Stunning, richly evocative updating of Mahler and Bruckner
Douglas C. Brown | Livonia, MI and Toledo, OH USA | 11/10/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I listened to this CD daily for months on end. It is difficult to describe how Silvestrov achieves his effects, but the end result is hypnotic. This symphony has a narrative strength all too rare in today's symphonic music. For a beguiling taste, listen to the fourth track (the symphony is in a single lengthy movement, but Sony is to be congratulated for providing such extensive interior access). Then go back and listen from the start. At times dissonant, other times merely strange, more often lushly lyrical, the Fifth Symphony makes a haunting impact that compels the listener to hear the work over and over again. The coupled "Piano Concerto" is similarly attractive, but fails to make the lasting impact of the symphony. And don't be misled by other earlier works by this contemporary Russian composer, such as the Second Symphony, which seems to aim for greater "modernity" while only infrequently hinting at the sublime depths of the Fifth.Do yourself a favor and get ahold of this recording. It will take you to realms rarely visited in today's symphonic music."
Silvestrov's Masterpiece
Mark Kenderdine | Philadelphia | 08/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I wish that I could recall who suggested this work to me, because it led me into the world of Silvestrov's music. Hopefully this recording is re-issued, allowing others to experience it also."
A unique and fresh soundworld which works in a great orchest
Christopher Culver | 08/26/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"After running afoul of Soviet music bureaucrats for writing bold and independent-minded music, the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov left the public eye for several years. When he returned in the late 1970s, it was with a radical new style. The modernist who had once tried to blaze a new trail forward with the latest techniques felt that music had split into too many different directions, and the area he would direct his energies would be into "postludes" on last common musical heritage, the Classical and Romantic eras. The distinctive soundworld he developed is marked by lush orchestral textures based greatly in traditional harmony, but without any development. The critic Paul Griffith's compared a Silvestrov orchestral work to a black lake, whose surface is disturbed by strokes of an oar, melodies arising in one instrument to leave "ripples" in the lines of surrounding players. Yet, this is not a complete return to the past, for here and there we find weird leaps in Webern-like intervals
The Symphony No. 5 (1980-1982) was Silvestrov's first big orchestral work in his new style. Cast in a single movement, we find layers and layers of "commentary" on the works of late great Romantic composers like Bruckner and Mahler. Lovely flute and harp lines that contemplatively go on and on are interrupted by sudden bangs on percussion and brass, and then replaced with new melodies. The only problem is the length. While the music is beautiful, it doesn't seem like it can be sustained at 47 minutes. One's attention begins to wander not much past halfway in.
But luckily the disc includes the shorter orchestral work "Postludium" (1984). It is essentially the same sort of attempt as the Symphony, but with a notable piano part. Here one feels no fatigue at listening all the way through, and in fact I return to this piece more than any other Silvestrov work. There isn't much of a difference in this performance from the one on the ECM disc, and Alexei Lubimov is the soloist there as well. I would recommend hearing the piece here on Sony, though, because the symphony is a more historically important work than "Metamusik" on the ECM disc.
A major reservation I have about Silvestrov is that he seems to have gotten himself stuck in a rut, and stylistic progress appears in only a few recent works. To me he resembles very much Einojuhani Rautavaara, who has been rewriting the same piece for over 30 years now. Even his successful works, like the "Requiem for Larissa", seem to appeal to me only by the skin of their teeth. Silvestrov is a composer worth encountering for his unique style and to understand better the late Soviet arts world--Silvestrov maintained close friendships with Gubaidulina, Schnittke, Aigi and others. Still, there's no guarantee that you'll want to move past this disc."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1