Mieczysław Weinberg: Symphonies Nos 3 & 7, Flute Concerto No 1
‘Conducting is about sharing music.’ So says Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Well known in European musical circles, her conducting style has been described as ‘communication incarnate’. Through her exclusive relationship with Deutsche Grammophon, she is bringing to the world the music of Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1995).
Weinberg was a Polish-Jewish composer who lived in the Soviet Union. He was prolific during his life and, thanks to a revival in 2010, has been coming back into popularity. You can feel the influences of other Soviet composers in Weinberg’s music, such as his good friend Shostakovich, but there’s a distinct voice to these three works.
The Symphony No 7 starts with a strange timbre, a solo harpsichord that morphs into a gorgeous exploration of the tonality of a harpsichord and a string orchestra. Over five movements, the music grows and cascades into increasing dissonance until it fades away into an Adagio sostenuto. Weinberg’s Symphony No 3 was originally written in 1949, but when it fell out of favour with the Stalin regime, it had to be substantially revised and finally received its premiere in 1960. The Flute Concerto is sandwiched between the two symphonies, and I can see its bouncy first movement taking over the stage for flute players around the world. What a terrific work the concerto is, and I can’t wait to see it live!