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Schnittke: where to start?

Fulci

pfm Member
Started listening to some Schnittke symphonies. What are your favorites, what do you recomend and which are the best performances to look for?
 
I was given a few Schnittke CDs by a Russian friend. I quite liked Symphony 2, which is a sort of big choral symphony, but found No. 4 a bit heavy going. These are all Rozhdestvensky/USSR Ministry of Culture Orch. on Melodiya, and the sound is not exactly state of the art.

I like his Concerti Grossi 1 and 2 rather more. I have the Grindenko/Kremer/Bashmet/Moscow Philharmonic live 1988 recording of CG1, originally on Melodiya but now remastered for Alto and packaged with CG2 by Kagan/Gutman/Rozhdestvensky with the same USSR Ministry crew. It sounds good to me. Kremer has recorded it for DG also. I don't which is "better". My guess would be that the musicians are all excellent and know the works well, so go for the best SQ...
 
I've listened to all of his symphonies in the BIS box set. I don't find them especially compelling overall, though the later, darker ones are pretty good. I prefer his chamber music. The string quartets are especially fine, and the Piano Quintet is also very fine. Also noteworthy is his opera Life with an Idiot.
 
The concerto for choir is a very beautiful and impressive piece. I also like the Fuga for solo vioilin it seems to stay in your mind long after a listening.
 
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Thank you all. I'll check all your recommendations tomorrow at office. I'll be a bit dependent on what's available on you tube but will try to hear everything.
From what I gathered, his earlier work are more Shostakovich influenced and later are brooder, more intimate and more contemporary, less structured. Am I wrong? Does this apply to the quartets and other pieces too?
 
I think "Polystylistic" is the word.... everything and the kitchen sink thrown in and stirred around fairly randomly. I've got that Janowski disc above, and the USSR Ministry recordings under Rozhdestvensky from 1980s of the first 4 symphonies - but they don't get a hearing very often. I've also got Chailly's Concertgebouw recording of the Concerto Grosso n.5 (https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/schnittke-orchestral-works) but find it heavy going.

Haven't heard any of the later symphonies but I did enjoy one of the cello concertos on radio 3 a few years back, can't remember which one - it was much more concentrated than the earlier symphonies.
 
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I started with these 4 albums in their original individual SACD’s. Bizarre,entertaining,eclectic,interesting..... Might be worth an investigate.
 
I have two Schnittke recollections - the first is listening to the Proms in the 80s on R3 and hearing the Beethoven Violin Concerto like Id never heard it before- with the Schnittke cadenza. I was outraged I remember- that someone would have the temerity. The next time was in 1998 at a dinner party held by a psychiatrist who had studied composition at the Royal College of Music in Dublin. He decided to entertain the guests on the piano and I foolishly (jokingly) asked if he knew any Schnittke. He said “do you like Schnittke?” His wife I noticed had made a tactical exit from the room. Within minutes, guests were running for the door. I have a mental picture of Edvard Munch’s the Scream. We are still friends 20 years on.

To come back to the OP’s question “Schnittke- where to start?”- my answer would be, “Don’t”.
 
I always associate Schnittke with that piece on the Proms that you have to listen to before you hear the piece you wanted to listen to. I had a listen to the CD the op linked too. It’s pretty atypical of the composer, barring a few short dissonant sections. It suggested lots of other composers to me, but not Schnittke.
 
I have two Schnittke recollections - the first is listening to the Proms in the 80s on R3 and hearing the Beethoven Violin Concerto like Id never heard it before- with the Schnittke cadenza. I was outraged I remember- that someone would have the temerity. The next time was in 1998 at a dinner party held by a psychiatrist who had studied composition at the Royal College of Music in Dublin. He decided to entertain the guests on the piano and I foolishly (jokingly) asked if he knew any Schnittke. He said “do you like Schnittke?” His wife I noticed had made a tactical exit from the room. Within minutes, guests were running for the door. I have a mental picture of Edvard Munch’s the Scream. We are still friends 20 years on.

To come back to the OP’s question “Schnittke- where to start?”- my answer would be, “Don’t”.

There's some great stuff in the Glass Harmonica.
 
There's some great stuff in the Glass Harmonica.
And I should apologise- the remark was somewhat off the cuff. My old friend who is an admirer of Shnittke has a way of turning music into an offensive weapon. When I heard a song cycle he composed, I texted out during a performance of it that he’d finally found a way to weaponise the human voice.
 


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