Title - 'Mieczysùaw Weinberg: Chamber Music'
Artist - Kremer/Dirvanauskaite/Avdeeva
For those not in the know, among the world's leading violinists, Gidon Kremer has perhaps pursued the most unconventional career.
He was born on the 27th of February, 1947 in Riga, Latvia, and began studying at the age of four with his father and grandfather, both distinguished string players.
At the age of seven, he enrolled as a student at Riga Music School where he made rapid progress, and at sixteen he was awarded the First Prize of the Latvian Republic.
Two years later he began his studies with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory.
Gidon Kremer went on to win a series of prestigious awards, including prizes in the 1967 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and 1969 Montreal International Music Competition and first prize in both the 1969 Paganini and 1970 Tchaikovsky International Competitions.
Following the success of the Weinberg Symphonies 2 & 21 with conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, Deutsche Grammophon now features chamber music by Mieczysùaw Weinberg under the direction of Gidon Kremer.
Releasing November 8th, 2019, Mieczysùaw Weinberg Chamber Music includes, among others, his Three Pieces for Violin and Piano, which Weinberg completed in the winter of 1934/35 when he was only 15 years old and had not yet received any compositional training.
Mieczysùaw Weinberg (1919-1996)
3 Pieces for Violin and Piano
1. 1. Nocturne Moderato
2. 2. Scherzo. Allegro
3. 3. Sen o lalce. Moderato
Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in A Minor op. 24
4. 1. Praludium und Arie. Larghetto
5. 2. Toccata. Allegro marcato
6. 3. Poem. Moderato
7. 4. Finale. Allegro moderato
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 6 op. 136bis
8. 1. Moderato
9. 2. Adagio
10. 3. Moderato - Adagio
Gidon Kremer (violin) and friends Yulianna Avdeeva (piano), and Giedrë Dirvanauskaitë (cello), perform three pieces of chamber music by the Polish-born Soviet composer, including an simply breathtaking, outstanding account of the Piano Trio.
What connects Weinberg’s works is not only their compositional perfection, but above all their constant commitment to beauty. It is a confession that in Weinberg’s music is above all pain and suffering.
For me, as I'm sure for others out there also connected, by music like this, to the great masters before our time, Weinberg’s Chamber Music (as with his Symphonies) reflect his creativity and the dramatic times in which he lived — the formal lucidity and directness of the First, and the elegiac Third — both derived from string quartets composed in the shadow of the Second World War.
Simply put, everything on this recording is masterfully played and most assuredly performed at the highest of levels. The 3 Pieces for Violin and Piano opener a particular favorite of mine and imbued to perfection here by the outstanding trio.
Mieczysùaw Weinberg Chamber Music has been released in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music program and POLSKA 100, the international cultural program celebrating the centenary of Poland regaining independence.
Official CD Purchase Link
www.GidonKremer.net
www.DeutscheGrammophon.com