*** [Three stars – top rating] “The lyrical Second Symphony is haunted by a restless melancholy… yet the result is in no way depressing. Chamber Symphony No.2 is a relatively late work and although it is freely rhapsodic, the mood is more positive and often songful…the nostalgic feeling returns in the central movement, but the atmosphere darkens in the long drawn finale which reaches a passionately plangent climax before its quietly resigned coda with a single timpani stroke resolution. … [B]oth [are],played with great eloquence and warmly and naturally recorded .” – Penguin Guide
After decades of unjustified neglect, the music of Polish-born composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg is finally getting international attention, with high-profile performances and recordings worldwide.
One of the first conductors to champion this great student of Shostakovich is Thord Svedlund, who made this recording of these early and late Weinberg masterworks for strings just over 25 years ago. Alto Records is pleased to return this pioneering recording to international availability.
