Varya Panina (1872-1911) legendary Gypsy-Russian contralto, great performer of romances within last decade of 19th and early years of 20th century. Her popularity coincided with a development of the gramophone record; Varia recorded dozens of them (for conditions of that time ). Her early death increased the legend.The present recording, however, was not found on any of the contemporary re-editions and I did not dare to apply any mastering to this delicate paten of original 'acoustic' sound .Grandma Teodosia and her little daughter Lili must have heard the romance "Zabity nezhnie lobzanja" for the first time during their stay in Yalta, time sweet before and tragic after the Revolution; experience as well as the music were well remembered by them.