3 Stars [Top Rating] – “The Chamber symphonies come from the last decade of his life, the First for string orchestra, from the same year as the 18th symphony. … It is pastoral in character, closer in feeling to a divertimento or sinfonietta. … The Fourth… [is] unremitting as late Shostakovich, and strongly valedictory in feeling. A haunting piece, music of real substance.”
– Penguin Guide
Mieczyslaw Weinberg has emerged at last as one of the leading Soviet composers of the post-Shostakovich generation, following decades of almost scandalous neglect in the music world. This prolific composer’s works retain the unabashed post-romantic candor of Shostakovich, but evolved in a unique and inimitable style as his career progressed.
Alto Records returns to the international catalogue these two pioneering recordings of late Weinberg, performed by the Umeå Symphony Orchestra conducted by Weinberg’s close artistic collaborator Thord Svedlund.
