WEINBERG: Symphony No. 21, Kaddish & Polish Tunes – The Siberian Sym. Orch./ Dmitry Vasilyev – Toccata Classics

by | Sep 6, 2014 | Classical CD Reviews

WEINBERG: Symphony No. 21, Kaddish & Polish Tunes – The Siberian Sym. Orch./ Dmitry Vasilyev – Toccata Classics TOCC 0193, 67:28 (7/8/14) [Distr. by Naxos] ****:

The music of Mieczysław Weinberg is finally beginning to get the acclaim and notice it has long deserved. The composer’s lifetime spanned the 20th century: born 1919 in Warsaw, he died in 1996 in Moscow in obscurity. But the composer had many enthusiastic supporters, chief among them Shostakovich, who considered him one of the 20th century’s great musical artists.

Weinberg fled the Nazi occupation of Poland, and wound up in Russia, where his Jewishness was suspect, with many of his works blacklisted. He was later arrested for ‘Jewish Nationalism’ but he was released upon Stalin’s death.

The CD under review contains Weinberg’s Polish Tunes, Op. 47 and his Symphony No. 21, Op. 152.The Polish Tunes are short and uplifting, not unlike some of the lighter Johan Strauss works.  The Symphony No. 21, subtitled the ‘Kaddish’ is a tribute to the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. The symphony is in six sections, and is as expected, somber and heartfelt. Some of the these are reworkings from Weinberg’s string quartets. Like the Polish Tunes, the symphony is a premier recording.

These are fine recordings, and Toccata Classics is to be congratulated for adding another set of nearly unknown compositions to their catalog. The performance by Dmitry Vasilyev and the Siberian Symphony Orchestra is excellent. The recording is also first rate, with a stable image of the orchestra and a recording that captures the extremes in terms of dynamics and frequency spread.

I thought the Polish Tunes were light and somewhat disposable, but the Symphony No. 21 is an excellent listen and makes me want to explore more of Weinberg’s music. Just recently I reviewed Weinberg’s Symphony No. 18 in a Naxos recording, and it struck me the same way. Emotional, approachable and worthy of multiple listens.

It’s good to see Weinberg’s music being brought to the public, after years of obscurity where it was simply unappreciated under the Soviet rule.

—Mel Martin

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