Mieczyslaw Weinberg late string quartets strong stuff

The Silesian Quartet tackles two difficult works in this installment of their Mieczyslaw Weinberg quartet cycle. Wienberg was alone and isolated in the late 1970s. His mentor and friend Shostakovich was dead, and increasingly his scores were rejected for performance.

The two quartets in this release seem almost distillations of his anger, sadness, and frustration. String Quartet No. 14 has five attached movements that seem to tumble from one idea to the next. Chords grind against each other, mercurial mood swings abound, and complex motifs rub shoulders with bland, simple tunes.

I often say Weinberg's music reminds me of Shostakovich's. In this case, it sounded more like Alfred Schnittke's. I felt the same way about String Quartet No. 15, completed in 1979. Here Weinberg freely mixes tonal and atonal passages in almost a stream of consciousness manner. And yet it works.

I found both quartets compelling -- especially as performed by the Silesian Quartet. They gave full vent to the pent-up emotions of the music. Bows dug viciously into strings; tutti attacks almost seemed savage at times. And yet the quartet could play tenderly and softly when needed. The Silesian Quartet perfectly captured the emotional storm these quartets express.

In this release, the Three Palms for soprano and string quartet is sequenced between the two quartets. This 1977 work makes a welcome respite. While it's an aggressively modernist work, it has a quiet, lyrical quality the quartets lack. Joanna Frieszel displays phenomenal technique in bringing this music to life.

Late Weinberg might not be everyone's cup of tea. But if it is, buy this release and drink deeply.

Mieczyslaw Weinberg: String Quartets Nos. 14 and 15; Three Psalms
Silesian Quartet; Joanna Freszel, soprano
CD Accord ACD268