Search - Vainberg, Ussr Radio So, Fedoseyev :: Vainberg, Volume 8: Symphony No.19, Op. 142 / Chamber Symphony No.3, Op. 151

A Very Impressive symphony & a moving chamber symphony.

David A. Hollingsworth | Washington, DC USA | 04/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Miecyyslaw Vainberg (1919-1996) completed the 19th Symphony by 1985. It happened to be the last of three symphonies which makes up the trilogy (1982-1985) entitled "On the Threshold of War." The 18th Symphony is dedicated to those who perished during the Great Patriotic War (Soviet's term for World War II), whereas Symphonies nos. 17 & 19 were written after the mottoes of Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966: a famous author/poet most famous for her poems descriping the cruelty of the Soviet Gulag (prison) systems).The 19th Symphony "The Bright of May" describes a long awaited victory which is at the door: a victory which is a welcome so that women can raise their babies who "have been saved from thousands of deaths." (Pers Skans, OCD 591, p. 5).The work is optimistic, peaceful, yet troubled. Out of the symphonies of the trilogy, the 19th Symphony is the most compact & the most impressive, with the ideas of the most coherence & the composer not losing focus. The chamber symphony no. 3 is somewhat Mahlerian & Shostakovichian. It is a work of calm & peaceful reflections, especially in the outer movements, whereas the second movement is energetic & gay. It is an attractive work in its entirety.Vladimir Fedoseyev became the second conductor to become the chief promotor of Vainberg's works after Kyrill Kondrashin. The performances here on this disc were with energy & high spirits. Should you decide to purchase this compact disc recording, please do so as soon as possible. Olympia Compact Discs Ltd in England is suffering from revenue problems & has deleted a good number of recordings, even those re-issued 2-4 years previous.Recommendable to the upmost."