Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein or Philip Glass, four different but equally brilliant musical universes.
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Vadym Kholodenko plays Tchaikovsky
First stop on our journey with the most Russian of Russian composers. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote a famous piano concerto (1st sound). Vadym Kholodenko is interested in two less recorded works
: the two Sonatas for solo piano. We find there the exacerbated romanticism of the composer of Swan Lake. Vadym Kholodenko has the good taste to temper anything that may seem excessive for keep only pure emotion.
World Harmony.
Shostakovich-Weinberg : Piano Trios (Trio Metral)
There is also emotion in these trios by two of the most important Russian composers of the 20th century. But the emotion is tragic here, that of two souls torn between Nazi and Stalinist barbarities. Dmitri Shostakovich and Mieczyslaw Weinberg have composed pages of rare intensity. The young Trio Metral delivers us a moving but demanding record, at the height of these universal masterpieces.
La Dolce Volta.
Americans: James Gaffigan, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra
Complete change of mood with this album dedicated to American music in its many facets. There are the irresistible ones Symphonic dances from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein. But also lesser-known pages, such as the strange symphony The Camp Meeting by the iconoclast Charles Ives, the thunderous Festive touch by Samuel Barber, or a hugging Andante for strings by Ruth Crawford. Far from its green Swiss countryside, the Lucerne orchestra slips into these shiny pages with joy.
World Harmony.
This is America : Vanessa Wagner, Wilhem Latchoumia
This is another part of American music offered by the duo of pianists Vanessa Wagner and Wilhelm Latchoumia. If we find the Symphonic dances from West Side Story, in a pianistic adaptation that reveals a more modernist aspect of the work, this disc is mainly interested in what we call the minimalist school. Featuring hypnotizing works by Philip Glass and John Adams of incredible melodic and harmonic density.
La Dolce Volta.
Cultural diplomacy
Between America and Russia, music has often been instrumentalized to serve the interests of one or the other, especially during the dark years of the Cold War.
In 1958, an American pianist Van Cliburn won the first Tchaikovsky Prize in Moscow. Vexed, the Russians then send their most brilliant soloists (Richter, Oistrakh…) for triumphant western tours. In 1989, the dissident cellist Rostropovich ended the era by playing at the foot of the collapsed Berlin Wall.
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