Schnittke: Chamber Music

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) is not really known for writing simple music, or at least music whose many arguments are rather easy to follow. Yet what we have here are brilliantly conceived (and brilliantly executed) chamber works of astonishing simplicity, works that nonetheless convey Schnittke's characteristic polytonal style with absolute clarity. Best here is the meditative Piano Quintet (of 1976), in which the piano tends to unify the clashing lines of the argumentative strings. The same holds true for the String Trio (of 1985). This work is more laden with satirical moments, as it starts out flirting with the Baroque then becomes more twisted and nightmarish as it unravels. Schnittke's music isn't for everybody, but this disc might stand as an excellent primer for newcomers. Highly recommended. --Paul Cook

Tracks:

Fratres
Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten
Fratres
Tabula Rasa

Amazon.com essential recording

This seminal disc now almost seems like the manifesto for a whole new strain of minimalism that has found an enormously receptive audience. It represented a breakthrough for Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose music--like that of his European colleagues John Tavener and Henryk Górecki--pursues an austerely beautiful simplicity that suggests spiritual illumination. Fratres, given here in two versions, one for piano and violin and the other for 12 cellos, repeatedly intones a sequence resembling chant to convey a sensibility that seems at once archaic and beyond time. Violinist Gidon Kremer, for whom Pärt wrote the exquisitely contemplative and hypnotic title work, grasps the music's koan-like idiom, allowing an inner fullness to resonate through the most fragile, ethereal wisps of tone against the mysterious clangings of prepared piano. The tolling of the tubular bells in Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten is an emotionally charged lament, based on a simple minor descending scale, that introduces Pärt's fascination with what he calls "tintinnabulation": the literal and metaphorical sound of ringing bells. This recording is also famous for the acoustically warm presence produced by ECM's Manfred Eicher, which magnificently captures the mystical simplicity of Pärt's sound world. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

music so good you'll cry.......2007-04-21

I first heard one of the songs playing in a Starbucks and had to ask them what it was... I couldn't hear it very well, but I knew I needed to hear more. After I got home and listened to the previews on Amazon, I was hooked.

There is so much depth and sweetness to this music. It has literally brought me to tears. If you're looking for an album of chamber music that truely goes beyond the normal lulling sound and into the realm of true artistic expression, this is one to own. It is one of the prizes of my collection.

This is one for everybody.......2006-08-30

I'm not completely dug on classical and contemporanean music, ECM stuff included. Lygeti, Xenakis they make me sense, all along american minimalists like Reich or Cage. Electro-acustic is more ear-friendly for me (Ferrari, Parmegiani) but... All this speech just to say that thsi is one ECM record I own - the 1977's Tabula Rasa. The great Gidon Kramer (check out "Silence" from Nonesuch who has another version of tabula rasa) is here with all his magic, even the world-piano-star K. Jarrett plays piano, and everything makes sense. The music is so cold and complex, ethernal yet listenable for the common of mortals. Give a try, i did and i'm inloved with.

should be accepted by any rational person as strong evidence for God's existence........2006-06-20

arguably, it was THIS music by THIS composer that Manfred Eicher's label, ECM, was meant for. If an album was released on ECM, no doubt it sounds lovely, but when purpose is paired so perfectly with sound, even ECM attains something angelic and beyond. Arvo Part's non-modulating approach to harmony, great care and attention with so few notes, and the reverent spirit that carries through his efforts encompasses a catalogue of works so great and beautiful I'm not sure any 20th century composer can remotely compare.

This ECM disc is possibly the best of all. _Tabula Rasa_, first and foremost, is a masterpiece. A violin concerto of sorts, it flows through static haze and torrid whorls, with ghostly sounds of strings punctuated by the bell- and chime-like intonations on sounds of prepared piano. Divine and without momentum, this piece forever hovers between being and nothing. _Fratres_, performed in two versions here (for violin and piano, and for 12 cellos), features a chorale-like figure recurring over an ethereal drone. Radiant and simple, not a sound is out of place. the _Cantus_ is based on rich chords arranged in a variety of rhythmic patterns, so beautiful one kind of wishes it would last longer.

this is an excellent introduction to one of the best composers of the 20th century. i would really encourage you to hear this.

Fill in your blank slate with some innovative music..........2006-01-03

This CD started it all. In 1984 it introduced the then little known Arvo Pärt to a new western audience. Pärt had long before made his "tinntinnabulation" discovery (around 1976). Before this pivotal epiphany, the majority of Pärt's work fell into the serialist category. His early work shows all of the grinding atonal experimentation of the 1950s. It thus lies in stark contrast to his later work as presented on this CD (he shares this same evolutionary path with the Polish composer Górecki).

"Tabula Rasa" introduced a new music and a new style to the west. This music doesn't follow traditional harmonic or melodic forms. Listening to Pärt differs from listening to Sibelius or Stravinski. In Pärt, environment and setting are everything. The melodies and harmonies function to set a mood rather than to follow a path or a harmonic progression leading to an ultimate resolution. Subsequently, one experiences rather than listens to Pärt's work. The notes merely provide the structure. In this way Pärt's pieces represent frameworks for music (which probably explains, as related in the CD booklet, why the members of one orchestra asked "where is the music" upon seeing the score for "Tabula Rasa"). So Pärt not only presents beautiful and moving music but also helps listeners conceive of it in new ways.

The tracks on this CD provide the perfect showcase for Pärt's work. Beginners should start here. Two versions of the meditative "Fratres" appear, but each utilize such different arrangements that they sound like two separate works. "Cantus" remains one of Pärt's most moving compositions. It sounds like a slowly exploding wall of catharsis. The nearly half hour "Tabula Rasa" features incredible violin work and prepared piano (a la Cage). Overall, the mood of each piece on this CD veers strongly toward the meditative, mystical, and ethereal. As such it serves as a great introduction to the "late" Pärt and as a showcase of incredible musicianship.

