Balalaika Sisters Act: A Folk Revival From Sokolniki

Valentina Kostyukova feat. Vera Chekunova – Made in Sokolniki: Russian Balalaika Music (Antonovka Records, 2025)

This album offers a curated selection of delightful traditional Russian balalaika tunes and songs, adapted from archival ethnographic recordings. The material is arranged for balalaika and vocals.

Valentina Kostyukova, a professional balalaika player known for her stylistic range, is joined on the first three tracks by her sister, designer Vera Chekunova. The sisters, whose maiden name is Nikeshicheva, recorded the album on May 27, 2023, in Valentina’s apartment in the Sokolniki district of Moscow.

Throughout the recording, Kostyukova uses three distinct balalaika tunings: guitar (folk) tuning on tracks 2–9, 13, and 15; academic tuning on tracks 1, 10, 11, and 14; and minor tuning on track 12.

The repertoire draws from a wide range of regional sources: Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) – track 1; Sverdlovsk – track 2; Belgorod – track 3; Pskov – tracks 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11; Novgorod – track 8; Lipetsk – track 9; Ulyanovsk – tracks 12, 14; Tver – track 13; and Omsk – track 15.

Track list:

1. Couplets of Sormovo | Сормовские припевки
2. Stradaniya (Lyrical Couplets) | Страдания
3. Let Us Sing Dusya | Давай Дусю подпоём
4. Tsyganochka (Little Gipsy) | Цыганочка
5. Skobar | Скобарь
6. Pskov Tune for Singing | Псковская под песни
7. Sumetskaya 1 | Сумецкая 1
8. Russkogo | Русского
9. Matanya in Four Fingers | Матаня в четыре (пальца)
10. Novorzhevskaya | Новоржевская
11. Sumetskaya 2 | Сумецкая 2
12. Recruits’ Couplets | Припев (рекрутский)
13. The Fierce One 1 | Бешеная 1
14. Podgornaya (Under the Hill) | Подгорная
15. The Fierce One 2 | Бешеная 2

Buy Made in Sokolniki: Russian Balalaika Music.