Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186855 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-12
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Another essential Schnittke
Lets get facts straight, as I see on a classical chat site where this guy rates Schnittke a 7 out of 10, and Shostakovich a 10. Schnittke was not second to Shostakovich in any aspects of writing. Both write from different styles, yet Schnittke draws on Shostakovich as MUCH AS HE NEEDED. You see Schnittke was not afraid to "borrow" ideas from any composer.
Frankly I know of no other composer that si as ecelitic and dynamic as Schnittke, thgough as I say Shostakovich was just as eloquent and expressive.
. Obviously one can't make a direct comparison, both composers are acknowledged as masters in russia, and the musical world in russia are in agreement that Schnittke was Shosty's true heir. Though Schnittke was not purely russian, but german, russian, and viennese as well, he lived in all 3 places due to the war. . A true eccletic composer.
Schnittke along with Allan Pettersson are the 2 last of the great composers starting with Bach. Both are far superior to Both learned from Stravinsky, others, and moved on fropm Stravinsy's ballets. . (I brought up Stravinsky because I see so many classicphiles who just can't for whatever reason, move beyond Stravinsky. Stravinsky to me was a pop hit/the talk of the town so to speak, in his days in Paris/America, but since has been surpassed by quite a few, Stravinsky was mainly for ballet, this is where his genius lays. )
Schnittke really has no minor works, 95% or what he wrote is superior writing, more that Shostakovich who indeed has a few less than stellar works. .
Performance quiality on this cd is top notch, as is all of Kremer's recordings in Schnittke.
Read Hutchinson's excellent reviews on Schnittke.
Schnittke represents the culmination of 20th century high art in classical music.
I highly recommend to all Schnittke fans the book, A Schnittke Reader/editor Ivashkin.
Schnittke was as great in music as he was in philosophical and religious thought. An amazing individual of a powerful and profound mind

Generally minor Schnittke, except for the 1st concerto, available in better performance
This Deutsche Grammaphon disc, part of its "Echo 20/21" series of contemporary music reissues, collects three pieces by the late Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, with a spotlight on violinist Gidon Kremer. The disc covers three distinct eras of Schnittke's oeuvre, with "Quasi una sonata" breaking free of serialism, his first concerto grosso coming from his period of comfortable polystylism and abundant quotation of yesteryear's works, and the fifth concerto grosso dating from after his 1985 stroke when his writing became sparser.

The "Concerto grosso no. 1" for two violins, harpsichord, prepared piano, and string orchestra (1977) is performed here by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Heinrich Schiff with Kremer and Tatyana Gridenko on violin and Yuri Smirnov on both harpischord and prepared piano. The work is a typical example of Schnittke's "polystylism", where the most modern techniques are combined with throwbacks to baroque and classical sounds in a way that, strangely, isn't incongruous. Among composers whose work Schnittke has absorbed here in parody or direct quotation are Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Webern, and Tchaikovsky. The work is even rounded out by a tango on the harpischord. A fun work, though I prefer the Soviet-era performance--also with Gridenko and Kremer--that is available both on a disc in the Moscow Studio Archives series and on a Collegno collection of Schnittke pieces.

The "Concerto grosso no. 5" for violin, invisible piano, and orchestra (1990-91) is quite different from Schnittke's earlier works in this genre in its eschewing of quotation. The form is unusual as well, highlighting the violin with elaborate cadenzas so much that this might even be called a violin concerto. The piano, "invisible" in that it is placed off stage and amplified, provides only the simplest of supporting roles. While some of the rhythmic motifs here are interesting, I find the piece to be typical of Schnittke's late work, which I'm not too big a fan of, and therefore do not return to this often. The performance here is by the Wiener Philharmonker conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi with Kremer on violin and Keuschnig, but I regrettably have nothing to compare it to.

"Quasi una sonata" for violin and chamber orchestra was first composed in 1968 but set for chamber orchestra in 1987. Here Kremer conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe while simultaneously By the late 1960s Schnittke had tired of serialism, but was uncomfortable composing without the guidelines of that technique, so he wrote a work that combines serialism with traditional tonalism, giving rise to the polystylism that would later make him famous. Three main sections can be distinguished in this single-movement work, a sonata, an adagio, and a fugue, and each is made up of contrasting tonal and atonal moments. While somewhat entertaining, and clearly important in the composer's development, it pales in comparison to his works of the following decade.

If you have never heard any of Schnittke's concerti grossi before, try getting the "Concerto grosso no. 2" for violin and cello in the Moscow Studio Archives series, a seminal Soviet-era performance by the dedicatees of a fun and zany work, and mid-price to boot. While Kremer is a master of contemporary violin repertoire, this recording is not the best representation of Schnittke's art.

Schnittke + Kremer X 3
DG has put together a very smart reissue here. "Concerto grosso 1" and "Quasi una sonata" for violin and chamber orchestra were originally released in 1989. "Concerto grosso 5" has been rescued from its original 1993 release back-to-back with a Glass piece, and is now united with the other Kremer performances of Schnittke. The entire disc is a showcase for Gidon Kremer, who was Schnittke's friend and champion. Dohnanyi and the Vienna Philharmonic are amazing on "5", clearly outshining Schiff and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, which perform with Kremer on the 1989 recordings. If you enjoy this music as much as I do, you should not miss Schnittke's violin concertos, played by Kremer (on Teldec) and his string quartets, played by Kronos (on Nonesuch) -- see my reviews of both. And don't miss Gubaidulina either -- DG 20/21 has recently released works for viola with Bashmet, and reissued OFFERTORIUM with Kremer -- see my review.

Schnittke called the 1977 piece an example of "polystylism," and sure enough there are elements of baroque and quotes from various composers, as well as a brief tango, but these are resolutely dissonant, modern works -- don't be misled into thinking otherwise. The ECM-esque cover photo is a great touch, credit to the DG 20/21 team.

I consider Schnittke to be one of the best late 20th century composers -- see my ALFRED SCHNITTKE'S TRAGICOMIC SOUNDWORLD for more recordings and reviews.