Mieczysław Weinberg's Sinfonietta No. 1

[Modernistfan]

Last night, I listened to Mieczysław Weinberg's Sinfonietta No. 1. What a fun piece! It is remarkable that, in 1948, he was able to sneak this extremely Yiddish (klezmer)-sounding piece past the commissars. This piece is on Chandos 10128 with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gabriel Chmura.

[maestrob]

Last night, I listened to Mieczysław Weinberg's Sinfonietta No. 1. What a fun piece! It is remarkable that, in 1948, he was able to sneak this extremely Yiddish (klezmer)-sounding piece past the commissars. This piece is on Chandos 10128 with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gabriel Chmura.

I do enjoy Weinberg's (sometimes transliterated from the Russian alphabet as "Vainberg") music a great deal, and acquired this 2CD release from DGG when it was issued just before the pandemic last year. Glad to see him being recorded now and gaining a wider audience at last. It's now available for streaming on amazon, if you're curious.

[Modernistfan]

I have that 2-CD set. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla is a huge Weinberg fan and may well record more of his music. Symphony No. 21 is subtitled "Kaddish" (the Jewish memorial prayer for the dead), and is written in honor of the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. Weinberg's own parents were deported from Warsaw and are believed to have perished in the camp at Trawniki.

[maestrob]

I have that 2-CD set. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla is a huge Weinberg fan and may well record more of his music. Symphony No. 21 is subtitled "Kaddish" (the Jewish memorial prayer for the dead), and is written in honor of the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. Weinberg's own parents were deported from Warsaw and are believed to have perished in the camp at Trawniki.

Never forget.

[Rach3]

Thanks for this.

I do not have any of his symphonies , but after listening to other works, did purchase recordings of his Op.43 Cello Concerto, 9th String Quartet, and 3rd Piano Sonata. All at YT I think.Fww.

[maestrob]

Thanks for this.

I do not have any of his symphonies , but after listening to other works, did purchase recordings of his Op.43 Cello Concerto, 9th String Quartet, and 3rd Piano Sonata. All at YT I think.Fww.

Bravo!

How about posting some covers, or maybe some links, whenever you get around to it?

You probably know that Weinberg and Shostakovich were long-time friends and colleagues, but here's an interesting webpage on the subject that includes a video link with a lecture and concert:

https://www.yivo.org/Shostakovich-and-W ... ationship.

[Modernistfan]

Another work of Weinberg in much the same idiom as the Sinfonietta No. 1 is his Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes (1949). Again, this work is very klezmer-sounding; no surprise, as Moldavia, where much of Weinberg's family originated (and also from where much of my mother's side of my family was originally from) was a hotbed of klezmer music. Apparently, the commissars did not quite catch on, and he managed to sneak it through during a period of substantial antisemitism in the Soviet Union.

[Modernistfan]

Well, as Wednesday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I have requested my local classical station, KUSC, to play the Weinberg Sinfonietta No. 1. The work is relatively light, clearly tonal and even hummable, and does not in itself make reference to the Holocaust. The connection is that Weinberg lost most of his family, including his parents and his sister, to the Holocaust. (I would unfortunately place a large bet, however, that the station will not play that work or anything associated in any way, directly or indirectly, with the Holocaust on Wednesday.)