From New Media Productions/Boston, Steve Robinson, producer
A new, FREE five-part limited series. AVAILABLE on PRX, Content Depot, & Download
Valentin Silvestrov is one of Ukraine’s most honored and revered composers. Born in 1937, he has composed symphonies, string quartets, many choral and vocal works, work for solo piano and other compositions.
Each of the five stand-alone programs focuses on a different part of his output:
- Episode 1 – Overview: Excerpts and complete performances of a wide range of Silvestrov’s music, from solo piano to symphonies.
- Episode 2 – Choral/Vocal Compositions: Silvestrov is now the most prolific composer of choral music in Ukraine’s history. On this program we’ll explore some of his earliest vocal music, a movement from his haunting song cycle Quiet Songs (often called Silent Songs), and an excerpt from his monumental Requiem for Larissa. We’ll also hear an interview with the person most responsible for stimulating Silvestrov’s interest in choral writing, Mycola Hobdych, founder and conductor of the Kyiv Chamber Choir.
- Episode 3 – Solo Piano: Boris Berman is a life-long friend and colleague of Silvestrov’s and is now head of the piano department at Yale. In this program, we focus on Berman’s two-CD recording covering 60 years of Silvestrov’s piano writing, with Berman providing commentary on each piece. The program ends with Elegy, one of three pieces Silvestrov composed in his head while fleeing Kyiv after the invasion in 2022 on his way to Berlin, where he now lives as a refugee.
- Episode 4 – Symphonies: Valentin Silvestrov has written nine symphonies and in this program we’ll hear excerpts from six of them, concluding with a complete broadcast of his Symphony No. 7. Along the way we’ll hear comments by three conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sergey Smbatyan and Christopher Lyndon-Gee.
- Episode 5 – Music Composed Since 2015, and a Few Earlier Compositions: We’ll conclude our survey of the music of Valentin Silvestrov with several compositions written since 2015, including a recording of Pastorales 2020 with Daniel Hope, violin and Alexey Botvinov, piano. The program also includes a performance of one of Silvestrov’s most well-known pieces, The Messenger, performed by his long-time friend and colleague, Borys Federov.
Featured in the series are:
Virko Baley, composer; Boris Berman, pianist; David Fanning, scholar; Borys Federov, pianist; Vladimir Feltsman, pianist; Christopher Lyndon-Gee, conductor; Richard Gillies, scholar; Mykola Habdych, choral conductor; Marika Kuzma. choral conductor; Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor; Sergey Smbatian, conductor