Chamber Symphonies
Chamber Symphony, arrangement of String Quartet No. 8 in C minor by Rudolf Barshai, opus 110a; Georgy Sviridov: Chamber Symphony, opus 14[a]; Weinberg [listed as Vainberg]: Chamber Symphony No. 1 for String Orchestra, opus 145.
Yuri Bashmet, Moscow Soloists.
Onyx Classics ONYX 4007. DDD. TT 73:31.
Recorded at the Schloss Neuhardenberg, Berlin, Germany, 22-25 June 2005.
[a]World premiere recording.

Shostakovich's Circle/Autour de Chostakovitch
Symphony for Strings and Woodwind, arrangement of String Quartet No. 3 in F major by Rudolf Barshai, opus 73a; Herman Galynin: Piano Concerto No. 1[a]; Galina Ustvolskaya: Piano Concerto[b].
Yuli Turovsky, I Musici de Montreal, Serhiy Salov (piano)[a,b].
Analekta AN 2 9898. DDD. TT 76:55.
Recorded at Église de la Nativité de la Saint-Verge, La Prairie, Québec, 26 and 27 June 2005.

The flowering of creativity in Russia's post-Shostakovich generation has scarcely been explored in the West. By coincidence or collusion, we have two independently released CDs that address this oversight with non-overlapping yet parallel programming: a chamber arrangement of a Shostakovich quartet coupled with a selection of works by his students.

On the Onyx disc, Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists take on the ever-popular Barshai arrangement of Shostakovich's Eighth Quartet with an interpretation that offers polish as well as depth of feeling. One senses a genuine end-of-the-world despair in the dirge-like tempi and impassioned solos of the outer movements, where tears seem to accompany each utterance of the DSCH motif. The Allegro molto explodes forcefully without resorting to exaggerated contrasts of tempo often found in other versions. In the Allegretto, atmosphere and thematic character become paramount. Trills rise sinuously from a nearly imperceptible whisper as they engulf the feverish repetitions of the DSCH waltz. Secondary themes sway with a world-weary gait. If Bashmet underplays the element of humour found in other renditions—the jaunty march theme from the Cello Concerto provides this recording's only lighter moments—he achieves distinction with a performance that highlights the work's passion and dignity.

This release merits further notice for offering the world premiere of the Chamber Symphony by Georgy Sviridov, Soviet Russia's master of vocal and choral music. Sviridov's chamber music, though less prolific and less well represented on disc, culminates with a genuine masterpiece, Music for Chamber Orchestra, of 1964. The Chamber Symphony dates from 1940, during the time of his composition studies with Shostakovich at the Leningrad Conservatory. The four-movement work, scored for strings, finds the 25-year-old Sviridov still mastering the art of abstract composition. Textural and colouristic effects abound and boast much imagination and skill. However, the material by and large falls short of its developmental potential. The opening Moderato assai consists of a simple alternation of themes; the fantastic Vivace vanishes just as it gets going; and a patchwork finale follows a sensitively handled slow movement. The work's strength lies not in its formal details but rather in the richness and variety of its themes. While one inevitably hears idiomatic similarities handed down from teacher to student, the material of each movement is replete with Sviridov's fingerprints already evident in his earlier song cycles—extravagant gestures, bold rhythm, Slavic demeanour. The music is beautifully realised by Bashmet and company.

The most recent work on these two discs is the first of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's four chamber symphonies, this one scored for strings and dating from 1986. Weinberg, then 55, had completed the 18th and 19th of his mammoth canon of 26 symphonies that same year. These expansive, single-movement works contrast sharply with the bucolic, neoclassical tone of the four-movement Chamber Symphony No. 1. Here one finds Weinberg's trademark lyricism flowing with as much Mozartian grace as can be afforded a 20th century composer. The outer movements are at times reminiscent of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony with a few treacherous turns thrown in for good measure. The second movement forms the expressive nucleus as it journeys to ruminative and rewarding pastures before returning to its delicate starting point. The shorter final two movements round out the work by a wistful, then a witty turn. The previous recording of the work by Thord Svedlund and the Umea SO (Olympia OCD 651; deleted) remains a worthy competitor, drawing out more nuance by its restraint. Svedlund exhibits more confidence than Bashmet in the rapturously wandering slow movement; and achieves remarkable poignancy in the Allegretto that follows. Bashmet applies more Dionysian vigour to his performance, which is anchored more to peak moments than to details, though it is not without its own tender inflections. Onyx's robustly engineered sound, abetted by a tinier hall space, gives Bashmet the advantage of greater sonic weight and clarity. The booklet notes by Manashir Yakubov are informative.

