Country : Lithuania / Russia Label : Naxos Genres and styles : Classical / Contemporary Year : 2020

Silvestrov : Symphony No. 7 – Ode to a Nightingale – Piano Concertino

· by Frédéric Cardin

Valentin Silvestrov is one of the most stimulating post-modern composers on the new classical music scene. His music is at once harmonically demanding, rhythmically simple, and extraordinarily captivating. Silvestrov is a kind of cross between Arvo Pärt and Anton Webern.

His style, which combines repetitive minimalism with orchestrations worthy of a full-bodied and copious Webern, transports any listener who dares to experience a world where time seems distended, like an immense black lake standing still under the gaze of a discreet moon, where the slightest phrase becomes an echo that does not die but rather remains suspended and blends in with what follows. In Silvestrov’s work, the past is a present that announces the future!

Tranquil, mysterious, mesmerizing, confusing, even destabilizing, but above all irresistibly fascinating, this music is essential for anyone who loves artistic proposals, acoustic or electronic, contemporary classical or art-rock, which defy the agreed notions of temporality and attention in musical listening.

Ode to A Nightingale is the piece that most closely resembles Webern in terms of orchestration and Morton Feldman for the repetitive structure of the basic motif. 

The Piano Concertino and Symphony No. 7 are my favourite pieces on the program. All the basic Silvestrovian elements are there, with a discreet but richer orchestral amplitude.

Don’t be surprised to hear, here and there, some almost Mozartean passages, sprinkled softly through some of the scores. Silvestrov loves to create short, subtle, unexpected landmarks like these. If a soundtrack vibrates ad infinitum as it accompanies a cosmic traveller through a black hole to go beyond known time and space, this is the one!

Latest 360 Content

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Sparks – MAD!

Sparks – MAD!

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Cazzu – Latinaje

Cazzu – Latinaje

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Subscribe to our newsletter