Silvestrov wrote the pieces recorded here, scored for piano solo, string orchestra, and piano and strings, between 1996 and 2005, and they are all representative of his late, meditative, song-like style. After an early career as an experimentalist,
Silvestrov embraced the radical simplicity -- a style of tonal, melodic, and rhythmic transparency -- that has won him many admirers in the general public, but little recognition by the academic community. It would be easy to hear his music as derivative, given the limited tonal palette to which he restricts himself; his apparently naïve and artless approach, however, has an integrity and a genuinely lyrical impulse that make it hard to dismiss.
The 13 bagatelles for piano, which consist of waltzes, lullabies, serenades, and other familiar forms, are a record of performances the composer made before he notated them. They are not merely improvisations, though; while they are spontaneous-sounding and have rhythmic elasticity, they are obviously shaped with careful consideration of compositional design. Many of the instrumental works on the CD have a similar quality, particularly the waltz-like movements of Stille Musik (Silent Music), Abschiedsserenade, and the serenely ethereal Zwei Dialoge mit Nachwort. Der Bote (The Messenger) with its explicitly Mozartian allusions, is generally less compelling than the other pieces. Elegie, for strings, written in memory of his friend and colleague Ivan Karabitz, displays an astringent grief and emotional urgency that set it apart from
Silvestrov's more meditative works. Münchener Kammerorchester, led by Christoph Poppen, and pianist
Alexei Lubimov play with the restraint and delicacy the composer demands and the effect is frequently magical. ECM's sound is exemplary in its absolute clarity, presence, and balance.