Pärt remains more of a phenomenon on CD than in the concert hall. The lush rich sound of this CD, which will have your cochleas swimming, provides some evidence as to why. Not only that, the amount of quietude and silence utilized by Pärt must create difficulties for orchestra hall performance. Pärt's music, intimate and close, probably plays best in seclusion or in small venues. For the maximum experience, put on some headphones and listen to this CD. In this way listeners can experience all the subtle harmonics and nuances that make up the music of Arvo Pärt.

Modern classical music that is beautiful.......2005-10-23

Too many modern classical composers have sacrificed beauty for virtuosity and expermintality. Not so Part. This Baltic composer writes melodic music of outstanding lyricism and profound beauty. He has succesfully managed to write in the classical format while not sounding like a repetition of the great artists of yore. The music is melancolic, but not tragic, pensive but not unpenetratable. I had the great honour to listen to a live perfomance of works by Part by the Hilliard Ensamble at the Royal Festival Hall in London, UK. It was one of the few times I know of that the audience gave a standing ovation, and just did not want to stop. Mr Part was present and he almost started crying.
Part has contributed music to films as diverse as Les Amants du Pont-Neuf and Fahrenheit 9/11.

Martha Argerich and Friends: Live from the Lugano Festival, 2006

Average customer rating:

Lots of Schumann, not much Argerich, plus some real oddities

Martha Argerich and Friends: Live from the Lugano Festival, 2006

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Martha Argerich and Friends Live from the Lugano Festival 2005: Chamber Music
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Volodos Plays Liszt

ASIN: B000PFU9OM
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Tracks:

I: Sostenuto Assai/Allegro Ma Non Troppo
II: Scherzo: Molto Vivace
III: Andante Cantabile
IV: Finale: Vivace
I: Allegro Assai Vivace
II: Allegretto Scherzando
III: Adagio
IV: Molto Allegro E Vivace
I: Zart Und Mit Ausdruck
II: Lebhaft, Leicht
III: Rasch Und Mit Feuer

Tracks:

I: Mit Energie Und Leidenschaft
II: Lebhaf, Doch Nicht Zu Rasch
III: Langsam, Mit Inniger Empfindung
IV: Mit Feuer
I: Introduzione: Adagio Mest/Allegro
II: Scherzo
III: Largo
IV: Finale: Allegro Vivace

Tracks:

I: Nauges
II: Fetes
I: Andante
II: Allegretto
III: Largo
IV: Allegretto Scherzando
I: Overture
II: Idylie
III: Cadenza
IV: Menuet
V: Finale Alla Marcia

Amazon.com

This inexpensively priced 3-CD set of music from the 2006 Lugano Festival with pianist Martha Argerich at its center presents a fascinating cross-section of chamber music, expertly performed. In addition to Argerich, we hear from 15 other instrumentalists - pianists, cellists, violinists, violists, a flugelhorn player (who plays along with Argerich in three of Schumann's Fantasiestücke, to very strange and not very welcome effect), and a wind ensemble made up of members of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana that plays with cellist Gautier Caupcon in Friedrich Gulda's Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra: a jazzy, definitely eclectic, and playful finale to the third CD. The infrequently played but rapturous Schumann Piano Quartet is a particular treat. Ravel's transcriptions of two Debussy Nocturnes for two pianos played by Sergio Tiempo and Karin Lechner are a delight as well. This is an off-the-beaten-track collection that will fascinate true devotees of chamber music. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Lots of Schumann, not much Argerich, plus some real oddities.......2007-06-08

EMI has gotten into the pleasanat habit of issuing a 3-CD bargain box of Martha Argerich's summer music from Lugano, and they are caviar for chamber music lovers, mixing familiar and unfamiliar works in sterling live performances. It's hard to think of any comparable series meeting such high standards since the heyday of the Marlboro Festival under Rudolf Serkin in the Fifties and Sixties. This 2006 edition is no exception, my only disappointment being the absence of Argerich herself in so many works. She even gives up her place in the two-piano arrangement of Debussy's Nocturnes to her protege Sergio Tiempo (she has been a long-time devotee, if not addict, of two-piano arrangements that almost every other serious musician eschews).

The dominance of works by Schumann reflects Ms. Argerich's personal fondness for him, and she appears in the Piano Quartet, which has enjoyed a wonderful, highly personal reading by Glenn Gould and the Juilliard Qt. (Sony), among others. This one displays every virtue of live musicmaking, with Argerich's fervent, spontaneous playing leading the way. Compared to earlier sets, the 2006 collection contains more rarities and because of all the sSchumann, less representation by great composers. The flugelhorn arrangement of Schumann's Fantasiestucke for clarinet sounds like a joke. The once unknown Tanayev Piano Quintet gets a committed reading that should help to boost its popularity. The Debbusy Nocturnes actually bring pleasure in the two-piano arrangement. You won't be prepared for Gulda's concerto for Cello and Piano, which sounds like three-beer night at your local German jazz club. But its worth a smile and a listen.

In the end, however, this installment might be best left to connoisseurs while newcomers to Argerich's summer festivities should begin with the earlier, more conventional editions.

Here's the listing of works and personnel since Amazon doesn't supply it:

Martha Argerich / Renaud Capucon / Lida Chen / Gautier Capucon - Piano Quartet in Eb op.47 (Schumann).

Gautier Capucon / Gabriela Montero - Sonata for cello and piano No.2 in D op.58 (Mendelssohn).

Sergei Nakariakov / Martha Argerich - Fantasiestucke op.73 - version for flugelhorn and piano (Schumann).

Nicholas Angelich / Renaud Capucon / Gautier Capucon - Piano Trio in D minor op.63 (Schumann).

Lilya Zilberstein / Dora Schwarzberg / Lucy Hall / Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg / Jorge Bosso - Piano Quintet in G minor op.30 (Taneyev).

Sergio Tiempo / Karin Lechner - Three Nocturnes : Nuages / Fetes (Debussy transcribed for two piano Ravel).

Alissa Margulis / Polina Leschenko - Sonata for violin and piano No.1 (Schnittke).

Gautier Capucon / Alexander Rabinovich-Barakovsky - Concerto for cello and windband (Gulda).

Average customer rating:

Not what I was Expecting
Mournful works for strings and piano performed by those who knew and loved Schnittke
Wonderful
Absolutely Amazing
Weeping Russian Music

Schnittke: Chamber Music

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B00004YYQV
Release Date: 2001-02-20

Tracks:

Fuga - Mark Lubotsky
Klingende Buchstaben - Alexander Ivashkin
Pno Qnt: Moderato
Pno Qnt: In Tempo Di Valse
Pno Qnt: Andante
Pno Qnt: Lento
Pno Qnt: Moderato Pastorale
Stille Musik - Mark Lubotsky/Alexander Ivashkin
Str Trio: Moderato - Mark Lubotsky/Theodore Kuchar/Alexander Ivashkin
Str Trio: Adagio - Mark Lubotsky/Theodore Kuchar/Alexander Ivashkin

Amazon.com

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) is not really known for writing simple music, or at least music whose many arguments are rather easy to follow. Yet what we have here are brilliantly conceived (and brilliantly executed) chamber works of astonishing simplicity, works that nonetheless convey Schnittke's characteristic polytonal style with absolute clarity. Best here is the meditative Piano Quintet (of 1976), in which the piano tends to unify the clashing lines of the argumentative strings. The same holds true for the String Trio (of 1985). This work is more laden with satirical moments, as it starts out flirting with the Baroque then becomes more twisted and nightmarish as it unravels. Schnittke's music isn't for everybody, but this disc might stand as an excellent primer for newcomers. Highly recommended. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Not what I was Expecting.......2007-05-27

...mediocre and best and the music was not at all what I thought it would sound like. I would have purchased something else

Mournful works for strings and piano performed by those who knew and loved Schnittke.......2006-09-12

This Naxos disc collects five pieces by the late Russian composer Alfred Schnittke. The first is recently rediscovered youthful work in its world premiere recording, and we then skip over his dabbling in serialism in the 1960s to music from later periods. The performers here are virtuosi, many of whom knew Schittke personally, such as the composer's widow Irina Schnittke on piano, his biographer Alexander Ivashkin on cello, and a dedicatee of several works, Mark Lubotsky, on violin. The pieces were recorded live at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music (hence the advertisement in the liner notes for the Townsville City Council) but all sound superb.

"Fuga" for solo violin (1953) appears for the first time here. Written when the composer was only 19 years old, this fugue hints much at the restricted musical life of Stalinist Russia in its ability to channel Bach so directly without interference from 20th century musical developments. A pizzicato passage between two arco portions divides the work cleanly in half. While entertaining enough, the piece seems totally unconnected from the rest of Schnittke's career, and so ultimately comes across as fairly unsubstantial.

Schnittke wrote his great "Piano Quintet" (1976) in memory of his mother, though many believe it to be mourning for Shostakovich as well. Opening with sorrowful pointilistic piano writing, it strikingly transforms into a gentle waltz, which is then intensified in tempo and dynamic until any element of fun in its swinging motions is overcome by tears. There follows a string threnody marked Andante . Schnittke has always had a talent for stunning endings--witness the Cello Concerto or the Concerto Grosso No. 2--and in the efervescent notes of the final "Moderato pastorale" the mourning of the previous four sections is slowly but firmly replaced by acceptance and peace.

The "String Trio", written in the spring of 1985, is one of Schnittke's last overtly polystilistic pieces--his first stroke later in the year changed his style drastically--and it is one of his most profound. Originally commisioned for the Alban Berg's centenary, the piece explores the general theme of earlier Viennese music as seen by a composer in a very different place and time. It is also bound up with Schnittke's brief residence in Vienna in his youth, when the city of so many musical heroes had been ravaged by war. Its musical basis is on the one hand fairly simple, a recurring six-note cadence, but on the other hand this twenty-minute work ranges through all sorts of styles in its repetition of this theme, from elegant classicism to melodramatic romanticism to the Soviet tradition.

"Stille Musik" (1979) is a brief piece for violin and cello that is probably my favourite here, a rich landscape of various sounds that avoid any fixed points but which nonetheless have a clear dramatic arc. Pizzicato and microtones give it some exotic touches. "Klingende Buchstaben" for solo cello (1988) is the latest piece represented here and the only one in his later style. The polystylism and hints at romanticism of his earlier material are gone, and instead we find a new clarity of texture and aggression.

If I rate this disc less than five stars, it's only because I'm partial to Schnitke's orchestral works. After getting used to the expanded timbres of the "Viola Concerto", "Cello Concerto No. 1", and the concerti grossi, these chamber works sound a tad bit lacking. Nonetheless, for fans of the composer who seek a budget introduction to some of the more sombre parts of his oeuvre this is a worthy buy. The strength of the performances and the renowned players make it all the more recommended.

Wonderful.......2005-10-18

Absolutelly beautiful,spiritual and sometimes very moving(especialy Quintet)CD of one of the XX century music giants.Alfred Schnittke is one from the group of former Soviet-Russian composers(others being Arvo Part,Valentin Silvestrov,Sofia Gubaidulina,Gya Kanchely and Edison Denisov) whose music got its true recognition all over the world ,proving that no political system can supress a true and profound Artist.Highly recommended ,together with another wonder - Trio Sonata+Viola Concerto performed by Yuri Bashmet.

