Even though the dominant figures of Soviet music were Dmitry Shostakovich and Sergey Prokofiev, it has become clear that the work of a third composer, Polish-born Mieczyslaw Weinberg, should be ranked as equally significant. His reputation has rapidly increased in the west due to a growing number of major recordings that confirm his standing, and his impressive compositions are valued by some critics as every bit the equal of any of the better-known modernist masterpieces. In light of the renascence of Weinberg's music, CPO has begun a project with the Quatuor Danel to record the 17 string quartets, and this first volume shows promising signs that the whole series will be required listening. The String Quartet No. 4, Op. 20 (1945), was a product of World War II and it reflects the turmoil of the time, while the String Quartet No. 16, Op. 130 (1981), is a brooding, introspective work of Weinberg's late period, comparable in its fatalistic mood to some of Shostakovich's dark explorations. The Quatuor Danel plays with taut muscularity, and the tension of Weinberg's fiercely dissonant counterpoint is sustained in each quartet through the group's controlled energy and penetrating tone. The close miking may make listening a little disagreeable -- especially when the players' breathing is audible -- but the musical value of these performances is high and listeners should be prepared to concentrate on this album without distractions and to face it without concern for comfort: this is bracing music, indeed, but well worth the effort. by Blair Sanderson
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)
String Quartet No. 4 Op. 20 In E Flat Major (34:52)
String Quartet No. 16 Op. 130 In A Flat Major (30:18)
Ensemble – Quatuor Danel
19.3.22
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MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG : String Quartets, Vol. 3 (Quatuor Danel) (2009) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG : String Quartets, Vol. 4 (Quatuor Danel) (2010) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
This release is the fourth in a series devoted to the complete string quartets of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a Polish-born Jew who fled the Nazis in 1939. He landed in Minsk, then in Tashkent, then finally in Moscow, where he found himself in danger once again from the aging Stalin's anti-Jewish purges. His life was probably saved by an appeal from Shostakovich, who had become his mentor. Weinberg is usually classed as a follower of Shostakovich, and his music was until recently little heard in the West; it has now been championed by the Quatuor Danel, a Russian group resident in Britain. Annotator David Fanning (the notes are given in German, English, and French) makes a good case that the influence, in the realm of the string quartet at least, went from Weinberg to Shostakovich rather than the other way around, and Shostakovich's attitude toward Weinberg seems to have been one of genuine admiration. At any rate, as the music of Eastern Europe and Russia is recognized for its engagement with the currents of world history rather than suffering devaluation from self-serving modernism, Weinberg deserves another look. These quartets do inhabit the same stylistic universe as those of Shostakovich, but Weinberg was no clone. The most immediately attractive work is the String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 27, composed in 1945. By that time Shostakovich had already begun to back off from his edgily humorous early idiom, but Weinberg apparently absorbed it during his first years in the Soviet Union; at the center of the work lies a blistering scherzo that could have come out of one of Shostakovich's stage works of the 1920s. The outer movements are melodic and a bit less dissonant than those of Shostakovich. The String Quartet No. 9 in F sharp minor, Op. 80, is from 1963, with structures that resemble the tight sonata forms of Shostakovich's works of the period. The final String Quartet No. 14, Op. 122, was written after Shostakovich's death. It lacks a key designation and has only metronome markings for tempo indications. It's a gloomy work, tightly constructed, with the dark tone of late Shostakovich much in evidence; one might do better with the range of emotions and literary reference in the works of the master himself here, but there's a lot to chew on in this late quartet. With enthusiastic and plainly lovingly rehearsed performances from the Quatuor Danel and fine sound from Cologne's Studio Stolbergerstraßse, this can be recommended to anyone who likes Shostakovich's quartets or is interested in the general Russian scene. by James Manheim
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)
String Quartet No. 5 Op. 27 In B Flat Major (25:37)
String Quartet No. 9 Op. 80 In F Sharp Minor (28:31)
String Quartet No. 14 Op. 122 (23:22)
Ensemble – Quatuor Danel
MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG : String Quartets, Vol. 5 (Quatuor Danel) (2011) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG : String Quartets, Vol. 6 (Quatuor Danel) (2012) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
The music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, who fled the Nazis and endured persecution from Stalin (although, as annotator David Fanning points out here, he regarded the Red Army as his savior), has increased sharply in popularity. Weinberg is part of Shostakovich's stylistic universe and, although the relationship was never a formal one, said that he regarded himself as Shostakovich's pupil. Yet he was no clone. Jewish motifs play a role in some of his music, and in the string quartets here, especially the String Quartet No. 12, Op. 103, Bartók is as important a model as Shostakovich. Hear the Presto movement of that symphony (track 7), with its motivic cells closely packed around a central note, interspersed with hammered repetitions of a single tone. It's an extraordinary piece, and the multinational Quatuor Danel brings the requisite taut intensity. The other two works are lighter in tone, with the String Quartet No. 17, Op. 146 (composed in 1986), diverging quite a bit from the hopeless jocularity of many of Shostakovich's late pieces. It matches up quite well to the String Quartet No. 2, Op. 3, written in the early months of World War II but seemingly oblivious to the chaos that had erupted all around the composer (by the time he wrote it, he had fled his native Warsaw for Minsk). Weinberg himself seems to have recognized the connection, for he revised the quartet heavily near the end of his life. It begins in an almost neo-classic manner before becoming submerged in contrapuntal complications. Different as they are in mood, all three works are immediately recognizable as the work of the same creative figure, making this a reasonable first pick for those interested in Weinberg's music. Another major plus is the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Radio) engineering for the CPO label, accomplished at the Stolbergstrasse Studio in Cologne, and capturing the physicality of the string quartet without overdoing the non-musical sounds in the least. An excellent conclusion to the Quatuor Danel's Weinberg cycle. by James Manheim
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)
String Quartet No. 2 Op. 3/145 (26:30)
String Quartet No. 12 Op. 103 (31:28)
String Quartet No. 17 Op. 146 (16:30)
Ensemble – Quatuor Danel
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