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Bacewicz: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (Chandos)
Ysaÿe/Enescu/Bacewicz: Works for Strings (Chandos)
★★★☆☆/★★★★☆
I’m beginning to assume that Grazyna Bacewicz may be the following Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Forgive me, non-Polophones, if the names are needed to pronounce, however for those who’ve obtained used to Szymanowski and Paderewski down the years you’ll be able to definitely stay with this pair. Weinberg fled to Russia in 1939 and have become the composer closest to Shostakovich, albeit under-performed. He emerged from the shadows within the Nineteen Nineties and is now deemed indispensable. Weinberg’s opera, The Passenger, has performed in main capitals and his symphonies are bursting forth on document.
Bacewicz, who died in 1969, trod water underneath Polish Communism and noticed her music eclipsed by the authorised forces of Lutoslawski and Penderecki. Publish-Communism caused a flutter of renewed curiosity.
Sakari Oramo’s interpretation of two Stalin-era symphonies, written in 1952-3, goes a bit agit-prop within the noisy bits the place the BBC Symphony brass burst just a few buttons. However, the andante of the third symphony and the 2 adagios of the fourth are splendidly introspective passages, a personal zone the place Bacewicz expresses darkish and disturbing feelings. Alban Berg’s Lulu lurks someplace within the rating, as does Bartok’s Bluebeard, however the totality is pure Bacewicz. I can not think about why the BBC Symphony don’t carry out these within the Proms (I can, in fact, however that’s one other story).
John Wilson, whose Sinfonia of London can not play badly for those who bribed it with fruit gums, has paired Bacewicz’s concerto for string orchestra on an album with works by string composers Enescu and Ysaye. If I guarantee you that Bacewicz’s 1948 rating comes out by far essentially the most vibrant and vigorous you would possibly begin to consider, like me, that Grazyna is a frontline composer who calls for to be heard now and eternally. As soon as extra, it’s the quiet andante that grips the eye however the full 13 minutes is a musical world total and it’s one you’ll absolutely need to discover.
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Norman Lebrecht is among the most widely-read commentators on music, tradition and cultural politics. He’s a daily presenter on BBC Radio 3 and a contributor to the Wall Avenue Journal, Bloomberg, Standpoint, Sinfini and different publications. His weblog, Slipped Disc, is among the many most generally learn cultural websites on-line, breaking unique tales and campaigning towards human abuse and acts of injustice within the cultural industries.
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