Absolutely Amazing.......2004-07-08

After listening to this CD, I'm surprised Schnittke does not have a more famous name in the classical music world. I happened to come upon this item here and bought it because the previous reviewers seemed to like it so much, and I was not disappointed! Some of the pieces get a bit dense at times and seem to slip into meaningless cacophony, but overall these pieces are absolutely beautiful. My favorite, strangely enough, is the fugue for solo violin. How can this have gone unrecorded for so long!?

Highly recommended.

Weeping Russian Music.......2003-01-17

Up until I got this disc, I had little interest in the music of Schnittke, though I had heard him praised to the nines in the pages of Fanfare. I had heard one piece before that had struck me as forbiding and had not explored the composer in any more depth. My loss. This CD, at it's bargain price, induced me to try a little more Schnittke and I'm glad I did. This music is haunting and profound.

The two major works on this disc are the Piano Quintet and the String Trio. Both are sustantial, dark works in a "weep for Russia" kind of style. Schnittke obviously shows influence of Shostakovitch, and through the older Russian, of Mahler, Bruckner, Brahms, Beethoven....you name it. But he also includes techniques pioneered in the 60s in Germany France and Poland. Of the two large pieces, the Quintet is nominally more interesting. The piece is a heartfelt response to the death of the composer's mother. The string writing is dense, with the piano often chiming in on one repeated note, like a bell toll. Several movements contain the ghost of an old waltz, twisted beyond recognition. The language careens between tonal, and violently atonal and even microtonal. However the conclusion of the piece, in unadulterated major, is a true apotheosis. It moved me to tears.

The Trio is also a beautiful and very moving work. Set it a primarily dissonant serial language, windows open up in the work where romantic motives and lush triads ring through for a few seconds. What amazes about Schnittke's style in these works is how beautifully it all holds together. The works never feel like a pastiche. The tonal material is integrated into the overall framework in some mysterious way that I can't quite put my finger on. (Are there motivic connections? Is it something deeper?) As such, it seems more of a piece than much of the work of more quotational composers like Rochberg, fine as he is.

The smaller works on the album are also effective. The duo for Violin and Piano shows Schnittke's mastery of string writing. The sound is so rich and full that you rarely are aware that there are only two instruments, yet, the players never sound taxed beyond their limits. The solo cello work is lovely and the Fugue is a fun piece of juvenilia. On the whole, a terrific program

Tracks:

Winter Was Hard Op. 20
Half-Wolf Dances Mad In Moonlight
Frates
Six Bagatelles Op. 9
Forbidden Fruit
Bella By Barlight
Four, For Tango
Quartet No. 3
Adagio
A Door Is Ajar

Customer Reviews:

A great Cd.......2002-09-23

I think this album should recieve 5 stars. I think this because Forbidden Fruit by Zorn is a great piece of music which everyone should be familiar with. He quotes some great stuff in the work...among other things an excerpt from Beethoven's Grosse Fugue for String quartet. The rest of the music on this CD is fantastic. I feel the reviewer below gave three stars due to a inability to understand Zorn. But if you don't fall under that category or if you are willing to listen and be openminded I reccomend this CD without reserve

Good Kronos Stuff.......2002-06-24

This album was my introduction to the Kronos Quartet. It is as good an introduction as I've heard. It illustrates both the positive and negative aspects of this talented quartet.

Some of the works on this recording are quite wonderful. Most exciting to me is the excerpt from Terry Riley's Salome Dances for Piece. The movement is exciting and stunningly played. It is also interesting to compare the version here with the version on the Kronos' recording of the complete work. If you listen to them side by side you can hear the extent of improvisation in the work. The most interesting thing is that, despite the improvisations, the work has a similar impact in each version.

Other gems on the CD include the Salonen title track, the Piazolla pieces, and a passionate reading of the Barber Adagio, perhaps the best I've ever heard. The Kronos also does a fine job with the Webern, though the competition here is much more fierce. And they also do a great job with the Schnittke Quartet, though I have always found the Russian composer's work hard to get close to.

Some of the other pieces are less successful. The quartet version of the Part Fratres is not bad, but does not have the impact of the all cello version. The Jon Lurie piece is a throwaway. And I have never understood the world's fascination with John Zorn. Just don't get it.

All in all, this is a good introduction to the work of the Kronos and most interesting for an alternate version of a major score by Terry Riley. But it's not a must have.

An Eclectic Mix.......1998-09-23

This is a terrific CD. From Webern to John Lurie, to John Zorn's wild "Forbidden Fruit," to a stunning rendition of Barber's Adagio in it's original String Quartet form, this album rocks. Okay, probably not the most appropriate description of a string quartet album, but it does--it rocks. I think this is my favorite recording of the Barber Adagio. Some challenging pieces, but for anyone that loves contemporary classical music, this is a great set.

Average customer rating:

sublime and fascinating
Insomnia- No Way! This one is hot!
Insomnia? No Way-This is for the living!

