Topic: Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)

[Greg]

The Conc grosso No.1 is a good neo-baroque piece. Otherwise Schnittke is one distinctly second-rate composer and his prominance is just a mystery, as is this dumb thread, and obviously related to garbage suitable marketing and promotion he managed to secure. His music is weak.

Obviously, that's one of his best, but have you ever listened to the 1st Symphony or the Piano Concerto?

[Sean]

Greg, the concerto for piano and strings? Yes. Not the symphony though, only the Seventh. I have difficulty taking this music very seriously.

[bhodges]

Here is a nicely detailed write-up by Carla Rees of the Proms performance of Schnittke's Nagasaki, which Gergiev conducted along with Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony.  (Would have love to have heard this concert.)

--Bruce

[offbeat]

Here is a nicely detailed write-up by Carla Rees of the Proms performance of Schnittke's Nagasaki, which Gergiev conducted along with Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony.  (Would have love to have heard this concert.)

--Bruce

Hi Bruce - i heard this concert on the radio and was quite special for me - must admit Nagasaki was first hearing for me but much to digest - quite different from what little ive heard of Schnittke mainly on you tube - any recommendations ?
I know the Shostakovich eighth very well - not sure if this was good performance or not but i enjoyed it - i thought the write up Carla Rees gave was excellent giving great picture of the tone of this great work - and what she said about audience noise was so true - i wish audiences could be more respectful but seems a world wide affliction 

[bhodges]

Hi Bruce - i heard this concert on the radio and was quite special for me - must admit Nagasaki was first hearing for me but much to digest - quite different from what little ive heard of Schnittke mainly on you tube - any recommendations ?
I know the Shostakovich eighth very well - not sure if this was good performance or not but i enjoyed it - i thought the write up Carla Rees gave was excellent giving great picture of the tone of this great work - and what she said about audience noise was so true - i wish audiences could be more respectful but seems a world wide affliction 

Hey offbeat!  If you haven't heard the Piano Quintet, it's almost a "must," and there are many good recordings to choose from.  And here is a short thread with some more recommendations for that and other pieces, if you haven't seen it already.

And yes, the audience noise is definitely everywhere.  You should hear some of the audiences for the New York Philharmonic; you have to wonder why some people even leave their homes. 

--Bruce

[Velimir]

Now this new disc looks interesting. It's a pairing of Schnittke's Viola Concerto with, er, Elgar's "Viola Concerto." Anyone heard it yet?:

http://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Schnittke-Concertos-Philharmonia-Eschenbach/dp/B002D1GM0G

[erato]

Rerelease: 6 CDs for the price og 2. Any comments?

ALFRED SCHNITTKE

The Ten Symphonies
 
Symphony Nos. 0 & 1
Symphony No. 2 ‘St. Florian’
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4 (version for counter-tenor, tenor, mixed choir & orchestra)
Symphony Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8
Symphony No. 9 (reconstruction by Alexander Raskatov 2006)
 
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Stockholm Sinfonietta
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra
Cape Philharmonic Orchestra
 
Conductors:
Leif Segerstam, Eri Klas, Tadaaki Otaka, Okko Kamu
Neeme Jarvi, Lu Jia, Owain Arwel Hughes

These recordings, part of the Schnittke Edition begun in 1987, have been brought together in a 6CD boxed set, which includes an initiated essay by Schnittke’s close associate Alexander Ivashkin: a fascinating chapter in the history of the late 20th Century symphony.

BIS 6cds BISCD1767-68

[edward]

It might be worth considering, particularly if you don't have the original issues or don't want the couplings on them (I think they contain the only extant recordings of Pianissimo, Nagasaki, For Liverpool and the Symphonic Prelude). IMO the performances of the 8th and, especially, the 6th are uncompetitive; and the 5th is better served by Chailly (only available on an ArkivCD at present).

[erato]

It might be worth considering, particularly if you don't have the original issues or don't want the couplings on them (I think they contain the only extant recordings of Pianissimo, Nagasaki, For Liverpool and the Symphonic Prelude). IMO the performances of the 8th and, especially, the 6th are uncompetitive; and the 5th is better served by Chailly (only available on an ArkivCD at present).

Thanks. I find Chailly practically always worthwhile with any 20th century stuff he does. 

[CRCulver]

I thought I'd embark on Schnittke's entire symphony cycle, but I lack the Second. Living out of a backpack at the moment and not yet ready to order the disc, I look on several pirated music websites but find nothing, though Schnittke's other symphonies are all there. On Amazon, there's only a single review of the "St. Florian". Curious. Why is this symphony so little talked about compared to the others?

