Customer Reviews

Schnittke: Cello Concerto No. 2/(K)ein Sommernachtstraum

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(K)ein Sommernachtstraum under Eri Klas at the Schnittke Barbican 2001 was deliciously conducted and in my view bettered Polyansky.
As for the concerto, as much as Ivashkin should be commanded and supported for his relentless efforts in promoting Schnittke's memory and his music, Rostropovich reading of the work is just supreme and so far any other recording has fallen short, this one no exception. Still it should be in any decent discography of Schnittke's works.

It must have been 1992, one Thursday afternoon I sat waiting in my car for the postoffice to open after lunch. I had Radio 3 on, and caught about the last 20 minutes of a new kind of music that frankly mesmerized me. It lead to my studying music theory and composition so you can say it was a pivotal determining event in my life. Up to that moment, my knowledge of modern classical music was restricted to Bartok, Stravinsky, Reich and various "filmcomposers" [there are hidden masterpieces to be found here!]. Schnittke opened my eyes forever. The cello concerto is no more difficult than Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: it transports the listener to a state of transcendental consciousness. Let me put it this way: it sometimes happens that you come out of a (movie)theatre or out of a book with your senses so sharpened you seem to be able to grasp the inner and outer limits of your existence. This composition does the same. Schnittke unleashes the same dramatic power as say Gustav Mahler in his 6th. In a way, Mahler was in a similar emotional position as Schnittke: always a foreigner. "As a Bohemian in Austria, as an Austrian in Germany and as a Jew all over the world". Yet no Weltschmerz here, but a composer whose fights against ill health [which he ultimately lost in 1996-and another link to Mahler] reaffirmed his will to live. This concerto will change your view on contemporary music forever.

OF Schnittke's genius.There's not much I can add to his convincing testimony of the tremendous heights and depths that Schnittke takes the soul.
Read all my comments on Schnittke.
I now have complete Schnittke. Almost all of BIS, Chandos, Melodyia, RCA, and a few others. 29 cd set's in all.
When I discovered Schnittke late last yr, 05, I made an all out effort to research every recording made of Schnittke's music. With countless hours on the net, I have managed to locate almost every great Schnittke work and the finer recordings.
Schnittke will be known as one of the greatest 20th century composers.
His Star is on the ascent.