Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)

[Karl Henning]

Whew, I don't think I had listened to the Twentieth Symphony before.  Wonderful piece!

So the inevitable question for the Weinberg fanciers:  Do the symphonies start out wonderful?  What is the dish on the early symphonies?

[kyjo]

Whew, I don't think I had listened to the Twentieth Symphony before.  Wonderful piece!

So the inevitable question for the Weinberg fanciers:  Do the symphonies start out wonderful?  What is the dish on the early symphonies?

The early symphonies are great, Karl, especially nos. 5 and 6, Weinberg's two symphonic masterpieces IMHO.

[PaulR]

Whew, I don't think I had listened to the Twentieth Symphony before.  Wonderful piece!

So the inevitable question for the Weinberg fanciers:  Do the symphonies start out wonderful?  What is the dish on the early symphonies?

I've heard people (on this forum) state that #5 is one of the few symphonies that can stand up to DSCH 4, and it's great.  The 3rd, 4th, 6th symphonies all have their qualities to them (love #6).  Need to give #7 another listen, but is not my favorite.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks!

[amw]

To be sure, I am still getting to know more of Weinberg . . . I have not perceived any discernible, how to say, superiority in ambiguity, on either part.

I should mention that I do not see a more overtly evocative nature as a failing, as there are a number of similarly un-ambiguous composers who mean quite a lot to me (Beethoven, Stravinsky, etc). I'm not sure how to phrase it neutrally (if I were to say Weinberg were less emotional, it would seem a negative criticism; less manipulative, a positive one). It's quite possible that I'm simply less receptive to Shostakovich's brand of manipulation than Weinberg's.

Should also mention that my opinion is based on a much less extensive familiarity with Weinberg's music than with Shostakovich's:

Weinberg
String Quartets 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11-15, 17
Piano Quintet
Violin Sonatas 3 & 4
Symphonies 1, 6, 7, 17
Sinfonietta 1
Violin, cello, flute, trumpet & clarinet concertos
24 Preludes for solo cello

Shostakovich
Symphonies 1, 4-11, 13-15
String quartets 2-15
Complete piano works
Complete concerti
Piano Trio 2
Piano Quintet
Violin, cello, viola sonatas
The Nose
Some of Lady Macbeth of Mtensk
Suites for Variety Orchestra 1 & 2

and my mind could change as I become more familiar with Weinberg's symphonies & operas (which by nature are more "public" and therefore less prone to emotional ambiguity than the chamber works).

[jlaurson]

...
and my mind could change as I become more familiar with Weinberg's symphonies & operas (which by nature are more "public" and therefore less prone to emotional ambiguity than the chamber works).

Funny... I think of it exactly the other way 'round... especially (but not only) with DSCH... where the chamber works are more private and therefore less prone to emotional ambiguity than the symphonic works.

[milk]

[asin]B00ARWDQPM[/asin] [asin]B00925TAGE[/asin] [asin]B007WB5DHA[/asin]
I'm enthralled with this piano music. For the playing, well, I've nothing to compare it to. But the music is quite something to dive into...and diving I am. I can feel that this will occupy me for some time to come. I feel like Weinberg has so much to express in each note, each musical gesture. Even the Children's Notebook and Easy Pieces are more than one expects from each listen. This is music that is worth much more than each moment spent in its company...there is a lot here from Weinberg. A lot of feelings, emotions, experiences, poetry, reflection etc.     

[jlaurson]

The music is wonderful, but the performances lack any kind of verve, I've found. I've heard most of the Notebooks live with Jascha Nemtsov, and even though he's not exactly an inspired pianist, either, they were much more alive. For the bigger works, where ABF and Murray McLachlan (formerly Olympia, currently being re-issued) overlap, it's a no-contest in favor of the latter: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/01/best-recordings-of-2012-2.html

[milk]

The music is wonderful, but the performances lack any kind of verve, I've found. I've heard most of the Notebooks live with Jascha Nemtsov, and even though he's not exactly an inspired pianist, either, they were much more alive. For the bigger works, where ABF and Murray McLachlan (formerly Olympia, currently being re-issued) overlap, it's a no-contest in favor of the latter: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/01/best-recordings-of-2012-2.html

I will investigate McLachlan. I don't want to repeat what might be an easy comparison with Shostakovich but I wonder if there are other 20th century composers who are as connected to Bach in their keyboard works as these two seem to be? I guess that's one part of the attraction - though only a small part because it's not explicit everywhere in the music. It is one thing that I find interesting though.     

[Karl Henning]

I will investigate McLachlan. I don't want to repeat what might be an easy comparison with Shostakovich but I wonder if there are other 20th century composers who are as connected to Bach in their keyboard works as these two seem to be?

Dost know Hindemith's Ludus tonalis?

[milk]

Dost know Hindemith's Ludus tonalis?

I didn't. I shall investigate. Looks fascinating (from the wikipedia description).

[Karl Henning]

Wonderful piece.

[milk]

Wonderful piece.

Thanks! I just snapped up McCabe. Looking forward to it.

[Karl Henning]

That's the one I like best.

[Sammy]

Thanks! I just snapped up McCabe. Looking forward to it.

Try locating a copy of Richter's account on the Pyramid label.

[milk]

The music is wonderful, but the performances lack any kind of verve, I've found. I've heard most of the Notebooks live with Jascha Nemtsov, and even though he's not exactly an inspired pianist, either, they were much more alive. For the bigger works, where ABF and Murray McLachlan (formerly Olympia, currently being re-issued) overlap, it's a no-contest in favor of the latter: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/01/best-recordings-of-2012-2.html

Thanks for that. I took your advice and acquired his performances of sonatas 4, 5, and 6. I'm not really able to compare him to ABF yet, but paying a second time to have these works gave me even more motivation to concentrate on them. They are wonderful works. And McLachlan is definitely on point!

[PaulR]

The Passenger coming to NYC in 2014!

[jlaurson]

upcoming:


(click to enlarge)

[The new erato]

Britten as The Passenger?

[Cato]

From the General Opera News this morning:

Mieczyslaw Weinberg's opera The Passenger: a rave review from the Wall Street Journal's Heidi Waleson.

An excerpt:

Conductor Patrick Summers shaped the evening with enormous care, building dramatic tension but also allowing the long, meditative scenes in the women's barracks to unfold naturally. Weinberg's vivid musical language is accessible and precise, grotesque or wrenching as the moment demands. Violently pounding drums and brass suggest Dmitri Shostakovich ; a mere shimmer of wispy, haunting strings, Benjamin Britten. The orchestration always left space for the voices and amplified their meaning, as in the brief instrumental chorale that echoed Bronka's prayer, or the percussion that smashed into the prisoners' reveries along with the guards. The chorus was a key player with its refrain about the "pitch black wall of death." Soft and insinuating in Act I, it was a memory working its way into Liese's head; in Act II, the refrain became a dead march with a tolling bell.

See:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304007504579348631567426454?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_6