Credits:

MOZART, W. A.

Description:

Hélène Grimaud first encountered Valentin Silvestrov's "Song of Silence" nearly 20 years ago. I was fascinated by the sincerity and transparency of this music and searched for many years for a partner to play it with. Finally, I met and collaborated with the young baritone prodigy Constantin Krimmel. This recording was made in the summer of 2022 at a concert in the Turbinenhalle in the Berlin suburb of Steinitz, where Grimaud performed in front of Silvestrov, who had fled his war-torn homeland to live in Berlin, and where the two met for the first time. Composed between 1974 and 1977, Silvestrov's "Songs of Silence" marked an important turning point in his creative life, transforming him from a leader of the Soviet avant-garde to a composer rooted in the traditional materials of melody and harmony. Although the controversy provoked continues to rage today, Silvestrov stated in an interview, "For me, this is not about abandoning a position. For me, this is not an abandonment of a position, but rather a continuation of the most avant-garde movement. For me, this is not the abandonment of a position, but rather a continuation of the most avant-garde movement: the "Songs of Silence" and the collection of pieces for piano "Kitsch Music" (1977) are a silence set to music.Poems are sung by poets from the Golden and Silver Ages of Russian literature, Pushkin, Balatinsky, Esenin and Mandelishtam, Ukrainian poet Shevchenko, and Silvestrov's beloved English poets Keats and Shelley. The voices of these various poets are combined here to create a new cohesion. As Baratinsky says at the beginning of "Song of Silence," there is a "harmony of wondrous power. German-Romanian baritone Constantin Krimmel is the winner of the 2018 Helmut Deutsch International Song Competition. Universal Music/IMS

Tracklisting:

1.Silent Songs~5 Songs. No. 1 Song can heal the ailing spirit
2.Silent Songs~5 Songs. No. 2 There were storms and tempests
3.Silent Songs~5 Songs. No. 3 La belle dame sans merci
4.Silent Songs~5 Songs. No. 4 O Melancholy Time! Delight for eyes!
5.Silent Songs~5 Songs. No. 5, Farewell, O World, Farewell, O Earth
6.Silent Songs~11 Songs. No. 2. I will tell you with complete directness
7.Silent Songs~11 Songs. No. 3 Here's health to thee, Mary
8.Silent Songs~11 Songs. No. 4 Winter journey
9.Silent Songs~11 Songs. No. 7 The Isle
10.Silent Songs~11 Songs. No. 9 Autumn Song
11.Silent Songs~11 Songs. No. 10 Swamps and marshes
12.Silent Songs~11 Songs. No. 11 Winter evening