Weinberg: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 21

Featuring

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
Gidon Kremer
Oliver Janes
Georgijs Osokins
Iurii Gavryliuk
Kremerata Baltica

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mieczysław Weinberg

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Mieczysław Weinberg, a Polish-Jewish composer, was forced to flee his home in Warsaw in 1939 due to the Nazi invasion, losing his family in the Holocaust.

Compositional Technique

The 21st Symphony by Mieczysław Weinberg includes musical quotations from Frédéric Chopin's Ballade No. 1 and Gustav Mahler's song 'Das irdische Leben'.

Performer Biography

Gidon Kremer, the violinist on this recording, founded Kremerata Baltica in 1997, an ensemble of 23 young musicians from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, known for its unique programming.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Weinberg considered his 21st Symphony and the opera The Passenger his most important compositions, both addressing the horrors of war and the Holocaust.

Recording & Production

This album was released in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music programme, celebrating the centenary of Poland regaining independence.

Historical Context

Weinberg faced state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and imprisonment in the Soviet Union in 1953, only to be released due to the intervention of his friend Dmitri Shostakovich and Stalin's death.

Interpretation

Conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla describes Weinberg's 21st Symphony as his 'swan song' and a special challenge due to its long solo and chamber passages contrasted with a large orchestra.