Alexander Tcherepnin’s Third Symphony sounds a lot like Stravinsky’s Petrushka with Chinese tunes. It’s a brilliant piece of work and an unusual one too, in that the slow movement starts quietly but arrives at a brilliant, heroic ending to which the real finale comes as a sort of humorous postlude. The feel of the symphony, its pattern of tension and release, is thus more “classical” à la Haydn and Mozart than Romantic. The Fourth Symphony is just the opposite: a quick opening movement precedes a quirky waltz, all as a prelude to a lengthy, elegiac slow finale based on Orthodox chant. Tcherepnin’s orchestral mastery is particularly evident in this work, which abstains from his usual fondness for percussion effects and instead makes its points through instrumentation that, though sober, never becomes drab or monochrome.
The Sixth Piano Concerto was written for the Swiss pianist Margrit Weber who recorded the work for Deutsche Grammophon with Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Needless to say, that performance has been unavailable since the 1970s, making this newcomer all the more welcome. This is a marvelous concerto, full of brilliant writing for the soloist. The first movement has a particularly wonderful development section in which all of the tunes are explored rhythmically by solo percussion, leading to a riveting return to the opening by the orchestra and piano soloist. Noriko Ogawa deserves a huge amount of credit for learning this colorful and challenging work, and for playing it with such dynamism and genuine sympathy. It would bring the house down in concert, and hopefully she will have at least some opportunities to offer it live. Fantastic music, performances, and recording! Another major winner. [2/17/2000]
