence" and proclaimed "Gosudarynia" as the best track on the album.^[5]

Track listing

*Note – there is a discrepancy with the titles of tracks 13 and 19 between the liner notes, "Glance From Your Dark Eyes"; and the track listing, "The Glance of Your Dark Eyes".

Personnel

In addition to artists credited in the track listing:

• Marc Almond – vocals, translation adaptation
• Martin Watkins – piano, original keyboards, arrangements
• Andrei Samsonov – keyboards
• Oleg Belov – keyboards, grand piano
• Mikhail Aptekman – grand piano
• Sergey Erdenko – violin
• Georgij Osmolovskij – violin
• Aliosha Bezlepkin – guitar
• Vladimir Kudryavtsev – double bass
• Grigory Voskoboynikov – double bass
• Albert Potapkin – drums
• Garij Bagdasaryan – drums
• Oleg Sakmarov – flute
• Andrej Vikharev – percussion
• Sergej Shurakov – accordion
• Kirill Kravtsov – cello
• Alexandre Kiahidi – trumpet
• Dmitrij Kuzmin – tuba
• Karin Brown – French horn
• Viktor Bastrakov – guitar
• Maria Shurakova – mandolin
• Vladimir Miller – bass vocal
• Anatoli Sobolev – conductor
• The St Petersburg Higher Naval Engineering Choir – choir
• Gardemarin Youth Choir – choir
• Julia Khutoretskaya – choir leader

References

1. Tim Bishop (5 November 2003). "Torch singer Almond lights up Russia". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
2. "Marc Almond – Heart on Snow". Uncut. 1 December 2001. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
3. Dorian Lynskey (5 December 2011). "Marc Almond, Heart on Snow". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
4. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
5. «Русский альбом» Марка Алмонда. In Russian
6. Paul Taylor (12 August 2004). "Marc Almond – Heart on Snow". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 April 2015.