It may well come as a surprise to many people that Shostakovich wrote more works for the human voice than for any other instrument. This CD (the first in a series of five) presents the vocal cycles with piano accompaniment from the years 1950 - 1956. The songs are sung, in Russian, variously by soprano, mezzo, bass and baritone, all accompanied by Yuri Serov. The booklet contains lyrics in Russian and English, and splendid notes by Serov. The sound is excellent; and for all 71 minutes I was captivated by Shostakovich's music.