Mieczysław Weinberg: Symphony No. 21, Polish Tunes Op. 47 No. 2

opis:
Two world premieres by a favourite composer is not something that lands on my deck every week. Weinberg, friend of Shostakovich, died in 1996 with many of his late works unperformed and the early ones forgotten. His Polish Tunes suite dates from 1950 when Stalin ordered composers (on pain of Siberian exile) to write nothing but hummable themes. Weinberg took this set from the country he had fled in 1939. It is as much Jewish as Polish and the melodies are irresistible just made for dancing, but with an ironic subtext. The 21st Symphony, written during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-1991, is subtitled Kaddish (the Jewish memorial prayer) and concludes with a rendition of the Christian Lord's Prayer. Riddled with self-quotation, it amounts to a man's search for past things that are slipping away from his grasp. Not the most consistent of Weinberg's symphonies, its fourth movement leaps into a madcap klezmer whirl reminiscent of Shostakovich at his most reckless and anarchic. The Siberian Symphony Orchestra, conductor Dmitry Vasilyev, play as if their lives depend on it and the sound in the Omsk Philharmonic Hall is immaculate.
CD OF THE WEEK ***Sinfini Music 2/7/14

A notable release that Toccata could profitably follow up with the 22nd symphony and the early symphonic poem thereby making available the alpha and omega of Weinberg's extensive orchestral output.
IRR, Sept'14