Weinberg: Chamber Symphonies – newly restored jewels by Shostakovich’s friend

The four late chamber symphonies by Shostkavich's close friend Mieczyslaw Weinberg were written between 1986 and 1992, and are all based on earlier music. The musical links go back over four decades, to the Second, Third and Fifth String Quartets of the 1940s, which became the the first three chamber symphonies. The final chamber symphony is based on much later music.

Kremerata Baltica make these engaging pieces glow like newly restored neglected jewels, fully capturing both their Shostakovich-like giddiness and melancholy introspection. The new arrangement of the 1944 Piano Quintet, made by Gidon Kremer with Andrei Pushkarev, is less successful, as though some kind of unwelcome inflation crept in during the orchestration. url.ie/kh67