Igor Raykhelson Reviews

REVIEWS

AUG 15, 2007 London, Evening Standard CD of the Week
IGOR RAYKHELSON
Moscow Soloists, Yuri Bashmet
(Toccata Classics)

COMPOSERS were big losers in the collapse of communism. Unwanted in the new Russia, they dispersed abroad, seeking a meager livelihood. Raykhelson, 46, born in Leningrad, plies jazz clubs and chamber halls in New York. His Little Symphony for Strings is a deceptive classical piece with lashings of ironic commentary, rather like the young Prokofiev visiting the Chernobyl disaster site.

Even more captivating is a five-minute Adagio for Viola and Strings that Yuri Bashmet delivers tenderly and without virtuosic showiness as an internal meditation on dashed idylls--perfect for late-night listening. The second half of the disc is a Jazz Suite for viola, saxophone and band, part scored, part improvised, a cross between New Orleans nostalgia and Soviet-era samizdat gatherings where musicians shook off the shackles of state and let it swing for a few hours of free expression.

Raykhelson is the latest discovery on Toccata Classics, a British label devoted to neglected composers. He won’t be ignored much longer.

Bashmet leads SPCO on dark journey with bow and baton
BY ROB HUBBARD
Pioneer Press Article 10/25/2007

Pity the poor viola. While the violin has its pick of concert showpieces, its melancholy cousin is forced to play, well, second fiddle.

But it receives its due at this weekend's St. Paul Chamber Orchestra concerts, thanks to master violist Yuri Bashmet. Presenting a contemporary program filled with dark emotions, Bashmet and the strings of the orchestra tapped into a sense of sadness and loss that emerged in every work played at Minneapolis' Temple Israel Thursday night.

How modern is the music on this program? Well, look at it this way: The oldest piece presented is by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, who remains the Minnesota Orchestra's conductor laureate. His late-40s Symphony for Strings had a troubled tone that brightened in a festive finale.

Among two short works featuring Bashmet as soloist, the standout was Igor Raykhelson's Adagio for Viola and Strings. Solemn and moving on either end, it had at its heart a wild waltz reminiscent of Shostakovich.

NY Times 2003, Ben Finane: Carnegie Hall Concert...

The first encore, the American premier of "Largo" by Igor Raykhelson, turned out to be the unexpected highlight of the evening. ...Bashmet (Yuri) gracefully glided through the wrenching melody of this quiet masterwork. The Moscow Soloists here hit their stride, finding the fine line between drama and dignity ..."

NY Sun Jazz Review February 24, 2006
Will Friedwald...

Speaking of detente, Rose Theater on Wednesday night played host to visitors from even farther away than L.A. This was "Crossover Concerto," a concert starring two ensembles from Moscow.

They were led by two dynamic players: the violist Yuri Bashmet, leading the Moscow Soloists Chamber Orchestra, and the saxophonist Igor Butman with his own Big Band of Russia. The idea was to blend classical music and jazz by showing how the two groups could work together and by having the big band play adaptations of Russian and other classical works. Leonard Bernstein, Dick Hyman, and others have put together similar programs, but never with such a pronounced Russian accent. Mr. Butman gave us an exceedingly mellow treatment of Rachmaninoff's "Vocalese" on soprano sax...and Mr. Bashmet played a Shostakovich "Scherzo" that was really slamming - as if it had been written by Charles Mingus. The second half, however, was the highlight, featuring a new "Jazz Suite" for the two orchestras and the two star soloists, along with the composer and pianist, Igor Raykhelson. At times reminiscent of Stan Getz and Eddie Sauter's "Focus," this is an organic work that succeeds in drawing out the best from this unusual combination.

The Nassau Guardian Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The audience was treated to a World Premier performance of chamber symphony for strings composed by Igor Raykhelson...How fortunate we are to have experienced the musicial composition, nothing less than brilliant work, full of nationalism, yet 20th Century style..."

Times Herald Record: Wednesday June 28, 2006: James Cotter...

"The weeklong Classics on The Mountain brought its Chamber Music Festival to a gala finale Saturday night with a cross over program called "Classical meets Jazz" and the American premier of IGOR RAYKHELSONS' "Small Symphony for Strings" played by the Moscow Soloists Orchestra led by Yuri Bashmet.

"It opens with a traditional allegro in sonata form, sweet and approachable with a five-note lyrical theme developed by violins and violas and echoed by cellos. After intermission RAYKHELSONS'S "REFLECTION" featured violinist Elana Revich and violist Yuri Bashmet.

"An evocative, dreamy tone poem in a single, seamless movement, the piece develops a simple four-note motiff through shifiting variations of rhythm and color.

"The Highlight of the evening, however, was yet to come...Raykhelson's "Jazz Suite" for Viola, Saxophone and Piano, in the tradition of Gershwin, had the composer himself at the piano soloing and directing at the same time...His opening keyboard cadenza sounded modern discordant chords that fused into a melodic theme picked up by violist Yuri Bashmet and saxaphonist Igor Butman..."

Novoye Russkoe Slovo July 2, 2006

Absolutely enchanting and compact in its form "Small Symphony for Strings" of Igor Raykhelson performed by Moscow Sololists, as well as his lyrical piece called "Reflections" for Violin, Viola and Strings have fit the format of the concert called "Crossover" perfectly.

Classical tradition in terms of structure coupled with the clarity of melodic language emanating from popular music language have found its most effective realization in the piece called "Jazz Suite for Viola, Saxophone, Piano and Chamber orchestra".

Novoye Russkoye Slovo, March 2006

Being a remarkable pianist, Raykhelson in his newest opus (this was an American premier) was mainly feeding from well established jazz formulas of 1930-1940, and these have most naturally blended with the styles of performance of both orchestras. Most effective episodes have turned out to be the powerful finale and exquisitely touching duet of Bashmet and Butman. Who could have thought that Viola and Saxophone could sound so wonderful together???!!!

Kommersant Daily. April 10, 2006

"The Romantic Poem" of Igor Raykhelson has finally put the orchestra to the forefront. Suddenly the very same orchestra has taken on completely different character. Instead of an expectedly disciplined and rudimentary sound, melancholically beautiful melodies started to pour out into the audience in a clear tradition of the 20 century of American Music.