Monday 6 November 2017

Katowice photos

Just got back from my first visit for the 'Parallel Worlds' project, in Katowice, southwestern Poland. In a speedy three-day visit, I managed to visit library collections, attend a concert, have several meetings, as well as fit in some sight-seeing. Here's some photos from my trip:


This impressive red-bricked building is the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, the school of music in Katowice. The imposing gothic front building was originally built for the local parliament, but is now used for music practice and lectures. Behind that, you can just about see the large box-like modern extension, which houses a concert hall, library, and electronic music studios. Notable alumni of the institution include Górecki, Krystian Zimmerman, Eugeniusz Knapik, Aleksander Lasoń, and the Silesian String Quartet.

This is the front of the Silesian Library, the largest library in the region (and one of the newest, opened in 1998). There is a huge music collection here, with an enormous amount of printed materials - I went to consult several quartet scores, as well as to track down several rarer English-language publications.

In the block opposite the Academy of music, there is a cosy 'Museum of Historic Katowice'. Contained across two floors of a large townhouse building, the second floor recreates a middle-class flat in the fin de siècle era. Lighting was tough for photos, but there were several pianos included in the museum (including a square piano from 1840).

Located further north than the Academy is a small residential area, with the Plac Grunwaldzki park in the middle. This features a 'Gallery of Artists', several rather austere-looking monuments to famous artists associated with Katowice. Henryk Górecki is included here, though this likeness depicts a rather serious expression, which doesn't seem to fit with most of the description and testimony of Górecki as a person. Still, it was nice to see a monument to a musical figure.

NOSPR - home of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. This impressive new building was opened in 2014, and designed by the same architects who built the modern addition to the Academy building (see above). I attended the Chamber Hall for a concert of Russian music given by the Silesian Quartet. The Silesian Quartet are currently in the process of recording a Weinberg cycle, with a new instalment to be released very soon.


I'm currently working through a huge number of Polish quartets, with a mind to featuring as many of them as possible in the new book. Watch this space for updates on future research trips.

Monday 23 October 2017

Next Project - 'Parallel Worlds'


Dear all,

While my activity on this blog has slowed considerably, I can promise that my research activity has not ceased. That is why I am writing this to announce research and work on my next project, a monograph study on Weinberg and his Polish contemporaries, titled 'Parallel Worlds'.

This book will examine how Weinberg left Poland behind and delved into the mid-century Soviet style of composition, while also retaining influences and contacts in post-war Poland. I will continue my analytic focus on String Quartets, though taking in a wider focus of composition.

Research and writing are in early days yet, but I have made a start on initial progress, with my first research visit in Katowice in a few weeks. I will post updates on this page, including a 'diary' of sorts of my research visits.

As a preview, here's the first abstract for the book:


Mieczysław Weinberg fled his native Warsaw in September 1939, leaving behind a burgeoning career as a composer and pianist. He eventually reached the Soviet Union, where he made a name for himself, eventually becoming one of the USSR’s most celebrated composers, with a prolific output including twenty-two symphonies and seventeen string quartets. He worked alongside Shostakovich, and his works were performed by Rostropovich, Rozhdestvensky, Oistrakh, and the Borodin Quartet. Throughout his career, however, he was mindful of the nation that he had left behind, with constant references to Poland in his works. He only revisited Poland once in his adult life, for the 1966 Warsaw Autumn festival. Despite this apparent lack of contact, he frequently wrote works to Polish texts and with Polish themes. He also maintained correspondence with several Polish composers, including Krzysztof Penderecki and Krzysztof Meyer.
            As the Weinberg revival has thrown his works into an international spotlight, this book takes the occasion of his centenary to examine how his works written in Russia compare with his Polish colleagues; how one composer split off from his national tradition and created a style that embraced the music of a new homeland, while those composers in his native land surged ahead in a more experimental vein. More often than not, the points of contact between them are enlightening for both sides. This study provides an overview of Weinberg’s music through his String Quartets, analysing them alongside a host of Polish composers (many of them featured for the first time in an English-language publication). Through these comparisons, Weinberg’s distinct style drawn from parallel worlds is thrown into a new light. 

There is a tight schedule for publication in 2019, Weinberg's centenary year. I'll keep you posted.

All best,

D.E.

Tuesday 15 August 2017

Summer 2017 Update

Apologies for 'Radio Silence' on this blog over the last few months; I've been busy with work and several other projects. I'm afraid that posts on this blog are likely to be much more infrequent than during my PhD - though I will endeavour to pick up the pace as I move onto my next piece of research (see below).

Here is an update on all things Weinberg related that have happened in recent months, or are upcoming later this year.

News
Preparations are afoot for several exciting events for 2019, Weinberg's centenary. It's early days for planning at the moment, but I can confirm that there are major celebrations planned for Manchester and London over 2019.

Performances of Weinberg's music continue to increase in frequency, especially in the United States, where his chamber music is enjoying special attention.

February's Moscow Conference was a fantastic success, featuring four days of talks and presentations, along with concerts and opera performances. For an excellent write-up of the event, see Michelle Assay's review in DSCH Journal, issue 47.

This year has seen new productions of The Passenger in Moscow, and also a new production of Congratulations ['Mazl' Tov!'] in Heidelberg.

