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Exile
Exile in Bloomington, MN
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The theme of music by exiled composers has been done before, and perhaps more coherently than here, by violinist
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
, cellist
Thomas Kaufmann
, and the
Camerata Bern
, which
Kopatchinskaja
conducts.
, an exile herself (her origins were in what is now Moldova), puts together various kinds of exile on her program; when
Alfred Schnittke
composed his
Cello Sonata No. 1
in 1978, he was still very much a Soviet citizen and a selection from the
Five Minuets and Six Trios for string quartet, D. 89
, of the thoroughly Viennese
Schubert
, here arranged for string ensemble by
, is not really a product of exile at all.
proposes a kind of "internal exile" in
's music, of which these little dances are said to be characteristic. That may be a bit of a stretch, but this is always the way with
; one can critique various aspects of her presentation, and for some hearers of this controversial artist, the critiques are persuasive. However, when one hears the whole thing and adds it all up, the results have the kind of power that classical music ought to have but so rarely does. The Moldovan folk songs included shouldn't fit with the likes of
and
Ivan Wyschnegradsky
, but somehow, thanks to the force of
's personality, they do. The first major work on the program,
Schnittke
's
cello sonata
, receives a sizzling performance, with the unstable aspects of the composer's polystylistic method grabbed and shaken by cellist
Kaufmann
. The highlight here for some listeners will be the
string quartet
of
Wyschnegradsky
, a Russian exile in Paris who experimented with quarter-tones and, from the perspective of 1931 when the quartet was composed, really pushed the envelope. The only piece specifically written about exile --
Eugène Ysaÿe
Exil! Poème symphonique for high strings, Op. 25
-- is also an uncommon item from a composer better known for virtuoso violin music; he had moved to England to escape Belgium's occupation during World War I, and the work is sui generis within his output. Everything hangs together, even the
, and falls into a consistent mood, varied with each composer, and this is
's genius. This album made classical best-seller lists in early 2025. ~ James Manheim
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
, cellist
Thomas Kaufmann
, and the
Camerata Bern
, which
Kopatchinskaja
conducts.
, an exile herself (her origins were in what is now Moldova), puts together various kinds of exile on her program; when
Alfred Schnittke
composed his
Cello Sonata No. 1
in 1978, he was still very much a Soviet citizen and a selection from the
Five Minuets and Six Trios for string quartet, D. 89
, of the thoroughly Viennese
Schubert
, here arranged for string ensemble by
, is not really a product of exile at all.
proposes a kind of "internal exile" in
's music, of which these little dances are said to be characteristic. That may be a bit of a stretch, but this is always the way with
; one can critique various aspects of her presentation, and for some hearers of this controversial artist, the critiques are persuasive. However, when one hears the whole thing and adds it all up, the results have the kind of power that classical music ought to have but so rarely does. The Moldovan folk songs included shouldn't fit with the likes of
and
Ivan Wyschnegradsky
, but somehow, thanks to the force of
's personality, they do. The first major work on the program,
Schnittke
's
cello sonata
, receives a sizzling performance, with the unstable aspects of the composer's polystylistic method grabbed and shaken by cellist
Kaufmann
. The highlight here for some listeners will be the
string quartet
of
Wyschnegradsky
, a Russian exile in Paris who experimented with quarter-tones and, from the perspective of 1931 when the quartet was composed, really pushed the envelope. The only piece specifically written about exile --
Eugène Ysaÿe
Exil! Poème symphonique for high strings, Op. 25
-- is also an uncommon item from a composer better known for virtuoso violin music; he had moved to England to escape Belgium's occupation during World War I, and the work is sui generis within his output. Everything hangs together, even the
, and falls into a consistent mood, varied with each composer, and this is
's genius. This album made classical best-seller lists in early 2025. ~ James Manheim
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