David Robertson

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 5
Composed by Valentin Vasil'yevich Silvestrov
Performed by Berlin Symphony Orchestra with Aleksei Lubimov
Conducted by David Robertson

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Silvestrov (b. 1937) is a Russian composer who takes a bit after Schnittke, but who nonetheless has his own voice. Silvestrov's Symphony 5 (1980-82) is a breakthrough work and a clear masterpiece. It takes discordant exclamations (or atonally structured sound clusters) and weaves them into an overall tonal skein. Silvestrov does the same in Postludium (1984), which is for piano and orchestra, and which is both lucid and disturbing. These are absolutely stunning works and should be in everyone's collection of 20th-century music. --Paul Cook

Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No.5 / Postludium - Alexei Lubimov / Berlin German Symphony Orchestra / David Robertson, Music, Valentin Vasil'yevich Silvestrov, David Robertson, Aleksei Lubimov, Berlin German Symphony Orchestra, 20th/21st Century Symphony, Classical, Classical Music, Symphonic

Average customer rating:

like Schnittke on sedatives

sublime

Silvestrov's Masterpiece

Stunning, richly evocative updating of Mahler and Bruckner

Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No.5 / Postludium - Alexei Lubimov / Berlin German Symphony Orchestra / David Robertson
Valentin Vasil'yevich Silvestrov , David Robertson , Aleksei Lubimov , and Berlin German Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Valentin Silvestrov: Silent Songs

Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No. 6

Silvestrov: Metamusik, Postludium

Piano Concerto / Symphony

ASIN: B000002AXT
Release Date: 1996-05-28

Tracks:

Symphony No. 5: Maestoso, pesante
Symphony No. 5: Moderato, leggiero
Symphony No. 5: Animato, leggiero, con moto
Symphony No. 5: Andante
Symphony No. 5: Piu mosso
Symphony No. 5: Meno mosso
Symphony No. 5: Leggiero
Symphony No. 5: Andantino
Symphony No. 5: Moderato
Postludium: Comodo
Postludium: Allegro vivace
Postludium: Dolce

Amazon.com

Silvestrov (b. 1937) is a Russian composer who takes a bit after Schnittke, but who nonetheless has his own voice. Silvestrov's Symphony 5 (1980-82) is a breakthrough work and a clear masterpiece. It takes discordant exclamations (or atonally structured sound clusters) and weaves them into an overall tonal skein. Silvestrov does the same in Postludium (1984), which is for piano and orchestra, and which is both lucid and disturbing. These are absolutely stunning works and should be in everyone's collection of 20th-century music. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

like Schnittke on sedatives.......2007-07-01

Now that this disc has been reissued (by ArkivMusic), I have finally heard it. Silvestrov's Symphony No. 5 (1980 - 1982) is widely reputed to be his masterpiece, so I patiently waited to hear it rather than starting with "lesser Silvestrov." (Ironically, just as No. 5 is reissued, the first recording of the long-delayed Symphony No. 6 is released by ECM.) Alfred Schnittke, whom I consider to be one of the late 20th century greats, once called the Ukrainian Silvestrov "the greatest composer of our generation." Arvo Part also holds him in high esteem. I'm afraid that based on this music, I cannot agree with Schnittke and Part.

The Symphony No. 5 is 47 minutes long, and is divided into nine short movements. The opening is suitably dramatic, full of Schnittkian tension and dissonance, and the listener is led to expect further drama. Alas, the music instead just ebbs away, but it takes forever to ebb. There are interruptions of tension (in Part 5, and again in the concluding Part 9), but the overall sensation is like gradually succumbing to the effects of vodka or barbituates. Seth Brodsky has called Silvestrov's music "a body of slow, lovely, and astoundingly detailed "post-ludes" emanating the air of a Mahler adagio through vast waves of time and subtle decay." Comparisons to Mahler, though, are vastly exaggerated -- Mahler said a symphony should "include the world," and he would never have made the Adagietto of his Symphony no. 5 the entire piece! Likewise, some have compared this music to the fourth movement of Mahler's Ninth, but that was the conclusion of a long, varied, and dramatic work. I seriously doubt that most Mahlerians would find much resemblance.

The 18-minute "Postludium," a piano concerto featuring Alexei Lubimov, who has since recorded several more works by Silvestrov for ECM, is in the same vein, but less soporific. The last 6'34" section, marked Dolce, features a beautiful melody. It repeats and repeats, and sticks in your head, a sweet conclusion to sixty five minutes of less than stunning or memorable developments.

Schnittke developed what he called "polystylism," combining music from different periods within a postmodern framework. He utilized tonality without lapsing into facile neoromanticism. Silvestrov apparently sees his music as postmodern as well, referring to it as "meta-music" which is an echo, or as he prefers to call it, a "coda" or "epilogue" to classical and romantic music after it has ended, or died. Schnittke would use a romantic phrase but call it a "painted corpse" to indicate his self-awareness of the gesture, and the intended irony. Silvestrov's music simply seems to mainly luxuriate in a nostalgic haze, a superficial romanticism that does not seem complex or multi-layered enough to sustain Schittke's sort of balance of angst and playfulness.

Seth Brodsky writes of Silvestrov's Fifth "...underneath this floating music lies a tremendous complexity, both technically and emotionally; the accumulative (sic) expressive effect is undeniable and unexpected." I can easily refute this statement -- I deny it. I have been harsh, yes, perhaps too harsh. Silvestrov has his moments. There is an elegiac beauty to be found episodically, and an affinity with the tragic sense found in the music of his fellow Soviet-bloc composers Schnittke and Part. If you enjoy their music you may enjoy this disc. But be prepared with some strong coffee.

sublime.......2007-05-26

I agree with the previous reviewers. During all the years I've spent collecting Russian/Soviet symphonies, I kept hearing this name , 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.

Silvestrov's Masterpiece.......2005-08-21

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.

Stunning, richly evocative updating of Mahler and Bruckner.......1999-11-11

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.

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