Mieczysław Weinberg: born twice “I could spend a happy morning being Pooh...” Mieczysław Weinberg – Concertino, 24 Preludes The life of the author of this lovely song known to anyone in Russia, old or young, was not so easy, far from it. Moreover, in all sincerity - are there many knowing the composer’s name Marina Tarasova, cello among those who remember the loved verses and tune? In one of the published letters by Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-96) we read, “Today is September 1 (of the year 1965.-I.R.). The war started 26 years ago. I was nearly 19 years old... The frst period of my life was at its end. I had to be reborn for a Concertino for Violonello & String Orchestra, Op.43 (1st Version) new life, a different one. Like a speck of dust, I was involved into the monstrous rotation of the bloody with Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, conductor Alexander Rudin time machine; all the threads that connected me to my family, youth, and pianism had to be [1] I. Adagio 4:04 broken, and my destiny was to stay alive in a miraculous way...” The Jewish boy born in Warsaw on December 8, 1919 was given the ancient Polish [2] II. Moderato espressivo 3:02 name of Mieczysław (the diminutive pet name Mietek remained for his life.) His father Samuel [3] III. Allegro vivace 3:19 Weinberg who had come from Russia was a musician - and the first teacher of the future [4] IV. Adagio 4:49 composer. Not long before his death, Mieczysław Weinberg would remember his childhood in an interview, “I was born into a family where Father made music from his childhood. He was a violinist, a composer... he travelled with vagrant companies of Jewish actors, and wrote music for them. 24 Preludes for Solo Cello, Op.100 At their performances, he played the violin, and conducted... As early as aged six, I started tagging [5] Prelude No.1 1:43 [17] Prelude No.13 1:45 along behind him... and at ten or eleven, I played the piano at Father’s theater.” [6] Prelude No.2 0:57 [18] Prelude No.14 0:46 Jozef Turczynski, professor of the Warsaw Conservatory who once graduated from the [7] Prelude No.3 1:04 [19] Prelude No.15 3:52 Conservatory in St.Petersburg as Anna Yesipova’s student, noticed and appreciated the [8] Prelude No.4 1:53 [20] Prelude No.16 2:15 outstanding talent of the young pianist. The famous Iosif Hoffmann who came to Warsaw [9] Prelude No.5 1:48 [21] Prelude No.17 2:36 for a tour was so enchanted by the talent of the young man, graduate of the Warsaw Conservatory, that he sent him an invitation to The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia directed by him [10] Prelude No.6 1:49 [22] Prelude No.18: Sarabande 3:59 at that time. But ... the Second World War broke out. “The night of the 6th to 7th September, [11] Prelude No.7 2:06 [23] Prelude No.19 2:22 1939 I played in a cafe,” Weinberg recollects. “All previous days, the Polish propaganda [12] Prelude No.8 1:07 [24] Prelude No.20 1:07 had been insisting that our (that is, Polish) troops were fghting successfully. And all of a sudden, [13] Prelude No.9 2:33 [25] Prelude No.21 1:15 the radio announced that the enemy broke through to Warsaw... The next morning, my sister and I [14] Prelude No.10 1:41 [26] Prelude No.22 1:25 set out eastward. My little sister soon returned to Father and Mother, because her shoes rubbed her [15] Prelude No.11 2:51 [27] Prelude No.23 2:21 feet terribly sore, but I went on. And for many days we wandered between the German and Polish [16] Prelude No.12 1:59 [28] Prelude No.24: Menuet 3:10 troops... On September 17, the Red Army intervened, and then we understood that we had to go to the Soviet Union, so in a day or two we all reached the demarcation line. There were Hitler’s troops TOTAL TIME – 63:56 on one side, and on the other, Soviet mounted border guards... I will never forget how mothers with babies in their arms embraced the horses’ legs and begged to let them pass to the Soviet side soonest. And fnally, an order came telling them to let the refugees pass.” Recorded at Studio 1 of State Broadcasting and Audio recording House, Moscow. In the turmoil and confusion of those days, the border guard clerk who checked documents Sound producers Alexander Volkov (1-4), Lubov Doronina (5-28), editing Alina recorded Mieczysław Weinberg as... Moisey; so he became Moisey for the next forty years, Mukhametrakhimova and Svetlana Novitskaya. Mastering A. Volkov. although friends called him Mietek as before. But did that formal loss of name mean anything

