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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A bit special, this,
By
This review is from: Gubuaidulina: Viola Concerto / Kancheli: Styx (Audio CD)
I guess DG knew they had something a little special here .. certainly they have gone out of their way to give it attractive and unusual packaging and documentation. But then they seem also to not know what the selling point may be. Is it Kancheli's Styx - as proclaimed by a sticker they have added (as if as an afterthought)- or is it the Viola Concerto by Gubaidulina? Or is it the presence of Yuri Bashmet and Valery Gergiev? Of course, it is all of these things. And it had better be because if you make such a fuss about your new record then it needs to live up to it.
Kancheli's Styx is an attractive and striking piece. Sudden dynamic contrasts are, I guess, a Kancheli hallmark but here the dynamism is most especially explosive. I wonder how well it will wear as time goes by? Not so well perhaps but, no matter, right now it is fresh and new and exciting. It is also very memorable and somewhat haunting so perhaps it is destined to be a classic. It is a clever idea to commemorate and mourn recent dead composers and poets by reference to the River Styx. It is clever also to have represented this in music with the viola, and to have striking choral interventions in the flow - chanting the names of the dead and so on. Clever and yet, I have no doubt at all, sincere. This is big music that wears its Georgian heart on its Georgian shirtsleeves and is none the worse for that. Needless to say, Bashmet and Gergiev present it persuasively. The Gubaidulina concerto is perhaps a more serious piece? But it doesn't please the reviewers on the US Amazon site as much as the Kancheli does. It is an attractive and haunting piece and it is not at all about clever concepts. Is it perhaps a little too long? There are times when you might feel it is stretching its material out too thinly but these times do find answers. I'm not sure if the answer is the composer also recognising the need to inject something new (and doing so in no uncertain terms!) or if it is that she makes us wait (... and breath ...) before hitting us with something striking and new. So: fascinating, attractive, memorable, well-crafted, fresh and new music from the east - a little different to what you have heard before - and played by two great names in music.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautifully haunting, Romantic journey down the river Styx,
By Matthew L. Pumphrey "Music aficionado" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gubuaidulina: Viola Concerto / Kancheli: Styx (Audio CD)
"With Great Passion" were the words that came to mind when I first heard this recent masterpiece by Kancheli performed by the great Russian violist Yuri Bashmet. The work was written for and with him in mind and as such, it is loaded with some of the most romantic music ever written for viola. The viola is the tour guide for this fantastic trip down/across the river between life and death, or perhaps, it is the river itself. The veiled sound of the instrument meanders lyrically in and out of the passionate dynamics displayed by the orchestra and mixed choir. Very poetic. The thirty-five minute track ebbs and flows seamlessly down its mystical course as it ends all too quickly, though surprisingly. I would compare the style of the music to the great romantic works at the turn of the nineteenth century (Mahler, Strauss) but there truly is a timeless, lamenting quality to this beautiful work.Also written for Bashmet, the Gubaibulina Viola Concerto is passionate and mournful as well, yet in a more sparse and technical way. The nuiance of the viola is explored in a more contemporary fashion and it took me a few listens to fully appreciate this modern concerto. Patience does pay off and if you have ever heard Offertorium (her Violin Concerto), this makes a great companion piece. Both the DG sound production and performance will blow you away. The art and packaging is a bonus as well. Please give us more Yuri DG!! 14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kancheli's thrill ride, Gubaidulina's intense inward journey,
By R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gubuaidulina: Viola Concerto / Kancheli: Styx (Audio CD)
Kancheli's "Styx" -- 3 stars) This 1999 composition by Kancheli has the tonality of a late Romantic work, but a postmodern structure. Rather than a smoothly flowing river, it strikes me as more like a "scary" amusement park ride, one of them where you travel through some setting in the dark and there's a monster or a splash of water behind every turn. In "Styx" these are the loud punctuations from orchestra and chorus. In between are very quiet, lyrical passages featuring Bashmet's viola. It's not a great vehicle for him, though, due to these extreme dynamics -- if you turn the volume up enough to hear him clearly, you'll damage your ears with each blast. I understand that this "eruption" device is typical of Kancheli -- curious that it is also used by post-rock bands like Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor. I find it superficial and unaffecting. Gubaidulina's "Concerto for Viola and Orchestra" -- 5 stars) This piece, from 1996, is full of anguish, grandeur, complex tonality and structural development, and virtuoso passages which Bashmet plays with the utmost power and beauty. The only Gubaidulina I had heard previously were some of her string quartets (by Kronos and Arditti) -- this concerto confirms for me that she is an outstanding composer of the 20th century! Gubaidulina and Kancheli can also be found together on the Kronos Quartet album from 1994, "Night Prayers," and there as here, I am more impressed by Gubaidulina. The performances by Yuri Bashmet on viola, conductor Valery Gergiev, the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, and the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir are superb. DG's packaging is also gorgeous -- their 20/21 series is beginning to build some real depth. 8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Contemporary Classical Music,
By Gabriel Rockman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gubuaidulina: Viola Concerto / Kancheli: Styx (Audio CD)
Styx is a great piece, written by the Georgian composer Giya Kancheli in 1999. It is written for Viola, Choir, and Orchestra, and is dedicated to Yuri Bashmet. Bashmet is the world's greatest Violist alive today, and he performs this work excellently on this recording. The music is very beautiful, and along with Simi and Mourned By The Wind, is serving as my introduction to Kancheli's music. There is a serious flaw in the piece, and that is that it is designed for performance in a concert hall, not for playing on your CD player. It switches between very loud and extremely quiet sections. The quiet sections make up most of the piece, but they are very hard to hear without turning the volume up high, but you'll pay when the loud sections very suddenly pop in, often for only a few seconds. I love his use of dynamics, but it is not well suited to a CD player. I love listening to this piece despite that, but I am unable to listen to it if there is background noise around because it will drown out the beautiful quiet parts. The last two minutes are especially quiet, and then the finishing chord comes out of nowhere very very loud. Yes I am "spoiling" the surprise of it for you, but it will still catch you off guard despite my warning.
As for the Orchestra, Choir, and the soloist, they all do an excellent job. The choir fills its role quite well, and does not try to dominate the music, and is content to serve as backup for Bashmet's playing. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy a recording of this piece with anyone other than Bashmet performing it. Gubaidulina's concerto for Viola was also written specifically for Bashmet. This piece gives the performer a lot of leeway in choosing the tempo and even sometimes the pitch as well. It is often slow moving, allowing Bashmet's beautiful playing to shine. This piece showcases Bashmet's playing a lot more than Kancheli's. It has a lot of quieter parts at the start with unaccompanied or sparsely accompanied Viola, but these parts are still audible, unlike many parts in Kancheli's piece. It has plenty of space for solo Viola, possibly too much time, but the climax punctuated by the percussion is exciting. And if you appreciate Bashmet's abilities on Viola, you'll appreciate the first 20 minutes of the piece. Gubaidulina's piece is beautiful, although not as beautiful as Kancheli's. It does not have the extreme quietness problems Kancheli's piece does. Both pieces are quite enjoyable, and I was split between giving this 4 or 5 stars. I really enjoy this CD, and it is one of the better CDs I have. I decided upon 4 stars because of the difficulty of listening to the first piece. I strongly recommend this CD. |
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