Mieczysław Weinberg - Chamber Symphonies, Piano Quintet

The Guardian 80

Kremerata Baltica, Gidon Kremer/ Gražinytė-Tyla
(ECM) (2 CDs)

The prolific Polish-born Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-96), who suffered oppression in Stalin’s regime, is only now being widely appreciated. His output includes 26 symphonies, 17 string quartets and seven operas (The Passenger got a mixed reception when ENO performed it in 2011). This album features the four chamber symphonies written near the end of Weinberg’s life: tonal, restless, sharing his friend Shostakovich’s eclectic taste for folk, Russian and Jewish idiom. The early Piano Quintet (1944), arranged for piano, string orchestra and percussion by Gidon Kremer and Andrei Pushkarev, stands out for its bold colours, lyrical intensity and refreshing detail. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, pianist Yulianna Avdeeva and Kremerata Baltica put the strongest case for this unfamiliar music.