DUO
‘Silent Dialogues’ is a contemporary classical album with elements of improvisation by pianist and composer Roksana Smirnova and guitarist and composer Misha Kalinin. Completed and recorded at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia, the album brings piano and electric guitar into a chamber setting shaped by spacious forms, luminous textures, and close musical interplay. The final three tracks feature Laulasmaa String Quartet, adding a further dimension to the duo’s sound world.
Released by Global Sonics
This album is a journey through life, from its very beginning to the moment one looks back on the path traveled. It reflects the soul’s timeless voyage as it comes into this world, grows, matures, encounters challenges, and at the end reaches a place of wisdom and inner calmness.
Yet, like life itself, this story feels cyclical – an eternal rhythm of beginnings and endings. The final composition, ‘Memories,’ reminds us that all experiences - both joyful and difficult - transform into memories, carrying within them peace, acceptance, and a quiet wisdom.
Recorded at the Arvo Pärt Centre, Estonia
EN
Pianist Roksana Smirnova and guitarist Misha Kalinin have performed numerous concerts together and have been developing their work as a duo for more than ten years. The result inspires a ride through an imaginary world of landscape and story. The combination of Roksana's delicate yet playful piano playing with Misha's atmospheric soundscapes creates a unique, almost unidentifiable new ensemble sound that eludes genre.
Roksana and Misha came together from different musical backgrounds, and their scope of experience is easily heard in their artistry. Misha Kalinin takes the guitar out of its traditional place. Brimming over with ideas, he creates something remarkably unexpected. Pianist Roksana Smirnova
combines spontaneity of improvisation with a sense of form influenced by her
classical background. Their performances feature original compositions by both members of the duo.
The music brings together strongly contrasting elements: spacious impressionistic sound, improvisational interaction, dynamic
rhythmic structures and sounds dissolving in silence. Musical dialogues are configured into captivating compositions that connect deeply with listeners.
Channeling the flow of inspiration, the duo actively paints pictures in the mind.
Recorded in 2020, Udine, Italy.
Sound engineer Stefano Amerio
"Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin are releasing an album with self-composed music that goes to the core of their musical collaboration, formed by improvisation woven into different structures and experimentation with soundscapes. Pianist Roksana Smirnova draws on her classical formation in combination with improvisation, and guitarist Misha Kalinin takes his instrument out of its traditional role through his distinctive interpretation. These are performers who have found a unique, cross-genre, and creative musical dialogue"
-Roger Holdsworth
Arne Berg for NRK radio, Norway: “When I ask Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin if it's not paradoxical that the world is discovering Ukrainian culture because of the war, they answer that the paradoxical is that Ukrainians are discovering their own culture for themselves right now”.
DE
Die Pianistin Roksana Smirnova und der Gitarrist Misha Kalinin haben bereits zahlreiche Konzerte miteinander gespielt und entwickeln ihre gemeinsame Arbeit als Duo seit mehr als zehn Jahren kontinuierlich weiter. Das Ergebnis lädt zu einer Reise durch eine imaginäre Welt aus Landschaften und Geschichten ein. Die Verbindung von Roksanas feinem und zugleich spielerischem Klavierspiel mit Mishas atmosphärischen Klanglandschaften schafft einen einzigartigen, neuartigen Ensembleklang, der sich kaum eindeutig bestimmen und keinem Genre zuordnen lässt.
Roksana und Misha kommen aus unterschiedlichen musikalischen Welten, und die ganze Bandbreite ihrer Erfahrungen ist in ihrem künstlerischen Ausdruck deutlich hörbar. Misha Kalinin löst die Gitarre aus ihrer traditionellen Rolle. Voller Ideen schafft er etwas auf bemerkenswerte Weise Unerwartetes. Die Pianistin Roksana Smirnova verbindet die Spontaneität der Improvisation mit einem Formbewusstsein, das durch ihre klassische Ausbildung geprägt ist. Bei ihren Auftritten spielt das Duo Eigenkompositionen beider Mitglieder.
Die Musik vereint stark kontrastierende Elemente: weite impressionistische Klangräume, improvisatorisches Zusammenspiel, dynamische rhythmische Strukturen und Klänge, die sich in der Stille auflösen. Musikalische Dialoge verdichten sich zu fesselnden Kompositionen, die eine tiefe Verbindung zum Publikum herstellen. Dem Fluss der Inspiration folgend, zeichnet das Duo lebendige Bilder vor dem inneren Auge.