Aqtöbe And Stirred: Diaspora Songs With Local Gravity

Various Artists – Made in Aktobe: Romani, German and Korean Songs from Kazakhstan (Antonovka Records, 2025)

Antonovka Records’ 2025 release Made In Aktobe: Romani, German And Korean Songs From Kazakhstan is a musical document that preserves a repertoire shaped by displacement and settlement. Sessions took place at the Aqtöbe (Kazakh: Aqtöbe; Russian: formerly Aktyubinsk) regional House of Friendship on August 10–11, 2023, a venue whose very name signals Kazakhstan’s institutionalized multiculturalism. The label captures performers as neighbors singing from within their own communal structures.

My first pass through the album drew me toward the emotive male a cappella Romani set (tracks 1–5), performed by Beja Kalmykov and Alexey Dadusenko, active members of the local ethnocultural center Desh.

Aqtöbe ranks among Kazakhstan’s most populous cities and has long functioned as a node where peoples converged and, at times, were compelled to converge. Most Germans and Koreans in this region arrived through state deportations of the 1930s and 1940s. Volga Germans from the west, Koreans from the Soviet Far East, while Romani families moved here by their own routes in broadly the same era.

The German sequence (tracks 6–17) focuses on the charming, interweaved female vocals of Irina Artygalieva and Zulfiya Rusina, both members of the choir Veilchen (“Violets”). Irina’s German heritage and Zulfiya’s Tatar background complicate any easy reading of “ethnic repertoire” as pure lineage.

The choir is led by Ravil Gafarov, himself Tatar. Gafarov composed tracks 14–16, and the ensemble includes two pieces by German friend Jörg Rettich (12 and 17).

Attention then turns to the East Asian voice and percussion Korean contributions led by Galina Azhgalieva (née Tskhe), who learned part of her repertoire from her aunt.

Track listing:

1. The Peacock Wings | Павлина крылья
   Bedja Kalmykov
   Бэджа Калмыков
2. The Pines of Smolensk | Сосны смоленские
   Bedja Kalmykov
   Бэджа Калмыков
3. The Nights Are Dark | Ратя калёна | Ночи темнеют
   Alexey Dadusenko
   Алексей Дадусенко
4. It’s Winter Outside | На дворе зима
   Bedja Kalmykov
   Бэджа Калмыков
5. Daddy | Дадоро | Папочка
   Alexey Dadusenko
   Алексей Дадусенко
6. Goodbye Good Night | Ade zur guten Nacht | До свидания, спокойной ночи
   Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
   Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
7. Marianna | Marianna | Марианна
   Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
   Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
8. You, You Are in My Heart | Du, du liegst mir im Herzen | Ты в моём сердце
   Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
   Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
9. A Rose Has Sprung Up | Es ist ein Ros entsprungen | Роза расцвела
   Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
   Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
10. Hey There, Kathreinerle | Heißa, Kathreinerle | Эй, Катерина
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
11. Down in the Valley | Drunten im Tale | В долине
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
12. We Sing a Song | Wir singen ein Lied | Мы поём песню
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
    music and lyrics: Jörg Rettich
13. A Beautiful Circle | Einen schönen Kreis | Красивый круг
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
    lyrics: H. Seidestorf
14. Lovely Springtime | Holder Frühling | Прекрасная весна
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
    music: Ravil Gafarov, lyrics: Hoffman von Fallersleben
15. By the Sea | Am Meer | У моря
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
    music: Ravil Gafarov, lyrics: Hoffman von Fallersleben
16. The Dove of Peace | Friedenstaube | Голубь мира
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
    music: Ravil Gafarov
17. The Violets | Veilchen | Фиалки
    Irina Artygalieva, Zulfiya Rusina
    Ирина Артыгалиева, Зульфия Русина
    music and lyrics: Jörg Rettich
18. The Three Guests | Соннимдел | Три гостя
    Galina Azhgalieva
    Галина Ажгалиева
19. Homesickness | Махянга | Тоска по Родине
    Galina Azhgalieva
    Галина Ажгалиева
20. The Old Man and the Old Woman | Ёнгам, нопха | Старик и старуха
    Galina Azhgalieva
    Галина Ажгалиева
21. Life in Marriage | Сидиб сари | Жизнь в замужестве
    Galina Azhgalieva
    Галина Ажгалиева
22. The Sowing Song | Сирыль хоаль хоаль пурере | Посевная
    Galina Azhgalieva
    Галина Ажгалиева

Buy Made In Aktobe: Romani, German And Korean Songs From Kazakhstan.