Is it something in the water in Ukraine?

[Chris Newman]

I have only caught a few bits of Cardiff Singer of the World (visiting London and neglecting FoR3...sorry) but to be honest most of the great voices seem to be coming from Eastern Europe. When I began to love the human singing voice I thought the old Soviet Union produced very wobbly voices, especially the women. What has happened? Most of the finalists are Ukrainian. Bang on!! They deserve it!! But what has gone wrong in Britain?

[Pianorak]

Don't know about the water in Ukraine as a whole, but Odessa's water does seem to have a secret ingredient.

Odessa produced one of the founders of the Soviet violin school, Pyotr Stolyarsky. It has also produced a famous composer Oscar Borisovich Feltsman and a galaxy of stellar musicians, including the violinists Nathan Milstein, Yuri Vodovoz, David Oistrakh and Igor Oistrakh, Boris Goldstein, Zakhar Bron, and pianists Sviatoslav Richter, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Vladimir de Pachmann, Shura Cherkassky, Emil Gilels, Maria Grinberg, Simon Barere, Leo Podolsky and Yakov Zak. (Note that Richter studied in Odessa but wasn't born there.)
[Wikipedia]

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Don't know about the water in Ukraine as a whole, but Odessa's water does seem to have a secret ingredient.

I don't like to pour polluted cold water on this, but the Ukraine water now probably contains less desirable ingredients, though Odessa may be far enough away from Chernobyl to continue to produce the finest musicians.

[mercia]

perhaps it's not the water but the varenyky or holubtsy

(I can't comment on the standard of available British talent)

[Budapest]

It's called the 'Chernobyl scar', when the thyroid gland has to be removed from the throat because of cancer. At the time of writing, at least 20,000 people in the Ukraine have had the Chernobyl scar. There are no accurate records as to how many of them are still alive.

I know, I'm a cheery soul, and I often wonder what planet many people are on. Here's something many people might find unsettling...

[gurnemanz]

Ida Haendel was born in Chelm .... near Ukraine.