Censored Anthems - Shostakovich, Weinberg, Mirzoyan
DE6310 (Delos, CD)
FIRST RELEASE (28 February 2025)
Playing time: 74'47"
Tracks: 11
℗ 2025 Delos Productions Inc
© 2025 Delos Productions Inc
Main country of recording: United States of America
Received: 21 January 2025
This item is available to review
Aubrey Oliverson, violin (tracks 2-4)
Joel Lambdin, violin (tracks 5 and 6)
Andrew Beall, timpani (tracks 5-8)
Parlando chamber orchestra
Ian Niederhoffer, conductor, narrator
Dmitri Shostakovich, arranged by Ian Niederhoffer:
1 Adagio (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk)
Mieczysław Weinberg:
Concertino for violin and string orchestra, Op 42
2 Allegretto cantabile
3 Lento - Adagio
4 Allegro moderato poco rubato
Edvard Mirzoyan:
Symphony for String Orchestra and Timpani
5 Andante patetico - Allegro moderato
6 Allegro ma non troppo
7 Adagio - Andante doloroso
8 Allegro vivo
'What does censorship sound like?' - an exploration:
9 Ian Niederhoffer on Shostakovich's Adagio
10 Ian Niederhoffer on Weinberg's Concertino
11 Ian Niederhoffer on Mirzoyan's Symphony
The programme for New York-based chamber orchestra Parlando's Censored Anthems explores music from the twentieth century as a tool of cultural resilience in the face of censorship, particularly in the Soviet Union. The album opens with a selection from Dmitri Shostakovich's controversial opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, arranged by Niederhoffer. Following is the Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra by the Polish, Soviet, and Russian composer Mieczysław Weinberg, whose career was shaped by persecution during Stalin’s anti-cosmopolitan campaign. The American violinist Aubree Oliverson is the featured soloist. The final piece is the Symphony for String Orchestra and Timpani by Armenian composer Edvard Mirzoyan, the son of a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. Andrew Beall is the featured timpanist.