Matangi - Outcast

Matangi - Outcast

MTM04 (Matangi, CD)

FIRST RELEASE (8 April 2022)
Tracks: 9
Booklet pages: 36
℗ 2021 Matangi
© 2021 Matangi
Main country of recording: Belgium
Reviewer: Giuseppe Pennisi
Review of Matangi - Outcast published on 2 September 2022

The Matangi Quartet:
Maria-Paula Majoor, violin
Daniel Torrico Menacho, violin
Karsten Kleijer, viola
Arno van der Vuurst, cello

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998):

String Quartet No 3 (1983)
1 Andante
2 Agitato
3 Pesante

Valentin Silvestrov (born 1937):

4 String Quartet No 1 (1974)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975):

String Quartet No 8 in C minor, Op 110 (1960)
5 Largo
6 Allegro molto
7 Allegretto
8 Largo
9 Largo

Recorded 13-15 July 2021 at Galaxy Studios, MOL, Belgium.

With the album 'Outcast', The Matangi Quartet make a case for artistic freedom and musical expressiveness. This is an ode to musical troublemakers and outsiders; three Soviet-Russian composers who wrote music that went dangerously against the tastes of the regime under which they lived. Just goes to show that little seems to have changed! Described as 'avant-garde' or 'western', the featured composers stuck their necks out with their work, risking their careers or - in the case of Dmitri Shostakovich under Stalin - even their personal freedom. Shostakovich for instance always had a packed suitcase in readiness for his possible arrest by the KGB. Alfred Schnittke was also severely held back by his own government. His work was viewed with suspicion and performances were regularly thwarted. In addition to his musical oeuvre, the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov is known for his political opposition to the rulers of the former Soviet Union and present-day Russia. The Matangi Quartet is an ardent advocate of Silvestrov's music and has developed a special personal and musical bond with him. In 2017 he was Artist in Residence of Matangi's own (Un)heard Music Festival. It is with huge relief and that we discover that Valentin Silvestrov has recently managed to escape from Ukraine and is now safe and well and staying with friends in Germany.