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TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36. Symphony No. 5 in E minor,
Op. 64. Sympohony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 "Pathétique." SHOSTAKOVICH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77. ViolinConcerto
No. 2 in C sharp minor, Op. 129. SHOSTAKOVICH: Three Fantastic Dances. WEINBERG: Solo Violin
Sonata No. 1, Op. 82. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95. Solo Violin
Sonata No. 3,
Op. 126. Yet another recording of Tchaikovsky symphonies, and it turns out to be a winner.The Arctic Philharmonic is a relatively new ensemble, founded in 2009 serving cities in the Arctic as well as touring. Christian Lindbergh is their conductor and they have made three previous recordings for BIS: tuba concertos played by Oystein Baadsvik, a disk of music of Olsen, and Tchaikovskiy's Symphony No. 5. These new recordings (symphonies 4 and 6) were made April 2015 (Symphony No. 4), February 2016 (No. 6). Symphony 5 was recorded January/February 2012. Symphonies 4 and 6 were recorded in Stormen Concert Hall in Bodo, Norway No.5, in Norway's Harstadt Kulturehaus. The orchestra is first-rate in every way, and gives vivacious performances of all three symphonies, usually on the brisk side, energetic memorable performances. And the BIS engineers have done their usual expert job, with a full, rich and impactful sound. This is the orchestra;s first SACD for BIS - the previous issue of Sym,phony 5 was regular stereo. I look forward to future releases from this splendid combination of orchestra and conductor. Frank Peter Zimmermann continues his traversal of major violin concertos with this magnificent SACD of the two by Shodstakovich. He already has recorded most of the standard repertory as well as seldom-heard works by Martinu and Ligeti. His performance of the Shostakovich concertos is spectacular in every way, surely among the finest available. And he has the advantage of the superb NDR orchestra under Alan Gilbert's dynamic direction in these live performances recorded in Hamburg. It is fascinating too contrast the serene lyric opening of Concerto No. 1 with the frantic, demonic finale of Concerto No. 2. Audio is outstanding. Don't miss this disk! Mieczyslaw Weinberg is an unjustly neglected Russian composer. A contemporary of Shosdtakovich, he was completely overshadowed by his countryman. He composed profusely, 20 symphonies, 17 string quartets, concertos music for solo instruments, vocal music, and more than 20 operas .A video of his powerful opera The Passenger recently was mentioned on this site (REVIEW). For more information about Weinberg, check S.G.S's perceptive comments some years ago (REVIEW). Now, fortunately, we are seeing more recordings of his work, and we now have this SACD of his three sonatas for solo violin, intensely challenging for both performer and audience. Spiky dissonance prevails, the mood lightened only by Shostakovich's Three Fantastic Dances written in 1922 for piano but here are heard in a transcription for violin and piano by Harry Glickman. Linus Roth, at the beginning of his career, already has recorded some of Weinberg's works and has formed the International Weinberg Society. He surely impresses on this recording—fascinating repertory, perfectly presented. R.E.B. (December 2016) |