Schnittke - Requiem; Piano Concerto

Alfred Schnittke: 

Requiem; Piano Concerto

Ludmila Kuznetsova, Vsevolod Grivnov, Anaida Agadzhanian, Olga Sizova, Olga Tal , Tatiana Sharova, 

Valeri Polyansky (Conductor), Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Chorus, 

Igor Khudolei (Piano) 

This Chandos CD features two works by Alfred Schnittke performed by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra and Choir conducted by Valery Polyansky. Both were written in the 1970s, when Schnittke was developing his characteristic "polystylism" sound, where the hallmarks of the baroque, classical and early Romantic eras are joined to modernism, letting a whole mix of eras sound together through a work.

In Schnittke's "Requiem" (1974-75) traditional Requiem stylings reminiscent of Mozart and Dvorak are supplemented by allusions to Russian Orthodox chant. This traditionalism, however, is slowly stretched into directions earlier composers would have never gone towards. The "Tuba Mirum", delivered by male voices as the female singers maintain a chant of "tu-ba mi-rum, tu-ba mi-rum", is rooted in common practice tonality, but utterly modern in its effect. The climax of the piece comes with the "Credo", not a movement generally found in a requiem, but which is belted out in triumph as a rock drum kit joins the traditional orchestral sounds. The ending of the piece unusually reprises "requiem aeternam" instead of the customary "lux aeterna". This performance here is solid, but the sound quality is no match for the performance on a BIS disc by the Uppsala Akademiska Kammarkor conducted by Stefan Parkman.

The Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra (1979) is one of Schnittke's greatest works. Cast in one movement, it is combination of variation, sonata, and cyclic form, with one theme related to Orthodox chant and another a twelve-tone series with tonal features, the whole being fairly easily graspable. The concerto starts its peak early with an ostinato reminscent of Sofia Gubaidulina ("Zeitgestalten" or the "Viola Concerto"), and then a heavy cadenza, while the second half of the piece is played piano. With its clear dramatic arc, this is a very accessible and engaging work, and I'm amazed that it hasn't entered the standard repertoire, though it has been recorded many times. One day I'm going to have to take a look at the score and find out why interpretations of this work widely vary, with articulations sounding remarkably different from performance to performance and timings ranging from 20-25 minutes. But based on my familiarity with Schnittke's late 70s sound, I'm drawn to consider the recording with Postnikova on a Warner Apex disc authoritative. And compared to pretty much all other performances out there, Igor Khudolei's phrasing here is extremely clumsy and plodding.

While I feel that Schnittke was still to further refine his "polystylistic" approach and that the works of the early 1980s show greater maturity, these are still fine pieces. It is a pity that they are not represented here as well as on other discs.