MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG (1919-1996): Symphony No. 18 "War - there is no word more cruel", Op. 138, Trumpet Concerto, Op. 94.

Description: The trumpet concerto may be one of Weinberg's best-known compositions but the 18th is one of his rarest symphonies, once briefly available on Olympia in a 1985 live recording by Vladimir Fedoseyev. It's the second of a trilogy of symphonies in memory of those who fell in the Second World War and its gestures, both musical and poetic, speak most resonantly to Russian suffering and sensibilities. The music here is optimistic not in the shallow Socialist Realist sense but as a witness of compassion surviving dreadful persecution. Russian (transliterated)-English texts. Andrew Balio (trumpet), St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra; Vladimir Lande.