VYACHESLAV ARTYOMOV
(b.1940)
Scenes (1971) 13.03
Star Wind (1981) 14.25
Ave Maria (1989) 7.43
Tempo Costante (1970) 16.24
Pieta (1992, 1996)
21.29
various artists conducted
by Murad Annamamedov and, in case of Ave, by Victor
Popov
BOHEME Classical CDBMR
002124 [73.04]
Artymov is a sly and succinct melodist indebted as much to the romantic gene
of Prokofiev as to his other declared influences: Honegger, Varese and Berio.
In Scenes (small instrumental ensemble) he is also in touch with popular
jazz culture without striking any false notes or seeming to be at all contrived.
Star Wind (similar instrumental forces to Scenes - violin, cello,
horn, piano, glockenspiel) remains terse and sensitive though the communication
is a shade more oblique than the straight-speaking Scenes.
Directness and accessibility and a slowly turning stratospheric line are
also much in evidence in the Ave Maria for Marina Mescheriakova (soprano),
boys choir and chamber orchestra all conducted by Victor Popov.
Tempo Costante is for chamber orchestra and despite being of the same
vintage as Scenes is as tough as anything by Stephan Wolpe although its strained
thematics do occasionally relent in touching vulnerability. The recording
is very close and a touch overwhelming. The clatter of the harpsichord adds
a jagged belligerence to the proceedings.
Pieta is a substantial piece for cello (here taken by Aleksandr Rudin)
and orchestra. The closest approximation I can come to is to relate the piece
to Bloch's Schelomo if it had been edited by Allan Pettersson. There are
some breathtaking strokes of genius in this music - witness at 5.45 the turn
and slithering glissando of the strings. An extraordinary experience.
All the recordings derive from the composer's own archive and were made in
Moscow in 1994 during the Artyomov festival.
More please, Boheme.
Reviewer
Rob Barnett
www.boheme.ru
boheme@iol.cz
bmr@boheme.ru
www.bohememusic.com
