Composer
Gija Kancheli
is becoming more and more frequently performed, and if the four works here are not now common items, that may change. They are somewhat different in flavor from the composer's symphonies, but
Rodion Shchedrin
's maxim that
Kancheli
is "an ascetic with the temperament of a maximalist, a restrained Vesuvius" still applies.
wrote a good deal of film music, and the fascinating opening work here,
A Little Daneliade for piano, strings, and percussion
, relates to that; the title refers to film director
Giya Daneliya
, and the piece's rather strange discourse of single violin gestures punctuated by silences and stronger outbursts from the whole group evokes the director's science fiction comedy
Kin-dza-dza!
, with its telepathic characters. Also absorbing is the
Valse Boston for piano and strings
, which, for much of its length, seems to be anything but a waltz until one realizes that the waltz rhythm is generally hanging there in the background. These two pieces are conducted from the keyboard by
Elisaveta Blumina
, and she has a fine feeling for the slightly ironic language of these works and a good rapport with the venerable
Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie
. That quality is also present in the excerpts from the
18 Miniatures for violin and piano
and the early
Largo & Allegro for piano, strings, and timpani
, although these are closer to a neo-Romantic language. Nothing here is dull in the least, and the album seems likely to expand the growing canon of performed
works. ~ James Manheim