Customer Reviews

In the Mirror

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IN THE MIRROR is a 2002 collection of three works by Sofia Gubaidulina, one clearly juvenalia, another from her early maturity, and the last from 1993 when she had already established herself as one of the greatest living composers. While nothing here is disappointment, the contents of this disc are minor works and the CD is not an essential purchase for Gubaidulina neophytes.

"Quintet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Violoncello" dates from 1957, the third year of her studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. It is the second earliest piece the composer has retained in her official catalogue of works. The premiere performance was by the Komitas Quartet from Armenia with Gubaidulina herself playing the piano part. As this piece was written before Gubaidulina's entrance into the Russian Orthodox Church, there is none of the spiritual depths of her later, mature pieces. Instead, the Quintet is a vaguely Romantic piece with clear inspiration from Shostakovich. This is pleasant music, but most useful as a document of her youth.

The one-movement piano concerto "Introitus" (1978) is a considerably more mature work, firmly rooted in Gubaidulina's interest in Christian mysticism. Like with many other compositions by Gubaidulina (such as "In Croce" for organ and cello, or the JOHANNES-PASSION), there is a contrast between the temporal/horizontal and the eternal/vertical. In the first portion of the work, the first theme the chamber orchestra is assigned represents Man, while the chromatic range is religious understanding. Gubaidulina goes on to develop a range of symbols too complex to describe here, but suffice it to say that this is a very good display of her spiritual aims in the art of composition. However, it does not rank with the best portions of her oeuvre and might be remembered as a minor work. The Kyiv Chamber Players conducted by Vladimir Kozhukhar give an admirable performance, though I was not very impressed by the piano playing of soloist Beatrice Rauchs.

"Dancer on a Tightrope (Der Seiltaenzer)" for violin and piano was written in 1993. The violin represents a tightrope walker attempting to keep his balance, while the piano, first played on the strings with a glass tumbler, is a symbol of risk. It's an interesting experiment, though not as successful as most of Gubaidulina's work. Gidon Kremer, who first brought recognition to Gubaidulina in the West through his performance of her "Offertorium", plays excellently here, while Vadim Sakharov accompanies him well on piano. This performance was recorded live at the 1995 Lockenhaus Festival. There is another disc on BIS which collects more of that festival's performances of the music of Gubaidulina, as well as some pieces of Viktor Suslin, with whom she founded the traditional music ensemble Astreja.

This would probably be a very poor introduction to Gubaidulina. For those who have never heard the music of this superlative composer, I'd recommend the JOHANNES-PASSION, her masterpiece and possibly the greatest work of Christian piety of our time, or the OFFERTORIUM disc in Deutsche Grammphon's "Echo 20/21" series. Leave IN THE MIRROR for when you've already become fascinated with her music.

Sofia Gubaidulina
in the mirror
three works, three genres, three epochs

Quintet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola and Violincello (1957) [30' 30]
I. Allegro
II. Andante marciale
III. Larghetto sensibile
IV. Presto
Reiko Aizawa, piano
Kai Vogler and Mira Wang, violins
Ulrich Eichenauer, viola
Peter Bruns, cello
Recorded: 1997

Introitus (1978) [24' 02]
Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra
Béatrice Rauchs, piano
Kyiv Chamber Players
Conducted by Vladimir Kozhukhar
Recorded: 1995

Dancer on an Tightrope (Der Seiltänzer) (1993) [13' 19]
for violin and piano (Recorded live at the 1995 Lockhaus Festival)
Gidon Kremer, violin
Vadim Sakharov, piano

This album includes three works of Sofia Gubaidulina from early work "Piano Quintet (1957)", that is the second earliest piece that the composer has authorized, to newer work "Dancer on an Tightrope (1993)" as shown in the sub-title, three works, three genres, three epochs. However, it makes a weaker impression than "Am Rande des Abgrunds / De profundis / Quaternion / In croce"Gubaidulina: Am Rande des Abgrunds; De Profundis; Quaternion; In croce.

The first movement of "Piano Quintet (1957)" is written by a sonata form, and the third movement is variations. The third movement sounds like Shostakovich's eighth quartet. Gubaidulina says that Dmitri Shostakovich and Anton Webern have had the greatest influence on her work.

I think that it's more interesting the performance by Claire Marie Le Guay of "Introitus (1978)"Portrait than that on this album.

Gidon Kremer plays "Dancer on an Tightrope" well. A piano accompaniment is played with the string piano in more than the first half. "String piano" is the performance by operating the piano wire directly without playing the piano with the keyboard. The sound of the high frequency is agreeable as well as "Am Rande des Abgrunds". However, the impression is relatively weak.

There is no need to dismiss Gubaidulina's Piano Quintet from 1957 as a mere "juvenalia." Nothing "juvenile" about this work. True, this is not the typical idiom we tend to expect in connection with Gubaidulina's music but this is an interesting and formidable work, eclectic perhaps in style but original nevertheless and definitely worth your time. I personally prefer it to the other two works, being biased, I should add, in favor of the music of the first half of the twentieth century. If you are similarly inclined, you will not regret purchasing this disc.