2 in the Warsaw Ghetto. It was the Red Army that rescued the future composer, and it was to the Lubyanka torture chambers. Weinberg was imprisoned in February 1953 because his wife was Red Army that he dedicated his First Symphony. And although the very frst opuses were composed a daughter of great Jewish actor and stage director Solomon Mikhoels and niece of a prominent back in Poland, Weinberg himself insisted, “I went into composing seriously only at the outbreak Kremlin doctor Vovsi. The case of the Kremlin doctors, the «murderers in white gowns», of war, when the Germans attacked Poland, and I ran away to the Soviet Union and entered the nearly became a deathly culmination of the so-called “struggle against Zionism», which Minsk Conservatory. I studied there with Professor Vasily Andreevich Zolotarev, a student of Rimsky- was in fact an anti-Semitic campaign unleashed by Stalin. That fabricated «case» fell into pieces Korsakov ... up to Hitler’s aggression against the USSR.” In two years as a student, Quartet No. 2, soon after Stalin’s death, but that intercession by Shostakovich was of serious importance in Piano Sonata, a vocal cycle to words by Julian Tuwim, and several songs were added to Weinberg’s Weinberg’s release. Weinberg recollected «Your buddies are sticking up for you, the investigator list of opuses. Weinberg dedicated his graduation work, Symphonic Poem for Large Orchestra, to his told me. Anyway, it is a fact that Shostakovich wrote a letter to Beriya. The witnesses who teacher. Ilya Musin conducted its performance at the Minsk Philharmonic on June 21, 1941 (!) delivered the letter to Beriya’s offce told me so.» The next morning, the Great Patriotic War started as Hitler attacked the USSR. War seemed to be The half-century of Weinberg’s «second life», that is, his half-century in Moscow produced following on Mieczysław Weinberg’s heels. A severe disease (spinal tuberculosis) prevented him from a rich harvest: 22 symphonies (the 22nd remained unfnished), four chamber symphonies, seven fghting at the battle-front. But Weinberg had weapons of another kind: he wrote his First Symphony operas including The Madonna and the Soldier, The Portrait (after Gogol), The Idiot (after when in evacuation in Tashkent, which he dedicated to the Red Army. Said Weinberg, “In Tashkent, Dostoevsky), and The Passenger, a ballet The Golden Key, his Requiem, cantatas, instrumental I made friends with Yuri Levitin, a composer who arrived there with the Leningrad Conservatory. He concertos, 17 string quartets, numerous songs... In no way can you call the soundtracks written liked my First Symphony very much, and as student and friend of Shostakovich, he sent the score by Weinberg for films «applied music» -whether «toons» loved by the whole nation, such as to Moscow, for Shostakovich to read it... In Moscow I got acquainted with Dmitry Dmitrievich. That Boniface’s Holiday and especially Winnie the Pooh, mentioned before, or be it a most popular was the moment that decided my whole life... When in Minsk, it was unusual for me to hear his Fifth comedy The Tiger Girl, or The Cranes Are Flying, (one of the most prominent Soviet flms awarded Symphony... from inside so to say (they engaged me to play the parts of piano and celesta.) It was the Golden Palm at the Cannes Festival). Weinberg’s music was a noticeable input to the success completely as if I was born anew. Since then, Shostakovich’s music has been captivating me to this of that remarkable flm. No wonder, because the «war theme» threaded through all his music. day. I am a disciple of Shostakovich. Although I never had a single hour of lessons with him, I consider Most of Weinberg’s scores had to wait long to be performed. For instance, the premiere of the First myself his disciple, fesh of his fesh.” Symphony was played not before twenty-fve years (!) had passed, namely on February 11, 1967 (by the Shostakovich greatly appreciated Weinberg’s talent as a brilliant pianist, and Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Kirill Kondrashin.) frequently asked him to learn his new music for premiere demonstrations. Such was the case with the Half that time passed from the concept and first sketches of the Cello Concerto (1945) opera Katerina Izmailova (second version of the ill-fated Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), which Weinberg till the premiere by Mstislav Rostropovich on January 9, 1957 (Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra played from the vocal score at the Ministry of Culture. It should be remembered at this point that under Samuil Samosud.) It was sufficient for the Concerto concept of 1948 not to be in 1947, Shostakovich presented his prohibited Fourth Symphony to colleagues playing four-handed performed for nearly a decade in the atmosphere of «the struggle against Zionism.» Only after with Weinberg; and in the autumn of 1953, the same piano duo performed Shostakovich’s Tenth the 20th Congress of the Communist Party the Concerto (2nd version, 1956) was admitted to the Symphony to Mravinsky. And later, when the problem in his hands incapacitated Shostakovich as a philharmonic stage. No matter if you were a «formalist», a follower of Shostakovich, or a «rootless pianist, Weinberg did much for the premieres of opuses of his idolized teacher. For instance, playing cosmopolitan» loving your ethnic art - it was all the same to them, and their ideological four-handed together with Boris Tchaikovsky, he presented Shostakovich’s Fifteenth Symphony to his turnpike would block your entry. Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky, who was called «the musical colleagues musicians; with David Oistrakh, he played the Sonata for Violin and Piano at the Union of conscience of Moscow», in a talk with Weinberg rightly called the «historic» resolution of 1948 Composers, and with Galina Vishnevskaya, David Oistrakh, and Mstislav Rostropovich, he performed on the Soviet composers’ music, a «hysteric» resolution. Shostakovich’s vocal and instrumental suite Seven Poems by Alexander Blok at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Concertino for Violoncello and String Orchestra The «twice born» motif sounds twice in the memoirs of Mieczysław Weinberg - in relation Weinberg’s Concertino came into the world in the summer of 1948 following a chain of tragic to his escape from the deadly fate of a ghetto prisoner and thanks to the benefcial infuence of events. The score`s autograph shows it was written within four days – from August 4th to 8th. (A Shostakovich’s music. But Shostakovich also literally saved his life by delivering him from the month earlier, in July, the composer wrote another piece in the same genre – Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra, Op.42) but neither have been played for 70 years. This is typical of Weinberg, Not only its slow tempo, but lyrical character and intonations are related with many Adagios of he often re-scored his music. This Cello concertino became the base of the Cello Concerto Op.43. the past – from baroque masters` works to XX century`s examples, for instance, Samuel Barber`s In his Concerto Weinberg integrated the form and introduced new episodes, but generally the Adagio. The second movement (Moderato espressivo) is written in Rondo form. Its bright dancing Concertino’s material, structure and creed stayed the same. Only in 2016 was it found by the widow character reminds of a habañera, of Jewish secular music, of various genres, which were popular in of the famous musicologist Yakubov four years after he died. the beginning of the XX century. The roles of soloist and orchestra in this movement are equal. In This CD represents the frst ever studio recording of the Concertino . This composition has the Concerto Weinberg changed the instrumentation and distribution of musical material between an amazing story, closely connected with the dramatic history of the XX century. Written in August soloist and orchestra, and enlarged the form adding a new theme in the middle episode. The intimate 1948, it could not avoid the author’s feelings, caused by the tragedy of that January. The father of tone of the Concertino in the Concerto became more passionate and dramatic. The Melodic pattern Weinberg’s wife, Solomon Michoels, the prominent fgure of theatrical art, was killed by order of originates from Klezmer music, as in the other movements of the cycle. Stalin. Afterwards this murder got resonance both because of the popularity of Michoels and how it The third, the most large-scale and virtuosic movement of the Concertino (Allegro vivace came about. It was not typical for that time to receive a death penalty by false accusation. Instead, D moll) is written in Sonata Allegro form: it is the cycle`s dramatic culmination. After remaking the the murderers faked an accident by throwing his body under a truck. This despicable murder became Concertino the main part remained almost changeless thematically and structurally, the Concerto`s a most shocking manifestation of the totalitarian Soviet regime, and that affected Mieczysław second part is more extensive, its development is more prolonged, it consists of more few parts. In Weinberg. the Concertino the Cadenza is the soloist`s introspective monologue, and virtuosity concedes to On the one part, it is written in line with a romantic style, which makes it related to concentration and philosophical refection. The much shorter Cadenza is based on music material of compositions of the XIX century and thereby met the Soviet authorities` requirement to write more the main part`s third movement. understandable and popular music. The Concertino distinguished itself with extensive lyric melodies, The fourth movement of the Concertino – Adagio (Tempo Primo) – is a reminiscence on dance fragments, plaintive descending intonations, and defnitive semantics. On the other hand, the frst movement`s theme with richer orchestration. The First movement`s lyrical and mournful addressing folklore, which was in answer to the «national spirit» Soviet idea, Weinberg inserts Jewish characters return. In the Concerto, the Adagio episode is the coda preceded by the Sonata Allegro urban culture motifs, and indicates deeper sense in this opus. written specially. Rather than just being severely criticized, as many other talented composers of that time, he Both compositions come to end with ppp, when both soloist`s and orchestra`s sounds was exposed to tough persecution, with real threat to his life. He and the members of his family lived dissolve in the air, as in the baroque tradition – with an enlightened major chord. The cycle`s unity under constant surveillance. Moreover, several years later Weinberg was arrested and had to spend is achieved by the general “descending intonations”. Melodic patterns in all the movements are 78 days in Prison. He was released only after Stalin’s death. connected with the main theme of Adagio. The important dramaturgical technique is a reprise of the The Concertino is at once both a philosophically deep and an amazingly light composition. frst movement in the fnale. Describing and analyzing