Cello concerto (2008)/ Symphony No. 20

"The Cello Concerto in C minor, Op. 43, dating from 1948, is parallel to Weinberg's mentor Shostakovich's works of enforced conservatism from that period, but is somehow more joyful and genuinely melodic. More interesting is the premiere recording of Symphony No. 20, Op. 150 (1988). It's a roughly symmetrical five-movement work, on a large orchestral canvas, with slow movements with continuous melody on the outside, scherzo-like pieces of contrasting character second and fourth, and an extremely unusual centerpiece that seems to lose its integrity as it goes along. Weinberg in his later years seems to have tried to pursue avenues suggested by Shostakovich's very personal late works, and this piece, down to the Mahlerian feel, is in that vein. It's not Shostakovich, but quite absorbing, and the performances by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra are clean and on top of Weinberg's long lines in the outer movements of the symphony. A strong entry in the catalog of a composer on the rise." (James Manheim, Allmusic)

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