It’s about the touch
℗ 2020 It’s about the touch Productions
Most personal recording
Dedicated to her daughter Mariëlle, It’s About the Touch is Irina Kulikova’s most personal and independent artistic statement. Created at a time when distance and uncertainty reshaped daily life, the album reflects a simple belief: that music has the power to bring us closer to ourselves and to one another.
Through works by Chopin, Schubert, Tárrega, Debussy, Albéniz, Barrios and Konstantin Vassiliev, the recording explores the qualities that have become central to Irina’s artistic identity: beauty, attention, stillness, and the expressive power of touch.
Producer: Norbert Kraft
Guest artist: Feliks Volozhanin, cello
Official Music Video – Frédéric Chopin
“Music moves us with the joy and the pain, the passion and the serenity that once inspired great composers. Those feelings bring us close to ourselves and close to people from all over the world.”
Irina Kulikova
Programme – It’s about the touch
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Valse No. 7, Op. 64 No. 2
Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751)
Adagio
With Feliks Volozhanin, cello
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Ave Maria (Ellen’s Gesang III, Op. 56, No. 6, D 839)
Serenade (Schwanengesang, D 957, No. 4, “Ständchen”)
With Feliks Volozhanin, cello
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Asturias (Leyenda) (Suite Española No. 1, Op. 47, No. 5)
Konstantin Vassiliev (b.1970)
Three Night Ballades
~ WORLD PREMIERE ~
1. In the Shadow of the Sunset
2. Magic Ship
3. The Queen of the Clear Night
With Feliks Volozhanin, cello
Wouter Fellendans (b.1971)/ Konstantin Vassiliev (b. 1970)
Mariëlle (Be as Beautiful as You)
~WORLD PREMIERE ~
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Clair de Lune (Suite Bergamasque, L.75, No. 3)
Agustín Barrios-Mangoré (1885-1944)
La Catedral
1. Preludio Saudade
2. Andante Religioso
3. Allegro Solemne
Erik Satie (1866-1925)
Gnossienne No.1
Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)
1. Adelita (4 Mazurkas, No. 1)
2. Lágrima
3. Capricho Árabe
4. María (Gavotte)
Album notes by Irina Kulikova
I dedicated It’s About the Touch to my daughter Mariëlle. The album was conceived during a period when many people around the world experienced uncertainty, separation and loss. It strengthened my belief that music can help us find stillness, listen more attentively, and feel connected to one another.
The title refers to something that has become central to my work as a performer and teacher. Of course, touch is part of guitar playing. Every sound begins with the contact between the fingers and the strings. But for me, it also means something more. It’s about the way music moves us with the joy and the pain, the passion and the serenity that once inspired great composers. Those feelings bring us close to ourselves and close to people from all over the world.
The programme brings together music that has been close to my heart for many years. Works by Chopin, Debussy, Satie, Albéniz, Tárrega and Barrios each speak in their own voice, yet they share a sense of intimacy and humanity that continues to inspire me. The album also includes collaborations with cellist Feliks Volozhanin, whose warm and expressive playing adds another dimension to this musical journey.
A special place in the programme is reserved for Three Night Ballades by Konstantin Vassiliev, written for Feliks and me. I am also grateful to include a lullaby written by Wouter Fellendans for our daughter Mariëlle.
Although the music on this recording comes from different periods and traditions, I feel that all these works invite us to slow down and listen more deeply. Whether in the quiet atmosphere of Debussy’s Clair de lune, the elegance of Chopin’s Waltz in C-sharp minor, or the dreamlike world of Vassiliev’s Magic Ship, I hope the listener will find moments of beauty, imagination and peace.
Credits
Recorded on March 9th and 10th, 2020, in the Fellowship Community Church, Englewood, Florida, USA
Session producer, engineering and digital editing: Norbert Kraft
Irina Kulikova plays a Simon Marty guitar with a spruce top (2019). She uses Cantiga premium high-tension strings by Savarez.
Feliks Volozhanin plays a Franz Sandner cello
Photography Irina Kulikova: Yana Feldman, St. Petersburg, Russia
Cover and booklet design: Mark Counts
Video: Daan Alkema
Editions:
Chopin, Albinoni, Schubert: it’s about the touch productions
Schubert: Chanterelle
Albéniz: Muzika
Vassiliev: Les Productions d’Oz
Fellendans/ Vassiliev: it’s about the touch productions
Debussy: Gitarre und Laute
Barrios: Zen-On
Satie: Salabert
Tárrega: Chanterelle
Irina dedicates Clair de Lune by C. Debussy to Feliks’ father, Boris Aleksandrovich Volozhanin, chess coach and poet (1939-2016).
She dedicates Capricho Árabe by F. Tárrega to Mark Counts, who made her dream come true with the beautiful design for the album booklet.
Released by It’s about the touch Productions, an independent label founded by Irina Kulikova.