Insomnia

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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Indeterminacy
4'33"
Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano

ASIN: B000026CMT
Release Date: 2000-02-08

Tracks:

Haru No Umi
Nocturne
Stanza 2
Insomnia
Les Fils De Etoiles: Prelude Du Premier Acte 'La Vocation'
Cinque Piccoli Duetti: Preludio
Cinque Piccoli Duetti: Pastorale
Cinque Piccoli Duetti: Canzonetta
Cinque Piccoli Duetti: Sogno
Cinque Piccoli Duetti: Rondo
'Daphne' Etude
Six Melodies: No. 1 (Rubato)
Six Melodies: No.2 (Legastissimo)
Six Melodies: No.3
Six Melodies: No.4
Six Melodies: No.5
Six Melodies: No.6
Spiegel Im Spiegel
Il Padrino
Suite In The Old Style: Pantomime

Amazon.com

This may be one of the least abrasive albums of contemporary music you'll ever hear. On this culture-melding disc, violinist Gidon Kremer and harpist Naoko Yoshino explore the dizzying roots and offshoots of modern compositions from the Far East and Europe. Every work on Insomnia--whether written by John Cage, Arvo Pärt, or Richard Strauss--seems to share influences and similarities with the next. While Japanese composer Michio Miyagi (1894-1956) was looking to France for influences on Haru no umi, Erik Satie (1866-1925) was looking to the East on the preludes to Le Fils des Étoiles. The comparisons are fascinating, and Kremer and Yoshino make this difficult music sound easy and hypnotic. Especially effective: Pärt's gorgeous Spiegel im Spiegel and Schnittke's almost New Age-sounding "Pantomime" (from Suite in the Old Style). Great stuff for modern lovers. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

sublime and fascinating.......2006-02-25

I could not agree more with the next reviewer: this is one of the most cohesive collections I've heard; each track segues effortlessly into the next. While the dissonance and atonality of much modern music grates on me; this CD is devoid of such things. The compositions are wonderfully luminous and the performer(s) approach rivets the listener. Excellent night-time composition music, seduction music- what have you. I strongly encourage you to take a chance on this!

Insomnia- No Way! This one is hot!.......2000-06-16

The title is misleading if not down right dubious. This is one hot album. Gidon Kremer is a performer of rare ability and he is at his best with the broad range of composers featured here. He is accompanied by an excellent harpist Naoko Yoshino who adds her own special charm to these pieces. They work well together and their skills are clearly evident. This album is not for everyone; it challenges the listener and forces you to pay attention but it is worth it.

Insomnia? No Way-This is for the living!.......2000-06-15

Gidon Kremer is at his most provocative best! The wide range of composers played here require all of his skill and he comes through. This album is not for everybody but those who want something new won't be disappointed. Naoko Yoshino's contributions on the harp are a delight in themselves and shouldn't be missed. From a musical point of view this is not for quiet nights! It gets you up and keep you up This album may challenge some people but that's one of its charms. Need a challenge go for it; its truly an adventure.

Schnittke-Concerto Grosso No. 2/Viola Concerto

Average customer rating:

Striking
Two 1980s "polystylism" pieces in truly definitive performance
fantastic performances of two Schnittke works for strings

Schnittke-Concerto Grosso No. 2/Viola Concerto
Alfred Schnittke , Oleg Kagan , Natalia Gutman , Gennadi Rozhdestvensky , and Yuri Bashmet
Manufacturer: Moscow Studio
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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Kremer Plays Schnittke

ASIN: B0002IQMO8
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Tracks:

I. Andantino. Allegro
II. Pesante
III. Allegro
IV. Andantino
I. Largo
II. Allegro Molto
III. Largo

Album Description

The term "authentic performance" is tossed around loosely these days, but here is a historic recording as "original" and "authentic" as has ever been produced. The Concerto Grosso No. 2 was composed by Alfred Schnittke expressly for violinist Oleg Kagan and his wife, cellist Natalia Gutman, who are the soloists here. The Viola Concerto was written by Schnittke for violist Yuri Bashment, who performs it here.

These works are representative examples of Schnittke's "polystylism," scored for conventional orchestra augmented by electric guitar, drum kit, brake drum and other instruments not usually heard in "classical" music.

Customer Reviews:

Striking.......2006-12-10

I am new to Schnittke and I bought this album really out of curiosity. His music is unique and has to be heard as it contains some of the most strikingly beautiful melodies I have ever stumbled across. The quality of audio is also top class...

Two 1980s "polystylism" pieces in truly definitive performance.......2005-08-20

This disc, part of the Moscow Studio Archives series of groundbreaking Soviet performances, collects two works by the late Alfred Schnittke, his Second Concerto Grosso for violin, cello, and orchestra, and the Viola Concerto. They are performed by the dedicatees themselves with the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. In the early 1980s, Schnittke was exploring a style he called "polystylism", a Russian answer to postmodernism in which modern elements mingle effortlessly with quotations from the works of centuries past. The works here serve as fit examples of this intriguing method of composition.

The "Concerto Grosso No. 2" for violin, cello, and orchestra was written for the Soviet dynamic duo of violinist Oleg Kagan and his wife the cellist Natalie Gutman, a legendary partnership that ended with Kagan's untimely death. Schnittke's first concerto grosso was a stately and serious piece in which a distinctly modern tone was occasionally invaded by quotation from baroque works. This second concerto grosso, on the other hand, is comical. The violin begans by playing the well-known tune "Silent Night" before the orchestra brashly interrupts with a quotation from Bach's Sixth Brandenburg Concerto. The work then becomes positively zany as electric guitar and a rock drum kit join in the performance of the Handel quotation. Over the first movement, tension is built by pairing baroque writing and more Handel quotations against menacing modern moments. In the second movement, "Silent Night" returns, but it becomes ever more obvious that orchestral forces are out to stop the tune from reaching the listener. In the third movement, the Brandenburg quotation waltzes triumphantly over the scene, but eventually collapses under its own weight, letting "Silent Night" return at the end without impediment. This performance by the work's dedicatees is certainly much better than a recent one on Chandos with Gridenko and Ivashkin, which is unlistenable in comparison.

The "Viola Concerto" was written in 1985 especially for Yuri Bashmet, the most renown violist of the 1980s and 1990s, and one credited with the rebirth of writing for the instrument. The concerto is in a standard three movements, but is noteworthy for using no violins, which lends a poignant tone to the work, which must depend on low strings. The opening movement is sorrowful, with an opening motive based on Bashmet's name. The middle movement is quintessential Schnittke, a blend of colours and styles (waltzes, military marches, elegies, romantic tearjeakers) that are incongruent yet strangely complementary to each other. However, the viola is battered by the many orchestral forces, and in the long, drawn-out last movement he slowly expires as from a mortal wound.The Viola Concerto is a downer, a piece that charts Schnittke's fascination with pain and death as well as anything else he wrote in the last fifteen years of his life. This piece is not as immediately entertaining as the concerto grosso, but in the end is perhaps superior.

All in all this is an exceptional disc and a wonderfully economic purchase. It may also serve as an important document of art under Communism, as the soloists are continually beaten up by great impersonal forces. If you've never heard the work of Alfred Schnittke before, pick this up as a fine introduction, although the Deutsche Grammaphon disc (part of the "Echo 20/21" series) with Gidon Kremer playing in two other concerti grossi is a good buy as well.

fantastic performances of two Schnittke works for strings.......2005-06-12

This release in the valuable new Moscow Studio Archives series includes two superb performances, and the first recordings of both works -- the "Concerto Grosso No. 2" and the "Viola Concerto." Both are performed by their dedicatees, violinist Oleg Kagan and cellist Natalie Gutman, who were married, and violist Yuri Bashmet. Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducts the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra for both recordings, from 1986 and 1987.

Like the CG1, the CG2 is full of wild, polystylistic elements, including electric guitar and drums playing funk rock and a reference to Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. The core contrast is the violin and cello playing Silent Night (the sacred), interrupted again and again by a barrage of loud, grotesque and quite profane outbursts from orchestra and percussion, until the quiet, worshipful melody finally reasserts itself in the end. While certainly not Schnittke's finest composition, Kagan and Gutman in this performance best capture the sacred standpoint against which all the other mayhem surges. The more recent recording by Ivashkin and Polyansky (paired with Schnittke's Symphony No. 6 -- see my review) is more superficial, as it fails to establish the ground against which the dizzying array of parodic figures is contrasted.

The "Viola Concerto," written for Bashmet, is clearly one of Schnittke's finest works, lyrical melodrama at its best. Bashmet's performances from the beginning were wildly popular, and established his reputation as a world-class violist. He has recorded it again, as has Kim Kashkashian, and I haven't heard any of the alternative performances, but this one, the first, is powerful and moving.

This disc is absolutely superb, essential for Schnittke devotees and highly recommended to anyone coming to his music for the first time!

Average customer rating:

Technicals and musical form
A wonderful set
masterful anguish and dread
a masterpiece.
Kronos doesn't understand Schnittke!

Schnittke: Complete String Quartets
Alfred Schnittke , Hank Dutt , David Harrington , Joan Jeanrenaud , John Sherba , and Kronos Quartet
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000006E4L
Release Date: 1998-05-19

Tracks:

String Quartet No. 1: I. Sonata - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 1: II. Canon - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 1: III. Cadenza - A. SCHNITTKE
Canon In Memory Of I. Stravinsky - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 2: I. Moderato - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 2: II. Agitato - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 2: III. Mesto - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 2: IV. Moderato - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 3: I. Andante - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 3: II. Agitato - A. SCHNITTKE
String Quartet No. 3: III. Pesante - A. SCHNITTKE

Tracks:

String Quartet No. 4: I. Lento - Alfred Schnittke
String Quartet No. 4: II. Allegro - Alfred Schnittke
String Quartet No. 4: III. Lento - Alfred Schnittke
String Quartet No. 4: IV. Vivace - Alfred Schnittke
String Quartet No. 4: V. Lento - Alfred Schnittke
Collected Songs Where Every Verse is Filled With Grief - Alfred Schnittke

Amazon.com essential recording

These quartets (and who else but the Kronos Quartet should record them) represent Schnittke at his polystylistic best. The Kronos Quartet captures the essence of Schnittke's multi-hued textures, but these are not friendly works. In fact, they are quite foreboding--but then so are the quartets of Shostakovich and Bartók. This is a two-disc set that also includes the brief "Canon in Memory of I. Stravinsky" and Collected Songs. Schnittke's best music contains its own instruction manual. Listen long enough and you'll get it. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Technicals and musical form.......2006-01-11

Both aspects of music are necessary to make a satsifiing performance. The Kronos achieves excellence in both levels. I disagree with the reviewer who says "mechanical excercise" in performance.
I own the Shostakovich sq's with the Borodin/Melodyia/1970's recording, and can compare this performance to that legendary group/recording.IOW the essence of the music comes forth from the instruments, the music is alive. "leaves the instruments"
I was told by a friend from a classical music chat forum, Good music guide, that this Kronos was not his recommended choice.
But my research indicated otherwise. So I "took the chance" and ordered it. To my surprise this recording more than met my hopes for a fine recording.
As a reviewer mentioned, if you are familiar with Bartok and Shostakovich's sq's, the Schnittke will be a welcomed addition to your chamber listenings.
The russians have fully acknowledged Schnittke as Shostakovich's true heir. Something that syruck me at first hearing hiw syms 3/Rozhdestvensy, 4/Rozhdestvensky, and especially Schnittke's incredible Concerto grosso4/Sym5 (goes by that name , as it botha sym and a concerto grosso). On the BIS label.
Schnittke, one of the last genius in composition, beginning with Bach. Music of a sacred nature, food for the soul of modern man.

EDIT:
Now after a few months of knowing this set, I'm convinced of the deep devotion of the Kronos in the Schnittke.
Deeply committed performance in these chamber works of high genius.
As much as I love the Bartok and Shostakovich sq's, I' might have to say the Schnittke offer even more.
Highly recommended to all Schnittke fans.

