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- Verified Buyer
What a 5-star rendition of Myaskovsky's sinfonietta in A minor might consist of, I don't think I'm quite sure, although I am absolutely certain Beecham could have delivered one. It dates from 1945, which makes it later than Schoenberg's forbidding piano concerto, and the composer was born in1881, which makes him younger than Mahler or Stravinsky. The work is quite extraordinarily traditional in idiom, although there may be some very slight sense of faint modernity in the last movement. It is a very agreeable piece all the same, it is very nicely and professionally performed here, and I can recommend it unreservedly to other record-collectors who have nothing else by Myaskovsky, and particularly if they can find it at a reduced price as I did.The Shostakovich string symphony is an arrangement by Rudolf Barshai of S's string quartet #8. The arrangement seems to me quite outstandingly successful. Certainly I have difficulty in imagining, say, Beethoven's Rasumovskys adapting themselves at all to performance by a string orchestra, (although Mahler did exactly that with Schubert's Death And The Maiden, something I would not have expected either), but Shostakovich #8 seems to be an absolute natural to make the transition. There is probably not enough music for this medium, and while I wouldn't suggest for one moment that this performance is any kind of substitute for the Borodins' great performance of the work in its original form, nevertheless it makes a very pleasant addition to my Handel concerti grossi, Mendelssohn string symphonies, Elgar intro & allegro, Tippett concerto for double string orchestra and the usual collection of romantic string serenades.I was not previously familiar with the Dalgat string ensemble but knowing their name now I would be interested in hearing them again. There is a good, straightforward and unpretentious liner note that provides information on the conductor as well as some sensible remarks on the music, and the recording is perfectly acceptable.
