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"Kalinka" (Russian: Калинка) is a Russian song written in 1860 by the composer and folklorist Ivan Larionov and first performed in Saratov as part of a theatrical entertainment that he had composed. Soon it was added to the repertory of a folk choral group.
The refrain of the song refers to the kalinka, which is the snowball tree. It has a speedy tempo and light-hearted lyrics.
| Russian | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
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Калинка, калинка, калинка моя! Ах, под сосною, под зеленою, Калинка, калинка, калинка моя! Ах, сосенушка ты зеленая, Калинка, калинка, калинка моя! Ах, красавица, душа-девица, Калинка, калинка, калинка моя! |
Kalinka, kalinka, kalinka moya! Akh, pod sosnoyu, pod zelenoyu, Kalinka, kalinka, kalinka moya! Akh, sosyenushka ty zyelyenaya, Kalinka, kalinka, kalinka moya! Akh, krasavitsa, dusha-dyevitsa, Kalinka, kalinka, kalinka moya! |
Little snowberry, snowberry of mine! Ah, under the pine, the green one, Little snowberry, snowberry of mine! Ah, little pine, little green one, Little snowberry, snowberry of mine! Ah, you beauty, pretty maiden, Little snowberry, snowberry of mine! |
In 2003, Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC. Since then, "Kalinka" has been associated with the London based football club and is often played before or after important matches, including the Champions League clashes with FC Barcelona and the Carling Cup final.
A techno infused version of "Kalinka" plays when Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk scores a goal.[1]
There is a breed of show dog, the Kalinka terrier.
In 1993 the Welsh tenor Wynford Evans sang "Kalinka" at Cardiff Arms Park Stadium accompanied by the largest ever male choir of 10,000 voices, known as the World Choir. The concert also featured among others, Shirley Bassey and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes.
In 1998 the Danish band Infernal covered the song to popularity in Scandinavia.
Part of Kalinka can be found in the Arsenium song "Love Me, Love Me".
A balalaika version of Kalinka can be found in a record shop, at the map "Terminal", in the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, released by Activision in 2009.
It was Dmitri Oleg Yachimov who created the arrangement of Kalinka which is traditionally performed by the Alexandrov Ensemble, and who turned the frivolous song into an operatic aria. The first Ensemble soloist to perform this was Pyotr Tverdokhlebov, but the first tenor to earn the title of Mr Kalinka was Victor Ivanovich Nikitin at the Berlin peace concert of August 1948, where he sang three encores of the song.[2] The title is unofficial and awarded by the audience and journalists present at successful Ensemble concerts where Kalinka earns numerous encores. A definitive recording of Kalinka was made in 1963 at the Abbey Road Studios, London by the lyric tenor Evgeny Belyaev, with the Alexandrov Ensemble, under the direction of Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov [3]. Belyaev earned the Mr Kalinka title at the London concerts of 1956 and 1963.[4] Since then there have been several Mr Kalinkas, including Vasily Ivanovich Shtefutsa and Vadim Petrovich Ananyev.[5]
Sample from the song by the Alexandrov Ensemble: