Search - Alfred Schnittke, Valery Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra :: Schnittke: Cello Concerto No. 2/(K)ein Sommernachtstraum

Retrovisions on Future Events

Kris De Ruysscher | Brussels, Belgium | 05/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It must have been 1992, one Thursday afternoon I sat waiting in my car for the postoffice to open after lunch. I had Radio 3 on, and caught about the last 20 minutes of a new kind of music that frankly mesmerized me. It lead to my studying music theory and composition so you can say it was a pivotal determining event in my life. Up to that moment, my knowledge of modern classical music was restricted to Bartok, Stravinsky, Reich and various "filmcomposers" [there are hidden masterpieces to be found here!]. Schnittke opened my eyes forever. The cello concerto is no more difficult than Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: it transports the listener to a state of transcendental consciousness. Let me put it this way: it sometimes happens that you come out of a (movie)theatre or out of a book with your senses so sharpened you seem to be able to grasp the inner and outer limits of your existence. This composition does the same. Schnittke unleashes the same dramatic power as say Gustav Mahler in his 6th. In a way, Mahler was in a similar emotional position as Schnittke: always a foreigner. "As a Bohemian in Austria, as an Austrian in Germany and as a Jew all over the world". Yet no Weltschmerz here, but a composer whose fights against ill health [which he ultimately lost in 1996-and another link to Mahler] reaffirmed his will to live. This concerto will change your view on contemporary music forever."

Rostropovich/Osawa is still the definitive recording

villegem | canada | 01/11/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"(K)ein Sommernachtstraum under Eri Klas at the Schnittke Barbican 2001 was deliciously conducted and in my view bettered Polyansky.

As for the concerto, as much as Ivashkin should be commanded and supported for his relentless efforts in promoting Schnittke's memory and his music, Rostropovich reading of the work is just supreme and so far any other recording has fallen short, this one no exception. Still it should be in any decent discography of Schnittke's works."