SILVESTROV Meditation. Spectrums. Symphony No 2.
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Valentin Silvestrov
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Wergo
Magazine Review Date: 04/2015
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: WER6731-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Spectrums |
Valentin Silvestrov, Composer
Igor Blazhkov, Conductor Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Ensemble Valentin Silvestrov, Composer |
Symphony No 2 |
Valentin Silvestrov, Composer
Igor Blazhkov, Conductor Leningrad Chamber Orchestra Valentin Silvestrov, Composer |
Cantata |
Valentin Silvestrov, Composer
Chamber Orchestra 'Perpetuum Mobile' Igor Blazhkov, Conductor Nelly Lee, Soprano Valentin Silvestrov, Composer |
Meditation |
Valentin Silvestrov, Composer
Igor Blazhkov, Conductor Kiev Chamber Orchestra Valentin Potapov, Cello Valentin Silvestrov, Composer |
"Farewell, o world" |
Valentin Silvestrov, Composer
Chamber Ensemble Igor Blazhkov, Conductor Valentin Silvestrov, Composer Yuri Olijnik, Baritone |
Author: David Fanning
The longest work on the disc, the Meditation symphony for cello and chamber orchestra, is not only wholly unsymphonic by traditional lights but also hardly meditative (except, perhaps, in the sense of gradually moving from jaggedness to passivity); and, unless you were following a score or seeing a performance with the cello in concerto position, you would scarcely guess that there was a soloist involved at all. Nevertheless, for all its uncertainty of voice, the piece remains a fascinating document of a period of transition from Silvestrov’s post-Webernian early years through mild polystylism to the fragile, aching neo-romanticism that has been his speciality for the past 30 years.
The Cantata to words by Tyutchev and Blok is not enhanced by the less-than-dulcet tones of Nelly Kim (though her bravery as one of the few singers in Soviet times capable of tackling contemporary repertoire should not be underestimated); it is heard to better advantage on the rival Megadisc version. Similarly, anyone who has the Symphony No 2 and Meditation on Olympia need not trade them in for the Wergo recordings. The latter are mainly historic accounts from the 1960s and ’70s, conducted by Igor Blazhkov – himself a real hero of the struggle for contemporary music in the Soviet Union. They have a raw, communicative edge and are very much better than nothing, but they are also, to say the least, variable in their precision, drily recorded and accompanied by a fair amount of audience noise.
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