Mieczysław WEINBERG (1919-1996)
Chamber Music for Woodwinds
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano op.28 [20:32]
12 Miniatures for Flute and Piano op.29 [17:33]
Sonata for Bassoon solo op.133 [21:05]
Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp op. 127 [13:31]
Elisaveta Blumina (piano and artistic concept), Wenzel Fuchs (clarinet), Henrik
Wiese (flute), Mattias Baier (bassoon), Nimrod Guez (viola), Uta Jungwirth
(harp)
ec. Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz, Germany, December 10, 12, 14-15, 2009,
6 August 2010 (12 Miniatures).
CPO 777 630-2 [73:23]
The wait for the music of a particular composer to be recorded when they have
been ill-served in the past is sometimes a long one. In the case of Weinberg
it seems as if his time has finally come and new discs of his music are arriving
fairly regularly. This is the fourth CD of his music that I’ve reviewed.
I know they’ve been others recently, and Amazon now lists over 60. It
is great news and if, like me you’ve also found his music to be to your
liking then, again like me, you’ll welcome this addition as much as
I do. What has emerged as the CDs arrive is what an amazingly rounded composer
he was with compositions in almost every genre. Weinberg composed 26 symphonies,
seven concertos, 17 string quartets, 28 sonatas for various instruments, seven
operas, several ballets, incidental music for 65 films, and many other works,
including a Requiem. When Shostakovich received the score of his First Symphony
in the post asking him to look at it, he was so impressed he immediately arranged
for Weinberg to come to Moscow from Tashkent where he had gone to escape the
invading Nazi armies. The two composers became fast friends. While there is
no doubt that Weinberg was influenced by Shostakovich, the same was also true
the other way round, with each acknowledging the debt to the other. The music
on this disc confirms Weinberg’s enormous creative talent and often
unique musical view.
One of the biggest difficulties I find in writing reviews is how to describe
music I enjoy in different ways. This disc is a case in point as what’s
on offer here is so thoroughly impressive and it’s all too easy to find
that I’m repeating myself while I struggle to find words to express
how marvellous I find the music. With this firmly in mind I’ll do my
best to try because this music deserves no less. Right from the very first
note you know you’re in for something special. The mellifluous tone
of the beautifully played clarinet wafts in as if on a breeze while waiting
for its piano accompaniment. It’s not long before you can hear why people
refer to Shostakovich when writing about the music of Weinberg. Indeed the
booklet notes the considerable influence the older composer had on the younger
man who wrote both the clarinet sonata and the twelve miniatures in 1945,
just two years after arriving in Moscow at Shostakovich’s behest. The
second and third movements may also remind one of Shostakovich. That is mainly
because the Jewish folk tunes Weinberg based much of the material on are sources
that Shostakovich also drew on, sources that he used, with Weinberg’s
help, in his From Jewish Folk Poetry (1948). The writing is witty and
satirical. Weinberg’s scoring for clarinet reflects its use in much
of the klezmer music that had been written since the nineteenth century in
which the clarinet was steadily replacing the violin. Music like this was
in Weinberg’s very bones since his father was a composer and violinist
in a travelling Jewish theatre. There should be no surprise that it should
feature so recognisably in his music. It is hard to imagine how he could write
such happy sounding music when only four years earlier, before fleeing first
to Minsk then to Tashkent, the Nazis had burned alive his entire family. This
is not to say that the music does not have a dark side too. The end of the
sonata is tinged with sadness but it is optimism that I see as winning through.
The Twelve Miniatures for Flute and Piano Op.29 opens with a tune that
not only doesn’t sound like Weinberg, but sounds French to me rather
than Russian which only shows this composer cannot be pigeonholed. The second
has him back firmly where you expect with a wistful little waltz, marked Arietta,
while the third is a merry Burlesque,followed by a comic Capriccio.
Various other moods are represented but the main feature throughout is the
brilliance of these little character pieces that charm and delight in equal
measure and conclude with a really lovely Pastorale. Weinberg’s
sonata for solo bassoon shows his continued search for expression in music
and his willingness to write for less usual instruments: his Op.108 is for
solo double bass. There are very few composers that have tackled any music
for solo bassoon and those that have such as Willson Osborne, Malcolm Arnold,
Gordon Jacob and Karl-Heinz Stockhausen - whose piece In Freundschaft
was originally written for bass clarinet and has been adapted for various
other instruments - kept their works fairly short. Weinberg’s composition
is a substantial one of four movements and a total length of over 21 minutes.
Incidentally readers would no doubt enjoy a YouTube presentation of Stephanie
Patterson playing the Stockhausen work dressed as a teddy bear which is Stockhausen’s
wish fulfilled at last! Weinberg’s Bassoon Sonata from 1981 really tests
the prowess of the soloist and the writing reveals an instrument capable of
great beauty rescuing it from the denizens of the woodwind section where its
abilities are usually confined to helping provide a background. Matthias Baier’s
playing is simply superb and the piece could find no greater performer to
emphasise its wonderfully melodious nature. The final work on this disc is
the Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp which dates from 1979 and is yet
another surprise that recalls Debussy’s late work for the same three
instruments. This begins with a meditative theme on flute and viola before
the harp joins in to weave its version into the fabric already established.
The second movement is slow to begin with but its warm viola introduction
is disturbed by trilling from the flute mirrored in the harp though calm is
soon restored. The three share a lovely melody between them for a short while
before a more intensive and insistent mood is created. This leads into the
final movement which, though short, is more anxious in tone and powerful in
execution. It ends in a final eruption from all three.
While it is self-evident that the more often any music is heard the more one
gets from it there is an immediate appeal in the music on this disc. That’s
something I’ve found with all of this composer’s works that I’ve
heard so far. It’s a facility that should help in establishing his reputation
still further and secure his place as, what many musicologists declare, the
third great composer of the Soviet era after Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Weinberg
often wrote music that contained satire and wit but that lacked the sardonic
even mordant nature of much of Shostakovich’s works. Here was a man
who, despite the terrifying experiences in his life that included spending
some months in prison under Stalin, still managed to reflect hope and optimism
in his music.
This disc is another fitting tribute to a composer whose works are finally
emerging to enrapture new and wider audiences. The musicians on this disc
have made a significant contribution to the process, all of them turning in
performances of beauty and great skill. Elisaveta Blumina deserves special
plaudits for her pioneering work on behalf of Weinberg; her disc of his Piano
Works on CPO 777 517-2 is another great example. More please!
Steve Arloff
Performances of beauty and great skill - more please!