After Mozart

Eccentric 20th­century perspectives on the Viennese Classical master

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Alexander Raskatov, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Alfred Schnittke, Leopold Mozart, Valentin Silvestrov

Genre:

Orchestral

Label: Nonesuch

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 67

Mastering:

Stereo
DDD

Catalogue Number: 7559-79633-2

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
5 Min. aus dem Leben von W.A.M. Alexander Raskatov, Composer
Alexander Raskatov, Composer
Andrey Pushkarev, Percussion
Gidon Kremer, Violin
Kremerata Baltica
Serenade No. 6, "Serenata notturna" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Andrey Pushkarev, Percussion
Danielis Rubinas, Double bass
Eva Bindere, Violin
Gidon Kremer, Violin
Kremerata Baltica
Ula Ulijona, Viola
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
(The) Messenger Valentin Silvestrov, Composer
Gidon Kremer, Violin
Kremerata Baltica
Naida Cole, Piano
Valentin Silvestrov, Composer
Serenade No. 13, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Danielis Rubinas, Double bass
Eva Bindere, Violin
Gidon Kremer, Violin
Kremerata Baltica
Marta Sudraba, Cello
Reinut Tepp, Harpsichord
Ula Ulijona, Viola
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Moz-Art à la Haydn Alfred Schnittke, Composer
Alfred Schnittke, Composer
Eva Bindere, Violin
Gidon Kremer, Violin
Kremerata Baltica
Cassation, 'Toy Symphony' Leopold Mozart, Composer
Kremerata Baltica
Leopold Mozart, Composer
This is an unashamedly indulgent concert‚ in Gidon Kremer’s words ‘an attempt to set Mozart in the frame of our own time‚’ partly by providing three works which offer ‘re­workings‚ paraphrases‚ or simply memories of Mozart’s idiom’. However‚ the first item‚ by Raskatov‚ does offer a rather charming serenade for solo violin against pizzicato strings. But it reminds me more of the famous quartet movement by Hoffstetter‚ once attributed to Haydn. At the close there are some added histrionics‚ plus a ghostly coda‚ to remind the listener that this is a 20th­century piece. Silvestrov’s The Messenger arrives on a desolate landscape with a pervading background of synthesised wind‚ against which we hear distanced‚ wispy snippets of real or pastiche Mozart. It is quite atmospheric in its way‚ but hardly memorable. Schnittke’s Moz­Art à la Haydn is more adventurous‚ a weird mêlée of Mozartian fragmentation ‘put through the compositional equivalent of a food processor’ (as the insert­note tells us). Schnittke moves from bizarre harmonics to a playful carnival dance sequence scored for two solo violins and strings. It is certainly ingeniously inventive‚ but has a visual element not perceivable here: at the climax the music quickens to a frenzied disintegration‚ and the musicians – still playing disconsolately – leave the stage singly‚ after the style of Haydn’s Farewell Symphony. Mozart’s own Serenata notturna is given a bold‚ alert‚ rhythmically strong performance. But in the finale there are not only violin cadenzas and an ad lib instrumental section‚ but before the coda the timpanist is let completely loose with an explosive contribution of his own. Fortunately Eine kleine Nachtmusik is left untampered with‚ a lively account very well played‚ if with more energy than charm. Leopold Mozart’s Toy Symphony features contemporary electronic toys‚ and produces some very strange sounds‚ especially the grotesque squeaks in the Minuet; and no one could say the performers are unenthusiastic in the riotous finale. But who would buy a CD with a programme like this‚ especially at full price?

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