Mieczysław Weinberg - Chamber Symphonies; Piano Quintet (Kremerata Baltica)

Information

Composer: Mieczysław Weinberg

CD1

• Chamber Symphony No. 3, Op. 151
• Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 147
• Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 145

CD2

• Piano Quintet, Op. 18 (arr. Andrei Pushkarev & Gidon Kremer)
• Chamber Symphony No. 4, Op. 153

Kremerata Baltica

Gidon Kremer, principal violin

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor

Yulianna Avdeeva, piano

Date: 2017

Label: ECM

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Review

In recent years, Gidon Kremer has become a passionate advocate of the music of Mieczysaw Weinberg. In an eloquent essay, published in the booklet notes, Kremer describes Weinberg as ‘a source of unlimited inspiration’. No other composer, he argues, has entered his own repertory and that of the Kremerata Baltica with such intensity.

Kremer’s commitment is clear in this compellingly performed release of the four chamber symphonies Weinberg composed during the last decade of his life, a period marked by ill health and growing isolation from the Russian mainstream. The overriding atmosphere in all these works is introspective and restrained, the music often tinged with a bittersweet, almost Mahlerian vein of nostalgia. Cryptic allusions to earlier works predominate, and the main thematic material of the first three chamber symphonies, recorded live at Vienna’s Musikverein, derives from string quartets Weinberg composed in the 1940s. The Fourth Chamber Symphony is perhaps more difficult to fathom on first hearing, but under the inspirational conducting of Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, the anguished climax of its Adagio section achieves a greater degree of urgency than on the rival Chandos recording from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

More potentially contentious is Kremer and Andrei Pushkarev’s arrangement of Weinberg’s earlier Piano Quintet as a work for piano, string orchestra and percussion. Although it would have been interesting to hear Kremer and pianist Yulianna Avdeeva perform the work in its original instrumentation, there is no doubt that this transcription significantly enhances the music’s dramatic and emotional range.

— Erik Levi

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Mieczysław Weinberg (8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet and Russian composer and pianist. Born in Warsaw to a family connected with Yiddish theatre, he fled Poland in 1939 following the German invasion and settled in the Soviet Union, where he gained the support of Dmitri Shostakovich. Weinberg became a prolific and respected composer, particularly during the 1960s, when his concert and film music achieved considerable recognition. His later years were marked by declining health and reduced official support. International appreciation of his music grew significantly in the 1990s.

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Founded in 1997 by violinist Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica is now recognized as one of Europe's leading chamber orchestras. Comprising young, enthusiastic musicians, it is distinguished by its innovative programming, commitment to contemporary composers and diverse repertoire. The orchestra has performed over 1,000 concerts across more than 50 countries and 600 cities, earning international acclaim for its recordings and awards, including a Gramophone Award in 2020. The orchestra also serves as a medium to nurture young talent and share artistic expertise, enriching the Baltic region's cultural life.

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