A wonderful set.......2002-03-06

I adore this recording. The Kronos do an excellent job of playing the heart out of these anguished and soulful pieces. (I heard them perform all 4 quartets in one concert recital, back in 1994 or so.) Schnittke wrote amazingly for strings, especially violins. In fact, I can't think of another late twentieth century composer who wrote so intensely and idiomatically for string instruments. This is like music for live wires. I was interested to read Steve Reich's liner notes for his recent recording of Triple Quartet, where he cites the Agitato movment of the Second Quartet as an inspiration. I love that movement also, there is nothing like it. I would not be without the performance of the Second Quartet that was recorded by the Beethoven Quartet back in the early 80s, available on Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab at one time, but the Kronos are no mere make-do. A tremendous musical event is on offer here. All we need now is a Kronos recordng of Schnittke's wonderful Piano Quintet! (Perhaps with Aji Takahashi on piano?)

masterful anguish and dread.......2001-09-10

This is a powerful, harrowing cycle of string quartets, beautifully played by the Kronos Quartet, and recorded for Nonesuch. The First, from 1966, defiantly uses serialism, and this contributed to Schnittke's subsequent dissident status with the regime. He was forced to make his living doing film scores, which for some reason was allowed. The Second Quartet, from 1980, shows a remarkable continuity with the First, despite the long interval. It is the Third Quartet (and we have here the recording previously issued on WINTER WAS HARD in 1987) from 1983 that marks Schnittke's turn to "polystylism," with references to Beethoven, Wagner and Shostakovich. Less harsh, this piece captures as well as any Schnittke's basic affinity with Mahler and Shostakovich, as opposed to the more radical innovations in 20th century music. The 35-minute Fourth Quartet is masterful, full of the anguish and dread so characteristic of Schnittke.

This is a splendid set that stands alongside the finest interpretations of Bartok, Shostakovich, Kurtag, Ligeti, and Carter. I consider Schnittke to be one of the best composers of the late 20th century -- see my ALFRED SCHNITTKE'S TRAGICOMIC SOUNDWORLD for more recordings and reviews.

a masterpiece........2000-06-29

i know nothing of Schnittke's music. i only know what moves me. these quartets move me. the Kronos Quartet are masters of interpreting 20th century music. and they do a magnificent job here, bringing Schnittke's notes off paper and into the air. It can be intense and then in a milli-second turn clam. the composition is amazing. Schnittke uses dissonance to paint a portrait so vivid one can almost see the music floating through the air. a must for lovers of 20th century music and a must for those wanting to expand their ear.

Kronos doesn't understand Schnittke!.......1999-11-04

Listening to the Kronos quartet playing Schnittke's Fourth Quartet is purely an intellectual exercice. In their seriousness they don't seem to capture the emotional spirit of the late composer. Compare it to the intelligent, emotional rendition of the Fourth Quartet by the Alban Berg Quartet (dedicatee of the work) and you will measure the ocean between them... Kronos should smile for a change! On another note, the CD's booklet is interesting and fun too!
Again listen to the alternative: Alban Berg Quartet for the Fourth and Borodine for the Third... The discovery is worth spending a bit more time and effort!

Average customer rating:

Fine Shostakovich, puzzling Schnittke
two brilliant and moving Russian piano quintets
A brilliant piece from Schnittke
Lousy Indexing, Great Performance

Piano Quintets
Dmitry Shostakovich , Alfred Schnittke , and Vermeer Quartet
Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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Shostakovich: The Gadfly; Five Days - Five Nights (Suites)

ASIN: B00006GO41
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Tracks:

Prelude
Fugue
Scherzo
Intermezzo
Finale
Moderato
In Tempo Di Valse
Andante
Lento
Moderato Pastorale

Customer Reviews:

Fine Shostakovich, puzzling Schnittke.......2007-02-16

The performance of the Shostakovich quintet on this CD is sober and dramatic. Although some groups have more strongly emphasized the contrasting moods of this work, I have no heard a performance of this work that I have enjoyed more. Schnittke's quintet is very theatrical and would make a fine ballet or film score. As pure chamber music, it is puzzling.

two brilliant and moving Russian piano quintets.......2006-02-06

Naxos presents Boris Berman and the Vermeer Quartet performing the Shostakovich and Schnittke piano quintets, two brilliant and very different works. Shostakovich's quintet was written in 1940, and first performed by the composer and the Beethoven Quartet on November 23, 1940. It was an immediate success, and for many years was considered in the West to be a greater work than his symphonies (it was written in between the 6th and 7th Symphonies). In five movements, it is quite accessible, and reminds me of a Mahler symphony in that it ranges widely in style and mood, from lively and ebullient to the darkest grief. It ends on a cheerful note, which no doubt helped secure it official recognition from Stalin and the regime. Its popularity with the Russian people, I can't help but think, was probably, like the 5th Symphony, more due to its darker qualities.

Schnittke's quintet, which he began in 1972 and finished in 1975, was a response to the death of his mother. It is a much more radical work than Shostakovich's, and much more grim. The second movement centers on a haunting waltz, which captures the tonal-oriented ear, but most of the piece is densely chromatic (ie, atonal). The overwhelming, crushing grief is resolved, if only tentatively, at the end as a lovely, simple melody emerges, and is repeated 14 times fading into a fragile sense of peace and resolution.

This is a splendid recording of a soulful performance, and should be heard by all who enjoy the music of either Shostakovich or Schnittke. The Shostakovich Quintet is a 20th Century work that already sounds like it belongs alongside Beethoven and the other classical greats. The Schnittke Quintet is more challenging, but deserves to be heard. (Thanks to the Naxos art department for the great Russian constructivist painting!)

For more Shostakovich reviews and recommendations, see my SHOSTAKOVICH: A LISTENER'S GUIDE list. For more Schnittke reviews and recommendations, see my ALFRED SCHNITTKE'S TRAGICOMIC SOUNDWORLD list.

