Firma Melodiya presents a set of chamber music by Mieczysław Weinberg. The 20th anniversary of the composer’s death was marked last year, while 2019 will be the year of the 100th anniversary of his birth.
For many years the figure of Weinberg stayed in the powerful shadow of his senior friend and like-minded man Dmitri Shostakovich. Although Shostakovich himself thought extremely highly of Weinberg’s composing talent, the latter was assigned a part of nearly an imitator. Only nowadays the wide audiences in Russia, the USA, Israel, Germany and other countries have a chance to comprehend the scale of this distinctive figure of 20th century music, a figure that stood on the border of three cultures – Jewish, Polish and Russian.
Weinberg was a remarkable symphonist indeed leaving a large footprint in music theatre as well. But chamber music holds the key to discovering the genuine force of his creative gift and true understanding of his composing stylistics. His explicitly subjective and intimate message, the naked nerve of his emotional statement is what gives the impression of the music “written with blood of the heart,” as Shostakovich said about one of Weinberg’s compositions.
“An artist’s power and impotence are about his ability or inability to express the eternal, commonly known truth, casting new, his own light on it,” Weinberg wrote.
The set features Mieczysław Weinberg’s ensemble and solo sonatas for violin, viola and cello, Quartet No. 7 and Concerto for trumpet and orchestra. The performers are the composer’s contemporaries, prominent musicians of the 20th century – Alexander Brusilovsky, Fyodor Druzhinin, Alla Vasilieva, Timofei Dokschitzer, the Borodin Quartet, Rudolf Barshai and the author himself.
Disc 1
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996)
Violin Sonatina, Op. 46
1 I. Allegretto 4.22
2 II. Lento 6.10
3 III. Allegro moderato 3.48
Sonata No. 2 for violin solo, Op. 95
4 I. Monody. Allegro moderato 1.23
5 II. Pauses. Andantino grazioso 1.14
6 III. Intervals. Presto agitato 1.17
7 IV. Replies. Andantino non tanto 1.46
8 V. Accompanement. Allegretto leggier 2.12
9 VI. Invocatio. Lento affettuoso 2.40
10 VII. Syncopes. Vivace marcato 2.37
Sonata No. 1 for viola solo, Op. 107
11 I. Adagio 4.50
12 II. Allegretto 4.38
13 III. Adagio 4.17
14 IV. Allegro 8.19
Total time: 49.42
Alexei Mikhlin, violin (1–3)
Evgeniya Seydel, piano (1–3)
Alexander Brusilovsky, violin (4–10)
Fyodor Druzhinin, viola (11–14)
Recorded in 1966 (1–3), 1976 (4–14).
Sound engineers: V. Ivanov (4–10), V. Skoblo (11–14)
Remastering – E. Barykina
Disc 2
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996)
Cello Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
1 I. Lento ma non troppo 8.59
2 II. Un poco moderato 9.49
Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63
3 I. Moderato 6.12
4 II. Andante 8.23
5 III. Allegro 5.42
6 Fantasy for cello and orchestra in F sharp minor, Op. 52 13.24
Total time: 52.34
Alla Vasilieva, cello
Mieczhysław Weinberg, piano (1–5)
Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Conductor – Rudolf Barshai (6)
Recorded in 1970 (6), re-recorded in 1977 (1–5).
Sound engineers: A. Yunk (1, 2), V. Galperin (3–5), N. Meerzon (6)
Remastering – N. Radugina
Disc 3
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996)
String Quartet No. 7 in C major, Op. 59
1 I. Adagio 8.04
2 II. Allegretto 5.41
3 III. Allegro moderato 11.58
Trumpet Concerto in B flat major, Op. 94
4 I. Etudes. Allegro molto 7.50
5 II. Episodes. Andante 8.53
6 III. Fanfares. Andante. Allegretto 5.22
Total time: 47.50
Borodin Quartet (1–3):
Rostislav Dubinsky, violin
Yaroslav Alexandrov, violin
Dmitri Shebalin, viola
Valentin Berlinsky, cello
Timofei Dokschitzer, trumpet
The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor – Algys Juraitis (4–6)
Recorded in 1960 (1–3), re-recorded in 1978 (4–6).
Sound engineers: V. Skoblo (1–3), L. Bobova (4–6)
Remastering – M. Pilipov
Editor – Polina Dobryshkina
Design – Anna Kim
Translation – Nikolai Kuznetsov
