Mieczyslaw Weinberg, also known as Moisei Vainberg, was born in Warsaw in 1919, fled to the Soviet Union in 1939 to avoid Nazi persecution, later met and became a close friend of Shostakovich, and died in Moscow in 1996. He had no official post; he was the victim of the 1948 anti-formalism campaign and was partially blacklisted from making money in the lean years following, writing for theatre and circus. He was arrested in 1953 during the “Doctors’ Plot” – the alleged conspiracy of Jewish doctors plotting to poison the Soviet hierarchy. Weinberg wasn’t a doctor, but his father-in-law was, and Shostakovich, the faithful friend, was brave enough to write to Beria for help in the matter; it was Stalin’s death a little later which possibly saved Weinberg’s life.
Despite his problems with the government, he had the support, in addition to Shostakovich, of Gilels, Rostropovich, Shafran, Kogan and Sanderling who performed his music. While Weinberg influenced Shostakovich partly in the latter’s writing Jewish themed works, Weinberg was influenced by him to the extent he was criticised for having too much of Shostakovich’s voice in his own. This is not quite fair, as there are many other influences, too, as shown in the four very accessible concertos on this disc, all dating from the second half of the twentieth century.
The Fantasia for cello and orchestra was written in Stalin’s time (1951-1953) and is a through-composed concerto, premiered by Shafran in 1953 in a version for piano and orchestra. From the very start the listener is drawn into a deep rich sound which is completely captivating, an adagio whose lyricism is so moving. The moods change during the piece’s arch construction, building to the work’s climax and cadenza then ending eloquently adagio. There are wonderful themes here, reminiscent of folk tunes, played with wonderful tone by Gunarsson.
The flute concertos are virtuoso works, excellently played by Jonhall, and are more classical in structure, two allegros framing a largo, both works sounding somewhat French, reminiscent in passing of Poulenc or Roussel. The second concerto, a recording premiere, ends with a quiet, slow postlude to the allegro, the ending having that sense of peaceful resignation born of a survivor. Again, this, in its simplicity, is very moving. Themes from other composers’ works flit by as though they are wraiths, a startling conceit which has occurred in other later Russian works.
The clarinet concerto, accompanied by strings alone, as in the flute concerto, is a sizeable work, a sort of Russian Finzi Clarinet concerto if comparison be needed. This is also a recording premiere, and is superbly well played by Claesson; here we have a whiff of Nielsen in the quick rocking theme, but the movement soon gets a character of its own. The last movement also has that happy-sad, melancholy smile in its blood.
All three soloists are first-class on this disc, and are the principals in the orchestra. The Gothenberg orchestra provides excellent support, though a couple of thin-sounding passages were briefly noticeable in the two string accompanied works. The recording is pure DSD and quite superb, the sound from the SACD layer warm and realistic. This is the fourth issue of Weinberg’s music by Chandos, and is recommended most highly.
— Peter Joelson