the composition we can conclude: there is no It has embodied eternity and time, heaven and earth in their unity. Despite the recognition of the doubt that the Concertino is an independent and complete piece of music. Concertino as a real masterpiece, it had never been played in Weinberg’s lifetime. Subsequently the content of this composition was refned by Weinberg in the Cello Concerto . The interesting fact is 24 Preludes for Cello Solo were composed for Mstislav Rostropovich in 1960, who however, that both works were marked by the same number - Op.43. Modern researches stresses that the never performed them. Weinberg’s music here has been considered by some people to be quite Concertino is an independent and completed “First Version”. Musicians began to play it only in 2017. illustrative in some of the Preludes, perhaps suggesting scenes of Russian life and work. Weinberg The composition consists of four movements. The frst movement (Adagio) we can name quotes Schumann (Prelude 5), Mozart and Shostakovich (No.16) and his own opera composition The “Klezmer song-lamentation”. The movement`s only theme repeats four times, slightly changing Passenger (1968) in Nos.15 and 23 and the popular Russian song Coachman, do not Hurry the Horses melodically and structurally. Each time after the main melody – there is a little ending which plays (“Yamshchik, ne goni loshadey”) (No.18), as well as Boris Tchaikovsky the role of improvisational commentary. In the frst movement of the Concerto, Weinberg used In 1979 Mieczysław Weinberg presented score of 24 preludes to the young cellist Marina practically without changes the theme and idea of the Concertino`s frst movement, he just added a Tarasova with compliments inscribed “To the talented Marina Tarasova with wishes for a major few “couplets” to ft the large-scale form and instrumentation of a Concerto. creative life”. Marina did not play this composition that time and revealed the magnifcent world of At the same time the music of the frst movement keeps up the Adagio genre tradition. the preludes only 40 years later (this Autograph copy survives). For many years Marina Georgievna Tarasova has been one of the most renowned Russian cellists; a “Yet the prizes in competitions are not the main thing in Marina’s creative life. That is winner of International Competitions in Prague, Florence and Paris and a laureate of the Tchaikovsky a continuous drive for perfection and the possibility to utterly realize her own talent along with International Competition in Moscow. Having been performing on the concert platform since mutually enriching contact with her audience that she cherishes the most.” [«Le Figaro», France] the age of 16, with many top-selling discs over the years in Concertos by Mravinsky, Kabalevsky, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marina-Tarasova-Cello/531116140280801 Khachaturian, Davidoff (all ALTO), as well as major collections of Cello music by Rachmaninov, and varied collections with Shchedrin, Prokofev, Schnittke, Boris Tchaikovsky etc As a cellist, Alexander Rudin is today one of the leading fgures of the Russian school of musical Her repertoire includes cello works by Russian and Western European composers from interpretation. His artistry is marked by a uniquely natural and fascinating manner of playing. In the 17th century to the 20th. She is among the frst to have played the works by modern Russian addition to his career as a soloist, he is artistic director since 1988 of the Musica Viva Chamber composers such as Andrei Eshpai, Boris Tchaikovsky, Kirill Volkov, Shirvani Chalaev and Oleg Galahov. Orchestra and, for the past ten years, of the annual Moscow international music festival “Dedication.” She has performed with many prominent musicians including Yuri Bashmet, Edward Grach, Frank- Alexander Rudin’s credo is based upon a careful and sensitive relationship to the musical Immo Zichner, Pascal Devoyon and Christian Ivaldi, and with, among others, the conductors Mariss text. Although trained as a musician in the traditional academic manner, Alexander Rudin has found Jansons, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Kurt Masur, and Mikhail Pletnev. himself attracted to authentic performances of early music, achieving a natural synthesis of the Since 2005 she has been the President and a solo-cellist of the charity foundation traditional and the authentic. In concert appearances, Rudin performs on both a modern cello and a known as the International Classical Music Salon of Marina Tarasova and Alexander Polezhaev and viola da gamba, playing music of the Romantic era in the traditional way and applying an “historically is also the director of Santa, an organization dedicated to the rescue of stray animals. In 2006 she correct” manner of performance to works of the Baroque and Classical eras. promoted 120 concerts for the charity foundation Stars of Russia and Europe for audiences in Russia Rudin gives great attention to the interpretation of contemporary music and and Europe. In 2007 another 80 concerts were organised (including international festivals) and the has participated in premieres of works by Valentin Silvestrov, Vyacheslav Artyomov, Andrei following