VALENTIN SILVESTROV: Symphony No. 6 (1994-95) – Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn/Roman Kofman – MDG Gold SACD + SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra/Andrey Boreyko – ECM New Series CD

by | Dec 26, 2007 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews | 0 comments

VALENTIN SILVESTROV: Symphony No. 6 (1994-95)

Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn/Roman Kofman – MDG Gold multichannel SACD MDG 937 1478-6 [also 2+2+2 option], 52:37 ****:

 
SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra/Andrey Boreyko – ECM Records New Series (CD) 1935, 54:20 ****:

Comparing two different versions of this work is much more of a task than comparing differing versions of a piece in the standard repertory.  The Sixth is a very dense work in what the composer calls his “metaphorical” style – it is permeated with musical nostalgia, partially-remembered sounds and echoes of the past which are designed to have an often very personal and emotional effect on the listener.  Silvestrov has taken a quite different path from those fellow Eastern European composers of the rapt spiritual voice, such as Paart and Gorecki.  He creates large scale works for full orchestra with many contrasts of instrumentation, but not with the shocking dynamic contrasts of Kancheli. Coming from the Soviet avantgarde (though he shares with Prokofiev and Gliere a Ukrainian origin) Silvestrov has put aside the clichés of that approach and come up with a highly individual style that some have compared to a Mahler for the new century.

The work has five movements, played without pause, with the center one nearly 25 minutes long and the next longest (the Finale) only nine minutes length. It is an exploration of personal and musical memories, using a theme which is created, transformed many ways, and finally completely fragmented. As with Mahler, time with Silvestrov flows in a different  way – sometimes slowed way down or stopped and at other times accelerated. There is well-defined structure but the proportions are not at all what would be normally expected – as demonstrated, for example, by the huge length of the center movement – which is also the movement with the most late-romantic references.  A reference to Proust is made in the excellent 11 pages of English notes in the ECM album.  In fact, Silvestrov focuses so strongly on the past in his music that the note-writer suggests thinking of him as an “avantgarde romantic.”  The work often takes on a dark, dense and dreamy/nightmarish quality that put me in mind of the final thoughts of a dying person. When the work was given its first performance in Germany (conducted by Roman Kofman, who also conducted its premiere in the Ukraine) a Berlin critic called it “a gigantic farewell symphony written at the end of the millennium…”

Both of the new recordings are excellent. Ukrainian conductor Kofman has held several important conducting posts – including as the present Musical Director of the Bonn Orchestra – and is thoroughly familiar with Silvestrov’s music. He brings out the manifold details in the dense scoring, and is aided by the first rate hi-res surround field provided by the MDG engineers. As with Mahler’s symphonies, the work seems to call out for surround reproduction to clarify and spatially locate the many instrumental elements.  Cover art on the ECM standard CD album is not identifiable, and that’s surely intended – perfectly communicating the music’s contents. But the ECM recording is exemplary in its transparency and impact, and Boreyko – who also has great familiarity with Silvestrov’s music – seems to achieve a somewhat more convincing flow of musical ideas in the complex score.  I found that using a ProLogic II setting created a fine pseudo-surround field without seriously fogging up the clarity of the recording. I haven’t yet tried the 2+2+2 multichannel option on the MDG SACD – perhaps that will increase my listening involvement in that version and turn the tide in its favor.

 – John Sunier

 

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