Boris TCHAIKOVSKY
(1925-1996)
Piano Trio (1953) 26.03 *
String Quartet No. 6 (1976) 13.34 **
Sextet (wind instruments and harp) (1990) 13.13 ***
* composer (piano); Viktor Pikaizen (violin); Evgeni Altman (cello) rec
1960
** Andrei Korsakov (violin); Margarita Peletsis (violin); Aleksander Petrov
(viola); Andrei Demin (cello) rec 1982
*** Leonid Lebedev (flute); Olga Tomilova (oboe); Vladimir Permyakov (clarinet);
Vyacheslav Podkopaev (bassoon); Viktor Galkin (horn); Emilia Moskvitina (harp)
rec 1998
Various
BOHEME Classical CDBMR
907084 [56.53]
Amazon
USA
Boris was a Muscovite who studied with the great names of Soviet music: Lev
Oborin (piano), Shebalin, Shostakovich and Miaskovsky.
The recording of the Trio could hardly be more authoritative. Its zest is
irrepressible, Waltonian, inevitably reflecting typical Shostakovich ticks
and tricks and profoundly sorrowing in the baroque style adagio, In the single
movement Quartet of 23 years later there is less of a linguistic jolt than
you might expect. The harmony is still spare and salty but he remains true
to romance in a sincerely affecting largamente. This is one of the treasures
of twentieth century musical literature and should be heard by anyone who
follows the Shostakovich or Britten quartets. The 1990 sextet is in three
successively shorter movements the fourth being a rounded but ambiguous Largo.
This is a sparky and sharp little work - perhaps with a little in common
with the Nielsen quintet and with the Symphonies of Wind Instruments. The
harp adds a welcome further dimension.
One of the many things I really like about this disc is the lack of evasion
in discographical terms though it would have been nice to see a total playing
time declared. In any event recording years are given and all personnel rostered
in detail.
Three very fine works you are unlikely to know. What other riches await us
from the Soviet Union's prolific radio archives?
Rob Barnett
www.boheme.ru
boheme@iol.cz
bmr@boheme.ru
www.bohememusic.com
Boris Tchaikovsky website