Concerts
Later this year, Weinberg's Violin Concerto will receive several outings from several different touring ensembles. First, there is Gidon Kremer, continuing his passionate support for Weinberg's music. Secondly, there is Linus Roth, who has recently completed his project to record all of Weinberg's violin music. Finally, there is Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, who will be conducting the work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The Novaya Opera in Moscow have further performances of their hugely successful production of The Passenger - with more information available here. Also, see trailer below.

In October, Weinberg's Second Piano Sonata will be heard in the UK on two consecutive evenings, though by different pianists in different cities. Katya Apekisheva will perform the work on Fri 5 October, as part of the London Piano Festival at Kings Hall, and Murray McLachlan will perform it on Sat 6 October at the Stoller Hall in Manchester (McLachlan, of course, recorded a much-loved cycle of Weinberg's piano sonatas in the late 1990s).

In addition to all this, the Musikverein in Vienna will see a performance of Weinberg's Piano Trio by the Altenberg Trio with Christopher Hinterhuber.

Videos

The Semperoper Dresden supplied this extended preview of their production of The Passenger from earlier this year. 


Similarly, the Moscow Novaya Opera supplied this trailer for their superb production of the same opera.

CDs
A number of exciting CDs are upcoming, or have just been released. Here is a selection:

The Silesian Quartet, Wajnberg, String Quartet 7 + Piano Quintet (Accord)

This disc is the first in a new cycle of Weinberg's String Quartets, performed by the excellent Silesian Quartet. If this CD is anything to go by, it will be a superb cycle. They are joined by pianist Piotr Sałajczyk for Weinberg's Piano Quintet.

Gabriel Chmura, Sinfonia Iuventus, Weinberg Fifth Symphony (Warner Classics)


The Polish Simfonia Iuventus, conducted by Gabriel Chmura, opt to combine Weinberg's Fifth Symphony with Prokofiev's Fifth in their first disc on the Warner Classics Label. This is sure to be an interesting combination, and I certainly look forward to this release.

Grigory Kalinovsky and Tatiana Goncharova, Weinberg Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano (Naxos)
Naxos continue their steady stream of Weinberg releases with this excellent set of Weinberg's sonatas for violin and piano - a welcome addition to the extensive range of options for this repertoire. 

Publications
In terms of academic work on Weinberg, several upcoming releases are in preparation, though the majority are expected for the 2019 centenary. Several academic theses on Weinberg's music have been completed recently, including Anna Voskoboynikova on the piano works, and A.S. Conway on his Flute music.

As for myself, as well as regularly teaching at Royal Holloway, I am currently beginning work on a large-scale project that will result in a monograph on Weinberg in his Polish context(s). More details to follow soon.

As always, if readers wish to promote any new recordings, concerts, or any new research, please don't hesitate to get in contact.

All best,

D.E.

Sunday 29 January 2017

Moscow Weinberg Conference, February 2017


In February 2017, the conference 'Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996): A Rediscovery' will take place in Moscow, arguably the largest ever event devoted to Weinberg's life and music. The conference will unite performers, theatre directors and stage designers, academics, and figures from Weinberg's life, in an extended programme over two weeks. The core of this revolves around 16-19 February, with four days of papers, talks, and interviews. All of this is hosted in the Bolshoi Theatre, a venue that imparts a high level of prestige to the proceedings. The wider conference programme includes concerts, film screenings, and three stagings of Weinberg operas (including two separate stagings of The Passenger).

The conference is co-presented by the Bolshoi Theatre and the newspaper Muzykalnoe obozrenie.

The operas presented are:



The Idiot - Directed by Evgeny Arye, musical direction by Michał Klauza (in a production receiving its premiere on 13 February).










The Passenger - Directed by Sergey Shirokov, musical direction by Jan Latham-Koenig (a new production that received its premiere on 27 January).














The Passenger - Directed by Thaddeus Strassberger, conducted by Oliver van Dohnányi (presented by the Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, in a production that premiered in September 2016).














The academic side of the conference brings together over 40 scholars from across the world (the conference languages are Russian and English). The four days of the conference are organised as follows:

16 February
'Staging History of Mieczysław Weinberg's operas - The Idiot in Russia today'

17 Feburary
'The Passenger: Past and Present'

18 February
'The Life and Legacy of Mieczysław Weinberg: Chamber Works'
(followed by an evening concert of Weinberg's chamber music)

19 February
'Mieczysław Weinberg: Identity, Biography, Personality'

Highlights of the panel sessions include:
- the creative team behind the Bolshoi Theatre's production of The Idiot
- A roundtable on The Passenger
- An interview and discussion with Zofia Posmysz, author of the novel, The Passenger, and herself a former Auschwitz prisoner.
- An interview and discussion with David Pountney, celebrated stage director, and main creative force behind the 2010 Bregenz Festival.
-  A roundtable discussion with Weinberg's friends, colleagues, and family. The panel includes Weinberg's widow, Olga Rakhalskaya, and his second daughter, Anna Weinberg, as well as Tommy Persson, who has been a driving force behind much of the Weinberg revival in recent decades.

I am honoured to be speaking on 18 February, as part of a day of talks on Weinberg's Chamber Music. I will be presenting a paper titled '"An Encyclopedia of the Genre": Weinberg's String Quartets', which summarises some of the findings from my doctoral thesis.

For a full listing of the Conference schedule, please see the following link:
Conference programme

Any questions should be directed to the conference email address: weinberg.moscow2017@gmail.com

Watch this space for a full conference report.