Mikhail Ivanovich Delos International Celebrates The Glinka Bicentenary Delos is excited to introduce this premiere installment of The Complete Songs and Romances of Mikhail Glinka. Joining our critically acclaimed Shostakovich and Prokofiev Song Cycles, Delos offers this extraordinary volume just in-time for the composer?s 200th Birthday Celebration. With songs set to the poetry of Pushkin and Goethe (to name but a few), this important release brings the passion and pathos which infuse all of Glinka?s compositions. Born near Smolensk in 1804, and best-known for his operas Life for the Czar and Ruslan and Lyudmila, Glinka?s prodigious talents were well regarded in the European musical capitals of his day. In St. Petersburg his achievements in vocal composition were universally recognized and the mix of songs, monologues and romances that inspire this significant recording make this release perfect for classical connoisseurs and casual classical consumers alike.