1941-1945: Wartime Music, Vol. 5 = Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Symphony No. 1; Cello Concerto – Dmitry Khrychov, cello/ St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orch./Alexander Titov – Northern Flowers

by | Mar 28, 2010 | Classical Reissue Reviews | 0 comments

1941-1945: Wartime Music, Vol. 5 = Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Symphony No. 1; Cello Concerto – Dmitry Khrychov, cello/ St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orch./Alexander Titov

Northern Flowers NF/PMA 9973 [Distr. by Albany] ***:

Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-96) was born in Poland and barely escaped to Russia at age 20 when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. He studied at the Minsk Conservatory, avoided the war because of a severe disease, and met Shostakovich a few years later. “I am a disciple of Shostakovich. Although I never had a single hour of lessons with him, I consider myself his disciple, flesh of his flesh,” Weinberg commented. He became a valuable asset for Shostakovich as a pianist and demonstrated many of his works in reduced four hand piano versions with Shostakovich. In 1953, they played a duo piano version of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony for conductor Evgeny Mravinsky. Weinberg’s music has many of the characteristics of Shostakovich’s music – the use of marches, flowing melodic ideas, clear textures and chromatic dissonance. His music can be called conservative modern, with Bartok and Hindemith, and even Mahler as other influences.

Weinberg dedicated the Symphony No. 1 (1942) to the Red Army, who took him in as he escaped from the Nazis. The lengthy first movement contains elements of wartime stress as well as some pleasant melodic ideas. At 15 minutes, it outstays its welcome. The poignant, sad but hopeful slow movement is followed by a humorously sarcastic third movement. The St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra is a student orchestra and it plays adequately, but is not inspiring

On the other hand, the Cello Concerto (1948, revised in 1956) is an immediately attractive work. Rostropovich recorded the work in 1964 in a 1997 EMI multi-disc release entitled, “Rostropovich: Russian Years 1950-74.”  That recording was made in poor monophonic sound. Weinberg uses a memorable Jewish folk theme in the first movement. The second movement is a mildly sinister dance with Klezmeric overtones. The Scherzo is a sunnier romp, exploiting virtuoso effects of the cello, particularly in the brilliant cadenza that becomes a bridge to the final movement. The beautiful melody of the first movement returns in the finale in a very moving manner. Anyone who likes cello concertos written in a conservative modern idiom will like this work. Cellist Dmitry Khrychov plays proficiently and with a sense of deep commitment. The balance between cello and orchestra is effective and the sound is excellent. The Cello Concerto makes this disc a worthwhile purchase.

— Robert Moon

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