Misterioso

"Silvestrov's Post scriptum is the ghost of a Classical violin sonata… It makes a fitting start to this well-filled CD. By contrast, Silvestrov's recent Misterioso … has a bracing solidity, bold in its dissonance and expressionistic gestures - an important addition to the clarinet repertoire. A new clarinet version of Pärt's well-known Spiegel im Spiegel acts as an exquisite, unworldly demarcation between Silvestrov and two of Ustvolskaya's early chamber works....These are all magnificent performances, as one might expect from these three musicians, who regularly perform together as a trio, and their sound is superbly and rawly caught by ECM's recording....So as an anthology of key works in late- and post-Soviet chamber music this new disc is eminently recommendable."
Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine

Misterioso indeed. And it is not just Valentin Silvestrov's eponymous work that emanates that quality. His Violin sonata, part of his obsession with a music composed as it were after the death of Music, shares its magical effect of an intense yet ungraspable beauty. … More straightforward in its childlike innocence, Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel, originally for violin and piano, also goes superbly on clarinet, and its blend of consolation and detachment is as haunting as anything in his output.
Composed in 1949 and 1952, Galina Ustvolskaya's Trio and Sonata come from the period of her most intense relationship with her teacher, Shostakovich. … Perhaps the most striking thing about these pieces, however, is their determination to keep the Shostakovich influence at arm's length. Their ascetic-passionate tone is unlike anything else in music, even if distantly related to Stravinsky and Bartók. … This music still casts a powerful spell and, given the superb recording quality, the new disc is one that deserves to be widely heard.
David Fanning, Gramophone

The authoritative performances are blessed with sound that has all the clarity and warmth one could ask for. Instrumental balances and timbres are true; passages of violin harmonics never sound like electronic overlays. Best of all, there's immediacy to sound and performance, making this a must for anyone interested in the post-Shostakovichian era.
Dan Davis, The Absolute Sound