It was natural for Weinberg to turn to Moldavia, his parents’ birthplace, which had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, the year after Weinberg’s flight from Poland. “The Soviet Communist Party always urged composers to use melodies from the country’s various ethnic traditions. Here is Peter Laki on the subject (from notes on a performance of the orchestra-only version): On those grounds, it could be said that Enesco in turn “stole” from the rhapsodies of Liszt … who, like Bartok, Brahms and Haydn and countless others, “stole” from now-anonymous Hungarian musicians.įinally, it is beyond ridiculous to assert that Weinberg did not know the folklore of his own Moldavian parents. No, the Moldavian Rhapsody was not commissioned.Īs to its intrinsic worth, it was premiered and then frequently played as an encore by David Oistrakh, whose taste in music is presumably to be taken seriously.įurther, it is ridiculous to imagine any composer “stealing” from a popular work like the Enesco Rhapsody and actually expecting to get away with it. Meanwhile, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla has been programming the 3rd Symphony lately, and I’d like to think a recording is in the works but I don’t want to start a false rumor … can anyone enlighten? However, there is another orchestral arrangement of that quintet by Mathias Baier, recorded by Elisaveta Blumina and the Georgian Chamber Orchestra, which I find quite effective. I agree with the other reviewer here that the Kremerata Baltica performances are also very powerful but could have been better recorded their orchestral arrangement of the Piano Quintet does nothing to displace the original for me. 2 and 4 at least (where the composer’s name is given as Wajnberg, phonetically correct in Polish perhaps).
For starters, I would certainly recommend to anybody either (or both) of his violin recordings of the irresistible Moldavian Rhapsody in both the piano and orchestra accompanied versions.įor the Chamber Symphonies, the East-West Chamber Orchestra CD is indeed wonderful, though I marginally prefer the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio in Nos. I already own violinist Linus Roth’s CD reviewed here, along with his other Weinberg recordings, and they are all excellent and reward repeated listenings. The Berlin Philharmonic programmed the concerto last month … lucky Berlin! Petersburg Symphony for Naxos, is unable to get his own orchestra to program that concerto, or anything else by Weinberg for that matter. If only we could get more live Weinberg performances here in the USA! Even the trumpeter for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, who recorded the Trumpet Concerto with the St. All of this music is worth getting to know better (and that includes the sonata for two violins, not mentioned). “Unstoppable master of intimated emotion” sums it up beautifully. Thanks very much for calling attention to these two recent Weinberg CDs.