Search - Alfred Schnittke, Yuri Bashmet, Yuri Nikolayevsky :: Oleg Kagan Plays Schnittke

Kagan: Schnittke's soul mate

villegem | canada | 05/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a virtuoso and yet expressive playing by Oleg Kagan! Sonata no. 2 seems so approachable and clear compared to Gidon Kremer's scratchy and dry rendition. In Kagan's recording, the technique is flawless and effortless and just serves the human soul. The pianist Lobanov should be associated to the kudos here as both are offering a demonstration of humility and total commitment to this music resulting in such an intelligent reading. This CD should be considered a reference for these pieces.



Then another gem of this CD is the first performance of Schnittke's Violin Concerto no. 3 conducted by Maestro Yuri Nikolaevsky. Violist in the orchestra of Mravinsky, Nikoleavsky has been a friend of Schnittke and Gubaidulina and is very appreciated for his baroque and contemporary music interpretation in Russia. He has worked with Schnittke in Mosfilm studios and is still at 78 a sought after conductor. The clarity of Nikoleavsky reading is present and combined with Kagan's soul, delivers a poignant performance."