Mieczysław Weinberg - Cello Concerto, Op. 43 (1948)

Mieczysław Weinberg (also Moisey or Moishe Vainberg, Moisey Samuilovich Vaynberg; Russian: Моисей Самуилович Вайнберг; Polish: Mojsze [Mieczysław] Wajnberg; 8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet composer. Ever since a revival concert series in the 2010 Bregenz Festival in Austria, his music has been increasingly described as “some of the most individual and compelling music of the twentieth century“.[1] Weinberg’s output was extensive, encompassing 26 symphonies, 17 string quartets, nearly 30 sonatas for various instruments, 7 operas, and numerous film scores. Please support my channel: Cello Concerto in C minor, Op. 43 (1948) Dedication: Mstislav Rostropovich 1. Adagio (0:00) 2. Moderato (7:06) 3. Allegro (12:04) Cadenza (18:30) 4. Allegro (21:37) Dmitry Khrychev, cello and Saint Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Titov Although Weinberg never formally studied with Shostakovich, the older composer had an obvious influence on Weinberg’s music. This is particularly noticeable in his Twelfth Symphony (1975–1976, Op. 114), which is dedicated to the memory of Shostakovich and quotes from a number of the latter’s works. Other explicit connections include the pianissimo passage with celesta which ends the Fifth Symphony (1962, Op. 76), reminiscent of Shostakovich’s Fourth; the quote from one of Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues in Weinberg’s Sixth Piano Sonata (1960, Op. 73); and numerous, strung-together quotes from Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto and Cello Sonata (4th movement) in Weinberg’s 21st Prelude for Solo Cello. These explicit connections should not be interpreted, however, to mean that musical influences went in only one direction (from Shostakovich to Weinberg). Indeed, Shostakovich drew significant inspiration from Weinberg’s Seventh Symphony for his Tenth String Quartet; Shostakovich also drew on some of the ideas in Weinberg’s Ninth String Quartet for the slow movement of his Tenth Quartet (opening bars of Weinberg’s Ninth), for his Eleventh Quartet (first movement of Weinberg’s Ninth) and for his Twelfth Quartet (F-sharp major ending);[29] and in his First Cello Concerto of 1959, Shostakovich re-used Weinberg’s idea of a solo cello motif in the first movement that recurs at the end of the work to impart unity, from Weinberg’s Cello Concerto (1948, Op. 43). It is also important to note that Weinberg does not restrict himself to quoting Shostakovich. For example, Weinberg’s Trumpet Concerto quotes Mendelssohn’s well-known Wedding March; his Second Piano Sonata (written in 1942, before moving to Moscow) quotes Haydn; and his Twenty First Symphony quotes a Chopin ballade. Such cryptic quotations are stylistic features shared by both Weinberg and Shostakovich. The discussion above highlights that mutual influences and stylistic affinities can be found in many works by the two composers, no doubt as a result of their close friendship and similar compositional views. On 13 January 1948 Weinberg’s father-in-law Mikhoels was assassinated in Minsk on Stalin’s orders; shortly after Mikhoels’s murder, Soviet agents began following Weinberg. In February 1953, he was arrested on charges of “Jewish bourgeois nationalism“ in relation to the murder of his father-in-law as a part of the so-called “Doctors’ plot“: Shostakovich allegedly wrote to Lavrenti Beria to intercede on Weinberg’s behalf, as well as agreeing to look after Weinberg’s daughter if his wife were also arrested. In the event, he was saved by Stalin’s death the following month, and he was officially rehabilitated shortly afterwards. Thereafter Weinberg continued to live in Moscow, composing and occasionally performing as a pianist. He and Shostakovich lived near to one another, sharing ideas on a daily basis. Besides the admiration which Shostakovich frequently expressed for Weinberg’s works, they were taken up by some of Russia’s foremost performers and conductors, including Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Kirill Kondrashin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Kurt Sanderling, and Thomas Sanderling.