Cellist Matthew Barley and pianist Stephen de Pledge have devoted their 2005 release on Quartz to music by former Soviet bloc composers, partly as a respectful tribute to the creativity of such important twentieth century figures as Dmitry Shostakovich, Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, and Giya Kancheli, but also to introduce pieces by two contemporary composers, Franguiz Ali-Zadeh and Mati Kuulberg. Despite the seriousness conveyed by the title, Reminding, the stark brown and black packaging, and Barley's pensive gaze in the ...
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Cellist Matthew Barley and pianist Stephen de Pledge have devoted their 2005 release on Quartz to music by former Soviet bloc composers, partly as a respectful tribute to the creativity of such important twentieth century figures as Dmitry Shostakovich, Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, and Giya Kancheli, but also to introduce pieces by two contemporary composers, Franguiz Ali-Zadeh and Mati Kuulberg. Despite the seriousness conveyed by the title, Reminding, the stark brown and black packaging, and Barley's pensive gaze in the cover photograph, this is actually a lively and varied album that challenges first impressions and keeps the listener engaged and entertained from beginning to end. Shostakovich's boisterous Suite from Cheryomushki, Op. 105 (1959, arranged by Barley in 2005), and Kancheli's droll With a Smile for Slava (1997) are seldom-heard pieces in a comic or semi-ironic vein; though they may be dismissed as too silly for a recital of such portentous works as Schnittke's profoundly melancholy...
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