Weinberg: String Quartets Nos. 7 & 8, Serenade Op.47/4; Sinfonietta No. 2 - Borodin Quartet, USSR State Radio Orchestra, Gauk Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Barshai (CD + FREE MP3)

These earliest and rare Weinberg (Vainberg) Russian recordings were too early to be reviewed then even if ever issued … “(In 1994), with only 14 months to live, Weinberg celebrated his 75th birthday … he lived just long enough to witness a new wave of interest. A series of CDs began in the 1990s, and his friend Tommy Persson (the Swedish judge who had brought medicines which almost certainly gave the composer a few extra years of life) was able to present Weinberg with (some of) those issues … the broadcaster and documentary maker Per Skans, went straight to the point, describing Weinberg’s neglect as ‘scandalous’. How gratifying for Persson that his underwriting of several CDs that appeared then not only kept the music alive for specialist collectors but touched off what has been described in Russia as the ‘Weinberg boom’. [David Fanning article for Gramophone].

Serenade for Orchestra, Op.47 No.4 [20:52]
1 I. Allegretto 5:46
2 II. Allegro molto 4:45
3 III. Adagio 4:24
4 IV. Allegro giocoso 5:56
USSR State Radio Orchestra / Alexander Gauk (rec. 1956)

String Quartet No.7 in C major, Op.59 [25:47]
5 I. Adagio 8:02
6 II. Allegretto 5:46
7 III. Adagio – Allegro moderato 11:58
Borodin String Quartet (1st issued 1960)

String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.66 [15:31]
8. String Quartet No.8 (single mvt.)
Borodin String Quartet (1st issued 1961)

Sinfonietta No.2, Op.74 [16:46]
9 I. Allegro 3:28
10 II. Allegretto 4:04
11 III. Adagio 4:04
12 IV. Andantino 5:09
Moscow Chamber Orchestra / Rudolf Barshai (1st issued 1962)