Search - Sofia Gubaidulina, Dolgova, Mkrtobyan :: Gubaidulina: Orchestral Works & Chamber Music

Great pieces, poor sound quality

villegem | 06/30/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I think this may be the only semi-available recording of G.'s "Night in Memphis" which is a barbaric whirlygig of a composition, and one of her most potent. Unfortunately, the sound quality is very poor, especially during the cantata, when the male singers enter. Plus, throughout the entire CD, there is lots of background sound, including what must be the inmates from the local tuberculosis sanatorium sitting in the front row.
All of this detracts somewhat from the music, but not bad enough to justify not buying this album. "Hour of the Soul" is another piece which is difficult to locate. It is a winding beast, with mezzo-soprano. The text is from a poem by Tsaetaeva."

Yuri Nikolaevsky, on a personal note...

villegem | canada | 07/23/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Maestro Nikolaevsky was appreciated by Gubaidulina and Schnittke for his great sense of timing and steel rythm. His Baroque conducting was praised too and it is no surprise those Russian modern composers would enjoy working with him. Sadly, He passed away in November 2003. I had the chance to play Schnittke's concerto for Piano and Strings in April 2003 in Omsk, his last concert. Although he was a frail man, his determination was unaltered as soon as he stepped on the podium.I would also recommend his recording of Schnittke's third violin concerto with Oleg Kagan."