Elisaveta Blumina - Weinberg: Children's Notebooks / Piano Sonata No. 1 '2011

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: I. Larghetto
02. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: II. Allegro
03. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: III. Moderato maestoso
04. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: IV. Tempo di valse
05. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: V. Allegretto
06. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: VI. Presto
07. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: VII. Andante tranquillo
08. Children's Notebook, Book 1, Op. 16: VIII. Larghetto
09. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: I. Largo
10. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: II. Allegretto
11. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: III. Moderato
12. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: IV. Lento
13. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: V. Allegro
14. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: VI. Andantino
15. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: VII. Marziale lugubre
16. Children's Notebook, Book 2, Op. 19: VIII. Andante
17. Children's Notebook, Book 3, Op. 23: I. Allegro marcato
18. Children's Notebook, Book 3, Op. 23: II. Allegro commodo
19. Children's Notebook, Book 3, Op. 23: III. Moderato
20. Children's Notebook, Book 3, Op. 23: IV. Prestissmo
21. Children's Notebook, Book 3, Op. 23: V. Allegretto quasi andantino
22. Children's Notebook, Book 3, Op. 23: VI. Lento funebre
23. Children's Notebook, Book 3, Op. 23: VII. Andantino semplice
24. Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 5: I. Adagio
25. Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 5: II. Allegretto
26. Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 5: III. Andantino
27. Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 5: IV. Allegro molto

Polish-born Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg wanted to come to the U.S. but
fled eastward when Hitler invaded Poland and remained in the Soviet Union, even
though his position there under Stalin was still perilous. He was befriended and
admired by Shostakovich, who could not keep him out of prison but may well have
saved his life. Some of his work shows the clear influence of Jewish musical
idioms. The two works on this album, however, are less definitely part of a
Jewish tradition, although annotator Marion Méndez (in notes given in German,
English, and French) points to a "dualism of jest and tragedy...proper to Jewish
music" in the Piano Sonata No. 1; the description might also apply to some of
the three sets of Children's Notebooks, Opp. 16, 19, and 23. Those three sets
are given in full on the album, and it's not clear where one set leaves off and
the next begins. The piano sonata, a student work, is substantial and
imaginative, but the real news here are the Children's Notebooks, for which the
rather delicate style of Russian pianist Elisaveta Blumina is better suited.
Although written for the composer's 12-year-old daughter, they are more like
Schumann's Kinderszenen than Bartók's Mikrokosmos. They're works that a
talented young pianist might undertake, but they contain technical demands that
set them apart from the realm of the instructional, and many of them have quite
a bit of emotional heft. Sample the various slow pieces to get a feel for the
serious nature of the whole, and also for the individuality of Weinberg's style.
Although he and Shostakovich occupy the same section of the 20th century musical
continuum, nothing here sounds much like Shostakovich. There are lots of pieces
here that might be profitably incorporated into piano recitals, and pianists
above all are advised to check out this almost forgotten music.

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