Concerto Grosso No. 1 (Schnittke)

The Concerto Grosso No. 1 was the first of six concerti grossi by Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke. Written in 1977 when Schnittke was 44, and scored for two violins, harpsichord, prepared piano and 21 strings, it was premiered on March 21 that year by Gidon Kremer and Tatiana Grindenko in the violins, Yuri Smirnov in the keyboards[1] and the Leningrad Chamber Orchestra conducted by Eri Klas. It is one of the most representative works of the polystylism of Schnittke, who defined it as a play of three spheres, the Baroque, the Modern and the banal, fusing its techniques and aesthetics into one cohesive structure.[2] It lasts for c. 28 minutes, and consists of six movements:

  1. Preludio (Andante)
  2. Toccata (Allegro)
  3. Recitativo (Lento)
  4. Cadenza
  5. Rondo (Agitato)
  6. Postlude (Andante)

In 1988 Schnittke arranged the work for flute and oboe instead of the soloist violins.[3]

Discography

Soloists (vl) Soloist (kb) Ensemble Conductor Label Release date
Tatiana Grindenko, Gidon Kremer Yuri Smirnov United Kingdom London Symphony Gennady Rozhdestvensky Melodiya 1982
Liana Isakadze, Oleh Krysa Natalia Mandenova Soviet Union Georgian Chamber Orchestra Saulus Sondeckis Melodiya 1984
Tatiana Grindenko, Gidon Kremer Yuri Smirnov Soviet Union Moscow Philharmonic Yuri Bashmet Melodiya 1990
Tatiana Grindenko, Gidon Kremer Yuri Smirnov European Union Chamber Orchestra of Europe Heinrich Schiff Deutsche Grammophon 1991
Christian Bergqvist, Patrik Swedrup Roland Pöntinen Sweden New Stockholm Chamber Orchestra Lev Markiz BIS 1987
Eleonora Turovsky, Natalya Turovsky Catherine Perrin Canada I Musici de Montreal Yuli Turovsky Chandos 1997[4]
Marco Serino, ? ? Italy Ensemble Il Terzo Suono Flavio Emilio Scogna Dynamic 2000[5]
Victor Kuleshov, Ilya Yoff Julia Lev Russia St. Petersburg Mozarteum Chamber Orchestra Arcady Shteinlukht Manchester CG 2004

References

  1. ↑ the keyboard instruments- harpsichord and prepared piano - are both to be performed by the same executant. See e.g. OCLC 7325181 (description of the 1979 Sovetskiĭ Kompozitor full score.)
  2. ↑ Review by Peter Grahame Woolfs in musicalpointers.co.uk
  3. ↑ Review by Christopher Fifield of the premier recording of the arrangement in musicweb-international.com
  4. ↑ OCLC 38578231 e.g.
  5. ↑ OCLC 5692539865 e.g. Violinist 2 and keyboardist might be unnamed members of Ens. Il Terzo Suono?
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