I somewhat delayed
reviewing this disc, mainly because it has already been thoroughly
reviewed here. Both Rob Barnett’s and Göran Forsling’s reviews
told you all you need to know about these recent symphonies
by one of Lithuania’s foremost composers. So, what else could
I say about them? Well, I already knew some of Balakauskas’
music, and I naively thought that I had a clear view of his
musical progress, from traditionally conceived early works such
as his Piano Concertino (1966, rev. 1994) to mature
late works such as Concerto Brio (1999) and his
beautiful Requiem (1995) with some intermediary
works exploring Minimalism or polystylism à la Schnittke,
as in Ludus modorum for cello and
orchestra (1972). Not quite so, since his latest symphonies
show the composer still exploring new territories. The Fourth
and Fifth Symphonies inhabit a completely new sound-world characterised
by recourse to Blues and Jazz, albeit in a relatively superficial
way. If you compare the rather obvious jazzy and bluesy inflections
displayed here with Mark-Anthony Turnage’s deeper absorption
of these idioms you will see what I mean. This said, both scores
do not lack in imagination and character; and, what is more,
each of them has its own personality. Symphony No.4
is mostly melodic throughout its three movements, with much
understatement, though with enough dynamic contrast and melodic
invention to sustain long spans of music. The outer movements
are generally song-like in character, whereas the central dance-like
Scherzo never really unleashes the full orchestral forces and,
actually, moves on in moderate tempi. On the other hand, the
Fifth Symphony is much more varied in terms of
tempi, dynamics and global sound-world, this time ‘spiced-up’
with more dissonance than its predecessor. The music, too, is
considerably more assertive and more contrasted, although much
of the writing remains warmly melodic. The most obvious common
characteristic is the remarkable orchestral mastery on display.
Both scores abound in felicitous touches of scoring; and the
opening of the Fourth Symphony’s first movement is one of the
most beautifully atmospheric orchestral textures that I have
heard in recent works. Another striking feature of both works
is the composer’s ability to sustain long symphonic paragraphs
with unflagging invention and imagination, and with almost effortless
resourcefulness in handling apparently limited basic material.
This is surely the touch of a true symphonist.
These substantial
scores bear ample proof of the composer’s tireless quest for
new expressive means, which is likely to yield further, unexpected
results.
The performances
are really very fine, carefully prepared, thoroughly convincing,
and nicely recorded. This fine release is likely to win Balakauskas
new admirers and to encourage further recordings of some of
his major works that clearly deserve to be heard. This release
is a most desirable sequel to Naxos’s slightly earlier recording
of the Requiem, and will hopefully lead to more
recordings of his music, e.g. the earlier symphonies ... for
a start.
Hubert Culot
see also Reviews
by Göran Forsling and Rob
Barnett
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Lithuanian National
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