NEAR MINT - UNSEALED - ONLY ONE AVAILABLE

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) conducted by Adriano.

The Battle Of Stalingrad (Suite, 1949)
1 A City On The Volga - The Invasion 5:16
2 Stalingrad In Flames 3:59
3 The Enemy Is Doomed 7:34
4 For Our Motherland; To The Attack! - Eternal Glory To The Heroes 6:34
5 To Victory - There Is A Cliff On The Volga 6:09

Othello (Suite, 1956)
6 Prologue And Introduction 8:42
7 Desdemona's Arioso 3:13
8 Vineyards 3:44
9 Venice (Nocturne) 2:37
10 Nocturnal Murder (Roderigo's Death) 2:31
11 Othello's Despair 2:02
12 A Fit Of Jealousy 2:04
13 Othello's Arrival 1:54
14 The Striking Of Desdemona (The Slap) 0:54
15 Othello's Farewell From The Camp 1:59
16 Finale 3:36

THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD (or "The First Front") was part one of Russian filmmaker Vladimir Petrov's two-part historical epic The Battle of Stalingrad. The hero of the piece is, of course, Josef Stalin (Alexei Dieky), who courageously (in this film at least) urges his countrymen to stand their ground as the Nazis lay siege to Stalingrad in 1941. One suspects that Petrov's positive portrayal of Stalin as a cunning, cool-headed military strategist would cause him no end of trouble during Khrushchev's de-Stalinization campaign of the 1950s. Other historical personages appearing in The First Front are generals Vasilievsky, Voronov, Rokossovsky, Yeremenko and Chukov--not to mention Roosevelt, Churchill and Hitler, all depicted according to the current Soviet party line. The film's vibrant musical score was composed by no less than Aram Khatchaturian. First Front was followed in 1950 by the second part of Petrov's Stalingrad saga, The Victors and the Vanquished.

OTHELLO - Famed Russian director Serge Bondarchuk steps before the cameras in this Soviet adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. The Russian landscape provides a surprisingly effective backdrop for this tale of love, hate and jealousy in 16th century Venice. Andrei Popov is a suitably cunning Iago, while Irina Skobtseva is an ethereally beautiful Desdemona. Filmed in 1955, this adaptation of Othello was released in the US five years later. The rather crude English-language dubbing seriously detracts from both the compelling imagery of director Serge Yutkevitch (who'd spent some twenty years seeing this project to fruition) and composer Aram Khachaturian.