[CRCulver]

See, as soon as the topic of the "St Florian" comes up, all discussion suddenly ends. This is a cursed symphony. :-)

[Maciek]

BIS is now releasing a 6 CD box with the 10 symphonies (0-9).

I have most of mine on CHANDOS (Polyansky and Rozhdstvensky; only the 5th on BIS with Neeme Jarvi; I don't have 0 and 9). I wonder if it's worth splurging on an alternative set? I like Schnittke but his symphonies are not my particular favorites...

[Lethe]

Sounds like you could better spend your money on other things... I would recommend trying the BIS disc with No.0 and Nagasaki, though. Nagasaki is brilliant (although this version has a kind of forced upbeat ending for purposes of censorship), and symphony no.0 is ever so good, despite being an almost total emulation of Shostakovich.

[Maciek]

Sounds like you could better spend your money on other things...

Ha, ha, ha! I'd never have expected to read that sentence on this board!

Seriously, though, I'm now putting Nagasaki at the top of my wishlist. Thanks for rec.

[Catison]

Sounds like you could better spend your money on other things... I would recommend trying the BIS disc with No.0 and Nagasaki, though. Nagasaki is brilliant (although this version has a kind of forced upbeat ending for purposes of censorship), and symphony no.0 is ever so good, despite being an almost total emulation of Shostakovich.

What about for someone who has no Schnittke yet?

[Lethe]

What about for someone who has no Schnittke yet?

Perfect, if they know what they're expecting Recordings of Schnittke's symphonies are odd in that there doesn't seem to be much consensus on which are "best" - each disc has its individual detractors, which makes the BIS cycle as good as any. It might still be better for the person to buy a CD of one of the symphonies on a different label (perhaps Chandos) first, so know whether they like the style or not, meaning they could then potentially go ahead and buy the BIS box without any performance duplication.

I feel that a more eloquent person could've said the above in half the words.

But of course, the symphonies only tell half the story, and I would strongly advise any Schnittke newbie to give a disc of chamber music a try as well (preferably the piano quintet, string trio, or a quartet).

[Velimir]

What about for someone who has no Schnittke yet?

Assuming you mean yourself: Schnittke is funny in that there seems to be no "standard rec" CD or two for people who want to get into him.

My first Schnittke was the Rostropovich/Ozawa CD containing the 2nd Cello Cto and In Memoriam (which is the orchestration of the Piano Quintet).

I echo the above Lethe comment about there being no consensus yet regarding the symphonies. Of the ones I've heard though, I can unhesitatingly recommend the 8th (I have the Rozhdestvensky recording).

And yeah, you should look into the chamber music, such as the Piano 5tet or the string 4tets.

Peer Gynt is an absolutely staggering work, but it's 2 CDs on BIS, hence expensive.

[Scarpia]

Listened to the Schnittke concerto for piano and strings yesterday (the BIS recording).  An interesting work.  I don't know how seriously to take this music.  It seems to incorporate influences form such diverse sources, such as strings playing archaic sounding harmonies as the piano pounds out discordant chords.  Sometimes I think he is just playing with us, which isn't necessarily bad.

[Lethe]

Listened to the Schnittke concerto for piano and strings yesterday (the BIS recording).  An interesting work.  I don't know how seriously to take this music.  It seems to incorporate influences form such diverse sources, such as strings playing archaic sounding harmonies as the piano pounds out discordant chords.  Sometimes I think he is just playing with us, which isn't necessarily bad.

This is one of the many strange things about Schnittke - he mixes genuine agony with whimsy - occasionally in the same pieces - creating a fractured effect which cripple the music's chances of being compared to more objectively appreciable composers with more concentrated styles and "periods" (I'm thinking Schoenberg, Stravinsky, etc). As a result he will always be considered flawed, even by his fans, and it takes something of a leap of faith to embrace the style.

[Scarpia]

This is one of the many strange things about Schnittke - he mixes genuine agony with whimsy - occasionally in the same pieces - creating a fractured effect which cripple the music's chances of being compared to more objectively appreciable composers with more concentrated styles and "periods" (I'm thinking Schoenberg, Stravinsky, etc). As a result he will always be considered flawed, even by his fans, and it takes something of a leap of faith to embrace the style.

Again we a confronted with the eternal question, can whimsy be profound?  Certainly the converse is false, lack of whimsy does not imply profundity.