Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)

[Brian]

This is one of the most compelling Weinberg's symphonies, so I have high expectations of this recording. Hopefully Chandos will also record his symphonies 9, 11 and 15 in due time.

Chandos and Naxos had originally agreed to split the cycle, with Naxos taking the works with vocalists and chorus under the direction of Antoni Wit, and Chandos to do the purely orchestral stuff. Antoni Wit's departure from the Warsaw Philharmonic must have been a major setback to recording Naxos' contributions*. This new release is a little bit strange because Naxos already recorded No. 12 so it is the first time they have overlapped on each other's work. So far we have:

Chandos - 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 20
Naxos - 6, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19
Neither, but other labels - 2, 10, 21, 22
None, as described by lunar22 above - 9, 11, 15

*A 2011 interview with Wit on Naxos' website, which you can find by googling his name and "Polish Ambition," mentions specific plans for Wit to record Bacewicz, Panufnik, and the complete Dvorak choral works. But when Wit left Warsaw, the new music director, Jacek Kaspszyk, signed an exclusive contract with EMI/Warner. Kaspszyk is gone now but Wit seemingly hasn't returned. 12 years later, Wit has recorded two Dvorak releases but the rest of those Naxos projects were handed over to new conductors and ensembles. Wit's upcoming Penderecki CD with the Norrkoping Symphony is his first new Naxos recording since 2019 and only his third since leaving Warsaw. Since he's 79, health problems might be a factor as well.

[Symphonic Addict]

Chandos and Naxos had originally agreed to split the cycle, with Naxos taking the works with vocalists and chorus under the direction of Antoni Wit, and Chandos to do the purely orchestral stuff. Antoni Wit's departure from the Warsaw Philharmonic must have been a major setback to recording Naxos' contributions*. This new release is a little bit strange because Naxos already recorded No. 12 so it is the first time they have overlapped on each other's work. So far we have:

Chandos - 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 20
Naxos - 6, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19
Neither, but other labels - 2, 10, 21, 22
None, as described by lunar22 above - 9, 11, 15

*A 2011 interview with Wit on Naxos' website, which you can find by googling his name and "Polish Ambition," mentions specific plans for Wit to record Bacewicz, Panufnik, and the complete Dvorak choral works. But when Wit left Warsaw, the new music director, Jacek Kaspszyk, signed an exclusive contract with EMI/Warner. Kaspszyk is gone now but Wit seemingly hasn't returned. 12 years later, Wit has recorded two Dvorak releases but the rest of those Naxos projects were handed over to new conductors and ensembles. Wit's upcoming Penderecki CD with the Norrkoping Symphony is his first new Naxos recording since 2019 and only his third since leaving Warsaw. Since he's 79, health problems might be a factor as well.

Interesting info, so it only remains to hope that some other conductor tackles the eventual project if Wit decides not to continue.

[lunar22]

Didn't know Chandos have done 12 and it will be interesting to hear it -- the first symphony completed after the death of Shostakovich is certainly a powerful one.

Still, I'd rather have heard one of the ones not done at all.

[relm1]

Didn't know Chandos have done 12 and it will be interesting to hear it -- the first symphony completed after the death of Shostakovich is certainly a powerful one.

Still, I'd rather have heard one of the ones not done at all.

It looks like that one is on both but the chandos will be released October 20, 2023.  Can't wait...I love that one too!  By the way, pictures of composers "at work" always seem so staged...why on earth would they wear a tie while working all alone on their music unless it was a publicity shot?

[Maestro267]

All photos are staged, if the subject knows they're being photographed.

[Brian]

It looks like that one is on both but the chandos will be released October 20, 2023.  Can't wait...I love that one too!  By the way, pictures of composers "at work" always seem so staged...why on earth would they wear a tie while working all alone on their music unless it was a publicity shot?

I had a friend who put on a suit every morning to work from home during the pandemic because psychologically, the suit was a cue. It made him think "I have to work now." No such feeling on my part, I worked in my pajamas 

[lunar22]

It looks like that one is on both but the chandos will be released October 20, 2023.  Can't wait...I love that one too! 

Thanks for the release date. I'm pretty happy with what Lande has done in 12 on the whole (some works suit his style a bit better than others) but of course any newcomer is welcome in this important symphony.

[relm1]

Thanks for the release date. I'm pretty happy with what Lande has done in 12 on the whole (some works suit his style a bit better than others) but of course any newcomer is welcome in this important symphony.

I really like Maxim Shostakovich's recording too.  Have you heard it?

[lunar22]

I don't remember having heard the M. Shostakovich. I did hear some of the earlier Russian recordings though the majority are pretty hard to get hold of these days. I do have all three recordings of 17 (Lande plus both the very different Fedoseyevs) but that's an exceptional symphony and all three readings are totally different.

[lunar22]

I am just back from a concert with the German Premiere of Weinbergs 21. Symphony. Thomas Sanderling was conducting the Staatsorchester Stuttgart (that's the Opera Orchestra) with Mandy Fredrich as soloist. It was the first time that I experienced a Weinberg symphony live and at one the best seats of the house. A tremendous experience. The music is still turning around in my head. What a gorgeous piece of music. And Thomas Sanderling was mesmerizing and himself mesmerized by the music. The reception by the audience was very good, six or seven calls. Unfortunately, it was not recorded.
.

I was at the same concert. It seems a strange co-incidence -- two Weinberg fans both living in Stuttgart on this forum. But you haven't posted for a while so may no longer be active. And in addition the name Wieland is my wife's (on the mother's side) so even more of a coincidence!

[Karl Henning]

[Roy Bland]

On him
https://inform-progulka.by/2022/09/20/kompozitory-vajnbergi-i-luninecz-vozvrashhenie-slavnyh-imyon/

[71 dB]

So far we have:

Chandos - 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 20
Naxos - 6, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19
Neither, but other labels - 2, 10, 21, 22
None, as described by lunar22 above - 9, 11, 15

Bolded what I have.

[Karl Henning]

Bolded what I have.

How do you like them, Poju?

[Symphonic Addict]

Bolded what I have.

You're missing some of his most interesting symphonies, being the 5th a sort of turning point in the cycle.

[71 dB]

How do you like them, Poju?

Weinberg's music is such that I like it a lot when I'm listening to it, but I remember hardly anything afterwards. I think Symphony no. 2 is the weakest of the lot.

You're missing some of his most interesting symphonies, being the 5th a sort of turning point in the cycle.

I wish I could just buy everything, but I am operating at a low budget. Even Naxos isn't that cheap these days... for example in Amazon.co.uk The Chandos with the 5th symphony is £13.18, which is okay, but shipping is £11.49.  This means that buying this CD would cost me about 30 euros, which is simply too much. Collecting physical media has been made challenging. Weinberg is a great composer, but not the only great composer. I need to buy other composers too. Most of my Weinberg is chamber music. I have much more Weinberg that the list of symphonies suggest. Today I received a Haydn symphony disc. That was a struggle too. Amazon sent it to me, but it was returned (damaged I guess). I order it again from a seller and now it came finally. Postal services have been decimated and things are bad... ...high prices and low quality service.