The works on this album by Dmitri Shostakovich, Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, and Joseph Achron were all written amidst the tremendous social upheavals of the 20th century. However, no matter how turbulent, resigned, even angry some of these scores may seem, they each convey a sense of searching for faith – faith in God, faith in the human spirit, faith in art. The featured artists are the outstanding young Russian violinist Yevgeny Kutik, and the pianist Timothy Bazarth.
Alfred Schnittke was a bold experimenter, always pushing musical boundaries, and his Sonata No. 1 is one of his most expressive pieces. The Hebrew Lullaby and Hebrew Melody by Joseph Achron radiate tremendous emotional depth, and convey an intense feeling of longing and pain. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Sonata is a monumental and challenging work that epitomizes the unbearable pressure and struggles he endured in the Soviet Union, whereas Arvo Pärt’s beautiful Spiegel im Spiegel exists on a plain of mystical and spiritual calm.
Yevgeny Kutik has been hailed for his dazzling command of the violin and its repertoire, as well as a communicative immediacy that harkens back to the legendary Romantic masters. Of his New York City orchestral debut, The New York Times wrote that his violin projected “an old-fashioned rhapsodic style, which was magnified by his rich, sweet tone.”