The Analekta CD assembles three works written in 1946. Prominent among them is the Shostakovich Third String Quartet, here represented in the Barshai arrangement for strings, winds, and harp. Apologies to Maestro Barshai: despite his careful craftsmanship, his clarinets and bassoons have always seemed like unwanted intruders among the original party of four, as have the expanded strings. The added colour doesn't compensate for the tolls taken in intimacy and thematic interaction. Barshai makes a decent case for his arrangement with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Deutsche Grammophon 00289 477 5442; reviewed in DSCH No. 23), the spacious, homogeneous acoustic making the effort seem all the more expansive. Lev Markiz and the Nieuw Sinfonietta of Amsterdam (Globe GLO 5093; deleted), with their tight grip, sharp reflexes, and flexible tempi, offer an exceptionally lively account that resolutely refuses to concede to the inherent limitations of the arrangement. Turovsky also takes a firm hold in a performance where clarity and balance take priority. Lines are crisply delineated, as can be heard in the thrusting gestures of the fourth movement's passacaglia theme and in the overlapping voices of the first movement's climactic fugue. The timbres of the wind chorales and solos are spotlighted more than in other recordings and stake their claim quite convincingly. Turovsky also gives careful attention to the shifting moods of the last movement in an appealing interpretation that stays on top of every detail.

Had Herman (or German) Galynin (1922-1966), another Shostakovich student, not died so young in a psychiatric institution, greater things might have come. Among his small but significant legacy, the First Piano Concerto of 1946 remains one of the little jewels of Soviet music. The exuberant wit of the outer movements and the dreamily romantic Andante take after the examples by Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Yet the work boasts its own charm and personality. Two earlier recordings (there is at least a third, overlooked in the otherwise fine liner notes by Robert Markow) reveal a darker dimension that barely surfaces in the current version. With fingers of steel, pianist Evgeni Malinin, along with Vladimir Fedoseyev leading the USSR SO (Melodiya LP C10 20419 003; deleted), pursues the manic edges of the opening movement's mirth and captures the anguish that lies at the core of the central Andante. Likewise, Dmitri Bashkirov with the USSR SO under Svetlanov (Melodiya LP C 0527-8; deleted) underlines the Andante's pained moments with stinging intensity. We hear none of this edginess in Serhiy Salov's performance, where, with a lighter touch, the Andante is treated in a more subdued fashion and where the outer movements' high spirits are sprung with exhilarating velocity. Nonetheless it makes a fine introduction to the work.

The single-movement piano concerto of Galina Ustvolskaya (b. 1919) dates from her student days at the Leningrad Conservatory where she studied composition under Shostakovich. Echoes of her mentor's First Piano Concerto turn up by way of certain turns of phrase and in the work's nearly identical instrumentation for piano and strings. Beyond that, the similarity ends. The stern material in Ustvolskaya's concerto looks ahead to the grim, ritualistic features that would increasingly dominate her music. The premiere recording by pianist Pavel Serebryakov (BMG/Melodyia Musica Non Grata 74321 49956 2; deleted) offers a one-of-a-kind affair that is both maddening and inspiring in its relentlessness. A more recent recording features Ingrid Jacoby, whose opulent tones offer a less pressured account that brings out the bravura elements of the work (Dutton CDSA 4804; reviewed in DSCH No. 20). In the current recording Serhiy Salov offers yet another point of view as he sensitively explores the humanity that lies beneath the concerto's restless surface. Phrases are thoughtfully probed and pried apart, with especially fine results in the central slow section. At the same time Salov maintains a tenacious hold on the music's pulse as he builds toward the finale's apocalyptic protestations.

Louis Blois
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