Russian soprano Valeria Barsova (1892-1967) deserves to occupy a prominent position among pre-World War II lyric coloraturas. Her delightfully light, agile, and silvery voice- not to mention her technical facility- made her a mainstay of the Bolshoi Theater for 27 years. She was regularly engaged there starting in 1920, but Barsova's first great success had actually come the previous year: taking the place of an indisposed Antonina Nezhdanova, she appeared as Rosina opposite the Basilio of Chaliapin.

Barsova's voice remained remarkably well-preserved during her entire performing career. This recording, 'S podruzhkami po yagodu khodit'' from the prologue of Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Snegurochka" ("The Snow Maiden"), was made the year the soprano retired (she was 55), yet she sounds amazingly like a teenager! Actually, she reminds me A LOT of the Italian soprano Lina Pagliughi, and while some listeners are not impressed by the child-like timbre of either soprano, I find them well-nigh irresistible. Barsova is accompanied here by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra led by Vassiliy Nebolsin.

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