Kancheli: Styx, Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto
List Price:
Our Price: $12.99
You Save: $2.99 (19%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $10.00 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Edition: Music CDCD Release Date: 2002-05-14
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
- Kancheli: Styx - Kancheli
- Gubaidulina: Concerto For Viola And Orchestra - Kancheli
Music reviews of Kancheli: Styx, Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto
Music Review: A fantastic showcase of the viola and its noteworthy player
Rating: 4 Stars
This Deutsche Grammaphon disc--part of its "20/21" series of contemporary music--contains two works written especially for the viola virtuoso Yuri Bashmet. The first is Giya Kancheli's "Styx (for viola, mixed choir, and orchestra)" and the second Sofia Gubaidulina's "Concerto for viola and orchestra."
I bought the disc as a fan of Gubaidulina, but Kancheli's "Styx" was a pleasant surprise. It is an ethereal choral work of quiet lulls and brief exultations. Its themes appears to be death, what it takes away and what it leaves behind, and time. The names of Kancheli's deceased friends Alfred Schnittke and Avet Terterian figure prominently towards the end. The viola in this piece is meant to symbolise the river Styx itself, carrying along all that is past to a tranquil end. The recording is not, however, ideal. There is some background noise from time to time; apparently this is a live concert recording. The engineers have tried to hide the audience's applause, but the result sounds freakish and alien. The disc is also nearly unaudible in some places, and turning the volume high enough to perceive the quiet parts will have unfortunate consequences during the louder portions. The problem is that much of the work is performed pianissimo, and while it might have worked fine in the concert hall, it doesn't work out well in recording.
Gubaidulina's "Viola Concerto" is a thrilling work. It begins as a soft and pensive elaboration on the "DSCH" motif of her inspiration Dmitri Shostakovich interspersed with some lush layers of sound somewhat reminiscent of Bartok. About halfway through the piece, however, it is transformed into a dramatic and suspenseful exposition of percussion. The concerto is clearly a step in the evolution from Gubaidulina's "The Canticle of the Sun of St. Francis of Assisi", with its glittering chimes and light, to her "St. John Passion" and its thundering drums. Those two compositions are among the greatest works of Christian piety of our time, and this concerto follows not very far behind. Highly recommended listening.
Performances are top-notch. The Choir of the Mariinsky Theatre gives an excellent performance in "Styx", respecting the nebulous nature of the text and understanding that it must stay out of the viola's way. Valery Gergiev's sensitivity is commendable. His conducting of Gubaidulina's Viola Concerto is, as is to be expected from his other recordings of Gubaidulina's work, flawless. And what of Yuri Bashmet himself? His playing was very moving, and helps explain why so may critics use phrases like "finest violist of our time". There is nowhere on this disc where he seems less than perfectly sure of how to tackle the piece.
The liner notes are excellent, as they have been for most of DG's 20/21 series. It has descriptions of the two pieces, an interview with Bashmet, profiles of Bashmet and Gergeiv, and finally the text of "Styx". Gubaidulina seems to get little attention here, however, making me suspect that her Viola Concerto was added to the disc just to fill it out since "Styx" is relatively short.
This disc would probably make a poor introduction to Gubaidulina. Try her fine "Offertorium" disc on DG (in the same series) if you've never heard her work before, or maybe her JOHANNES-PASSION of 2000, which was also performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the Mariinsky Theatre conducted by Gergiev. I don't know enough of Kancheli's work to make a comparison, but my curiosity is piqued and I will be searching other works by him. All in all, this disc is worth picking up and will not disappoint.
More Kancheli: Styx, Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto free music reviews:
1
1
Description of Kancheli: Styx, Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Classical CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Classical CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Children's Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $24.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.89
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.93
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Shostakovich: The String QuartetsEMERSON STRING QUART; Release date: 2006-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $22.02
Price in other shops:
Emerson String Quartet - Beethoven: the String QuartetsRelease date: 2010-10-19; Music CD
Best price: $24.12
Price in other shops:
Kancheli: Mourned By The Wind/ Light SorrowRelease date: 2006-01-31; Music CD
Best price: $9.52
Price in other shops:
Scelsi: Natura RenovaturRelease date: 2006-06-27; Music CD
Best price: $10.31
Price in other shops:
Kremer Plays Schnittke - Concerto grosso No. 1 / Quasi una sonata / Moz-Art a'la Haydn / A PaganiniRelease date: 1994-08-22; Music CD
Best price: $5.52
Price in other shops:
Anne-Sophie Mutter - Bach Violin Concertos & Gubaidulina ?In Tempus Praesens'Bach; Release date: 2008-10-07; Music CD
Best price: $9.19
Price in other shops:
Schnittke: String Trio / Berg-Schnittke: Canon / Schnittke: Concerto for Three / MinuetRelease date: 1996-06-18; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Gubaidulina: Seven Words; Silenzio; In CroceRelease date: 1996-02-20; Music CD
Best price: $4.91
Price in other shops:
Schnittke: Viola Concerto; Trio SonataRelease date: 1991-09-06; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Gubaidulina: Offertorium; Hommage à T.S. EliotRelease date: 2002-08-13; Music CD
Best price: $9.39
Price in other shops: