Weinberg: Complete Violin Sonatas, Vol. 2

Featuring

Yuri Kalnits
Michael Csányi-Wills
Mieczysław Weinberg

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Mieczysław Weinberg considered himself a pupil of Shostakovich, stating, 'I count myself as his pupil, his flesh and blood'.

Performer Biography

Yuri Kalnits, the violinist on this album, received his first violin lessons from his father in Moscow and later studied at the Royal College of Music in London.

Performer Biography

Michael Csányi-Wills, the pianist on this album, graduated from the Royal Academy of Music as a pianist but became increasingly drawn to composition, writing works ranging from chamber music to film scores.

Composer Biography

A Russian border-guard reportedly inscribed Mieczysław Weinberg's documents with the stereotypically Jewish first name Moisey, which became his official name.

Historical Context

In 1948, Mieczysław Weinberg, like many Soviet composers, was targeted by the 'anti-formalism' campaign, also known as 'Zhdanovshchina', which warned against internationalism.

Composer Biography

Mieczysław Weinberg, born in Warsaw in 1919, fled the German occupation of Poland in 1939, during which his parents and sister were murdered.

Historical Context

Mieczysław Weinberg was arrested in 1953 and held for eleven weeks in Lubyanka prison on the charge of 'Jewish bourgeois nationalism', shortly after his father-in-law, Solomon Mikhoels, was executed on Stalin's order.