A brilliant piece from Schnittke.......2005-01-02

I purchased this disc for the most part because of my interest in Shostokovich; I had heard little about Schnittke and had deduced that he was an imitator of his more famous fellow Russian.

While the Shostakovich piano quintet was interesting in its own right, it was the Schnittke quintet that truly impressed me. In fact, it was the most unique and musically interesting piece of 20th century classical I had heard up to that point. Schnittke is a master at creating a mysterious and foreboding atmosphere, perhaps the best; the stabbing, minimal piano lines and slurred, dissonant strings are the components of a bleak and unsettling musical landscape that sticks in the mind long after the CD is over. Along with his signature sound, he often experiments in other areas of composition, from waltz to tango to baroque, and integrates them well into the music - this makes his compositions doubly interesting.

Schnittke has since become one of my favorite composers, and probably deserves more recognition. The sadness, desolation, and strangeness of his music is a perfect soundtrack for today. The piano quintet is a good introduction to his works; my personal favorite works of his are his more radical violin concertos. Fans of dark and brooding classical, or the rock group Univers Zero, buy immediately.

Lousy Indexing, Great Performance.......2003-03-11

You can't find this album if you ask Amazon to search for the Vermeer Quartet; the only performer listed is the pianist, Berman. Having heard the Vermeer do this piece live, from ten feet away, I find this performance as compelling as that one, but the sound is of course a bit less full. Schnittke's piece is a logical pairing, and not common on disc.

Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 4/Three Sacred Hymns

Average customer rating:

Schnittke's Fourth, a stunning work of religious devotion
Polyansky did it again...

Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 4/Three Sacred Hymns

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000000AZA
Release Date: 1996-03-19

Tracks:

Hail To The Holy Virgin
Lord Jesus, Son Of God
Our Father (The Lord's Prayer)
Andante Poco Pesante/Moderato/Molto Pesante/Moderato/Vivo/Moderato/Andante, Poco Pesante

Amazon.com

Schnittke's polystylistic approach to music works extraordinarily well since he has always brought a strong sense of architecture to his writing. Here, in Three Sacred Hymns (1983), he takes the poetry of a 10th-century Armenian monk and sets it to a more familiar Russian Orthodox format. This is an a cappella piece written for Varley Polyansky himself. The Symphony 4 (1984) draws musically on three main strands of Christianity--Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant- - while underneath there is a three-note semitone interval motif symbolizing synagogue chant. It's a more meditative work than his other symphonies; it is also one of his best. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Schnittke's Fourth, a stunning work of religious devotion.......2006-06-30

This Chandos disc leads off with the "Three Sacred Hymns," sung by the Russian State Symphonic Cappella. These are haunting and prayerful, and serve as a perfect introduction to one of Schnittke's most perfectly realized works, Symphony No. 4 (1984). Valery Polyansky leads the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, recorded in Moscow in 1994. Polyansky's entire series of Schnittke recordings for Chandos is superb.

The liner notes by Ronald Weitzman are very helpful in untangling the single movement work's complexities, but go into such detail as to lose the forest for the trees in terms of what the Symphony actually sounds like. It tells the story of Christ's life through Mary's eyes, following the Catholic Rosary. (Schnittke converted to his mother's Catholicism late in life, though he tended to rely more on Russian Orthodox elements in his sacred music.) It begins slowly and mysteriously, the sound of prayer, and gradually grows louder and more complex, culminating successively in two great terror-filled climaxes, the second of which marks the Crucifixion. Building on Beethoven and Mahler's symphonic innovations incorporating vocals, Schnittke uses not only tenor and countertenor voices at key junctures, and a chorus for the finale, but also features passages that sound like a piano concerto. A trio of piano, celesta and harpsichord is subtly featured throughout the work, but the piano takes dramatic solo turns as the crescendos build.

In the end, of course, comes the Resurrection, as Love triumphs over Evil. The chorus sings Ave Maria, "Hail to the Holy Virgin," recapituating the first of the "Three Sacred Hymns." Bells chime and there is a strong sensation of being carried out of a church where the choir sings, up and out on the bells toward God.

Symphony No. 4 is elaborately and carefully constructed, both musically and in terms of religious symbolism. Schnittke uses themes representing the three main strands of Christianity -- Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant -- as well as a theme representing Judaism, and interweaves them. Out of these themes he constructs a plot that follows the Rosary through the states of Joy, Sorrow and Glory, and each of these contains five episodes, telling the story of Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection.

But it is not necessary to follow these intricacies in order to appreciate the music -- it speaks very clearly of the sacred on a level beyond words.

For more by Alfred Schnittke, one of the best composers of the late 20th century, see my list SCHNITTKE: A LISTENER'S GUIDE.

Polyansky did it again..........2002-07-13

another convincing masterpiece under Polyansky tasteful, intelligent baton. A must have!

Average customer rating:

The Many Musics of Gidon Kremer

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000LC4TIQ
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Tracks:

1. Allegro Non Troppo
2. Adagio
3. Allegro Giocoso, Ma Non Troppo Vivace
2. Andante
3. Allegro Molto
Note=104 - Note=120
5. Rondo: Agitato
6. Epilogo (Tempo Di Elegia)

Tracks:

1. Allegro Con Brio
2. Adagio Cantabile
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. Finale: Allegro-Presto
3. Allegro Vivace
Theme-Variation 1: Animato-Variation 2-Variation 3: Maestoso-Variation 4: Lento-Variation 5: Marcato-Variation 6: Amoroso-Variation 7
2. Improvisation. Andante Cantabile
4. Rondo Alla Zingarese
Wie Der Alte Leiermann
Fuga Y Misterio
Oblivion

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