A mixed bag of the
totally unknown. Immediately this release
faces an uphill struggle with the buying
public. At a time when shops all but
give away classic recordings - I snapped
up the Furtwangler Tristan on EMI for
under 10 quid the other day - it is
a brave company that backs a release
like this. Note too, that this is set
one of the Ukraine Composers’ Series
– I wonder, how many sets do they think
the market can stand?
Not surprisingly, I
turned first to the accompanying notes
in the hope of enlightenment on what
I was listening to. No such luck; they
totalled three sides, around half of
which is devoted to notes on the composers
(born, studied, professor at x conservatoire,
etc) and near on a page each covering
the orchestra and the conductor, of
which more later. There is not a single
word on the compositions.
So without greater
authority to contradict me, in giving
you some impression of the music, I
would draw tonal parallels with the
officially acceptable compositions of
Shostakovich or Prokofiev. That said,
none of the composers here possesses
a comparable imagination or technique.
Stetsun’s Youth Overture gives
away possible political compliance readily,
others perhaps less so. Which is to
say, I suppose, that they are worthy
but dull compositions for the most part.
Not once are the boundaries of tonality
disturbed, though there is lively rhythmic
interest and concern with building dense
sound textures. Even for someone like
myself with an interest in Eastern European
music, the pervasive social realist
mood begins to pall well before the
end of the first CD.
The performances are
robust and earnest. The playing is not
of the front rank: brass and strings
are hard-edged, though of decent tone;
woodwinds lacking a little in character,
as is typical of Eastern European ensembles.
Quite what level of interpretational
gifts Jordania possesses is hard to
tell here, though he mercifully keeps
things moving and maintains ensemble.
Michaev’s domra sounds like a cross
between mandolin, guitar and cimbalom;
somewhat curious.
It would have been
interesting to contrast some works by
younger composers; providing their styles
and idioms have advanced beyond the
ideologically sanctioned. To see if
this is the case, we might have to wait
for future releases. Whatever the content
though, the recording company seriously
needs to review how it supports such
releases.
Evan Dickerson
Boris Michaev (domra) 