year, 110 concerts of Russian music were held across Turkey and in Moscow. In 2009, 90 Golovin, Edison Denisov, Arvo Pärt and Aulis Sallinen. concerts in Russian cities, in memory of victims of terrorism and, in 2010, more charity concerts were As a professor of the Moscow Conservatory, Rudin has chosen to teach chamber music, arranged to help protect stray animals and the environment. In August 1995 Marina Tarasova was believing that in this sphere he can impart more of his knowledge to his students. Rudin also gives awarded the honorary title ‘Meritorious Artist of the Russian Federation’ and, in 2004, the charity numerous master classes in various parts of the world and has recorded numerous compact discs for Benefactors of the Century, made her a member of the orderThe Patrons of the Century and, in the Russian Season, Olympia, Hyperion, Tudor, Melodiya and Fuga Libera labels. 2007, this same fund awarded her the Patron’s Golden Certifcate. Also in 2007 she was awarded the decoration of the Order for the Revitalization of Traditions of Charity and Patronage. Musica Viva’s origins go back to 1978, when violinist and conductor Viktor Kornachev founded an “Marina Tarasova symbolizes new thinking both in classical and modern music. A ensemble of nine players – young and enthusiastic recent graduates of Moscow’s musical academies. thinking often unusual, at times paradoxical but always convincing. When Marina Tarasova is on By 1988 the ensemble had grown into a fully-fedged orchestra, now under the direction of Alexander stage, the audience is never indifferent. She has a unique performing style which comprises the best Rudin – who also gave the group its name, Musica Viva – Latin for ‘living music’. traditions of the Russian cello school and her own bright personality – a bursting temperament and Under Rudin’s leadership the orchestra has become formidable, achieving the pinnacles the tendency to explore the human soul. Marina Tarasova’s intricate and deep feeling of the wide of artistic endeavour, and ranked along Russia’s fnest. Musica Viva today is an all-round musical emotional fabric of music helps her to accurately and strongly to pass on her sentiments to the ensemble - which performs the widest possible range of compositions in all styles and genres audience. Critics have noted her extremely beautiful sound, fowing from her instrument. There seem with confdence. The orchestra’s thoughtful programming embraces mainstream works alongside to be no technical diffculties for her. Today Marina Tarasova occupies a position amongst the elite of fascinating rarities. The orchestra is adept in multiple performance practices – often stripping away world performers. She continues to visit many countries with great success. accumulated layers of tired ideas to reveal the freshness of the masterpiece which lies beneath. The Soloist also of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, Marina Tarasova graduated from quintessence of this has been a cycle at the Moscow Philharmonia Masterpieces & Premieres – in the Moscow State Conservatoire in 1984 in the cello class of Alexander Fedorchenko and Professor which musical masterworks are heard in their original splendour, alongside musical rarities which are Natalia Shahovskaya. She was the prize-winner of the International Competition in Prague, Florence returned once more to their deserved place on the concert platform. and in Moscow and she won a Grand-Prix in Paris. Bach, Cimarosa, Dittersdorf, Dussek, Pleyel, Kozlovsky, and many others and has performed music by V. Artyomov, A. Pärt, A. Sallinen, V. Silvestrov, T. Mansuryan and other living composers. In recent years Musica Viva has also increasingly been involved in concert performances of operas and oratorios, featuring performances by leading foreign singers and conductors. Under Alexander Rudin the orchestra has given Masses and an oratorio by Haydn; Mozart’s opera Idomeneo, Weber’s Oberon, Beethoven’s Fidelio, and many more. In collaboration with Christopher Moulds the orchestra has given the Russian premieres of Handel operas and an oratorio. Musica Viva regularly invites musicians of world status to join its performances, which have included Christopher Hogwood, Roger Norrington, Vladimir Jurowsky, Andreas Staier, Eliso Virsaladze, Natalya Gutman, Nikolai Lugansky, Boris Berezovsky, Isabelle Faust, Thomas Zehetmaier, and leading prima donnas Joyce di Donato, Annic Massis, Deborah York, Susan Graham, Julia Lezhneva, and many others. Musica Viva makes continuous appearances in major international music festivals including Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Japan, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, China and Taiwan. Every year the orchestra gives regular concerts in many Russian cities. The orchesta has recorded over twenty commercial cds,

Notes collated from information by Andrey Yurasov, Anna Weinberg, Alexander Volkov Alexander Rudin Marina with Olga Rakhalskaya Acknowledgements We would like to express our gratitude to Mikhail Polezhaev, Olga Rakhalskaya, Anna Weinberg and Andrey Ustinov for their invaluable help in making this CD. Andrey Yurasov

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