Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No.5 / Postludium

Valentin Vasil'yevich Silvestrov (Composer), David Robertson (Conductor), Berlin German Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), pianist Aleksei Lubimov (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: pianist Aleksei Lubimov
• Orchestra: Berlin German Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: David Robertson
• Composer: Valentin Vasil'yevich Silvestrov
• Audio CD (May 28, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002AXT
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,652 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 5: Maestoso, pesante

2. Symphony No. 5: Moderato, leggiero

3. Symphony No. 5: Animato, leggiero, con moto

4. Symphony No. 5: Andante

5. Symphony No. 5: Piu mosso

6. Symphony No. 5: Meno mosso

7. Symphony No. 5: Leggiero

8. Symphony No. 5: Andantino

9. Symphony No. 5: Moderato

10. Postludium: Comodo

11. Postludium: Allegro vivace

12. Postludium: Dolce

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, richly evocative updating of Mahler and Bruckner, November 10, 1999

By 

Douglas C. Brown (Livonia, MI and Toledo, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No.5 / Postludium (Audio CD)

I listened to this CD daily for months on end. It is difficult to describe how Silvestrov achieves his effects, but the end result is hypnotic. This symphony has a narrative strength all too rare in today's symphonic music.

For a beguiling taste, listen to the fourth track (the symphony is in a single lengthy movement, but Sony is to be congratulated for providing such extensive interior access). Then go back and listen from the start. At times dissonant, other times merely strange, more often lushly lyrical, the Fifth Symphony makes a haunting impact that compels the listener to hear the work over and over again. The coupled "Piano Concerto" is similarly attractive, but fails to make the lasting impact of the symphony.

And don't be misled by other earlier works by this contemporary Russian composer, such as the Second Symphony, which seems to aim for greater "modernity" while only infrequently hinting at the sublime depths of the Fifth.

Do yourself a favor and get ahold of this recording. It will take you to realms rarely visited in today's symphonic music.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sublime, May 26, 2007

By 

Ian C. Punter (Thailand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No.5 / Postludium (Audio CD)

I agree with the previous reviewers. During all the years I've spent collecting Russian/Soviet symphonies, I kept hearing this name <Silvestrov>, particularly in the context of his 5th Symphony. As the Soviet Union crumbled, I found I had to make allowances for many works that flirted with 'modernity', since their new freedom obviously presented the post-Shostakovich generation of composers with the opportunity to experiment in a way not previously available, and some of the results were frankly a bit naive, certainly not very compelling. Elements of this can be found at some stage, however briefly, in the works of Schnittke, Shchedrin, Kancheli and so on.
What is it about Silvestrov's 5th, which I've had for quite a while now? It's dangerously close to being self-indulgent, a major musical wallow, and yet somehow it escapes this danger triumphantly. Like all great symphonies it takes you on a journey, and at its beatific close I know I've been on that journey, (though in all honesty I don't quite know where I've been!) Its general pace is slow, but it never tries your patience,- you listen and you wouldn't want it otherwise. The adagietto from Mahler's 5th comes to mind, also the final pages of the latter's 10th (as realised by Cooke and others). Haunting, beautiful, and, arguably, most important of all, it greatly rewards repeated listening. I'm ordering the 6th when I've completed this review, as I've heard similar great things of it. (The 2nd Symphony caused me the same reaction as it did a previous reviewer, a feeling that the composer was going through his 'Oh I can do this now!' stage. I must try again, though, as inital reactions can always change as you become more 'au fait' with a composer's style and musical language.)
Beautiful recording and performance.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Silvestrov's Masterpiece, August 21, 2005

By 

Mark Kenderdine (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No.5 / Postludium (Audio CD)

I wish that I could recall who suggested this work to me, because it led me into the world of Silvestrov's music. Hopefully this recording is re-issued, allowing others to experience it also.