Alexey Borealis

The life of the Russian composer Alexey Stanchinsky makes for a sad read. Afflicted by mental illness, initially brought to a head by the death of his father, he met an untimely end in October 1914 next to a stream. The exact circumstances remain unclear to this day. What is certain is that he was only 26 years old, and had already made an impression with the musical cognoscenti of the time, being admired by the likes of Prokofiev and Medtner. As a teenager he had benefited from the tutelage of such distinguished figures as Josef Lhévinne and Alexander Grechaninov, and later at the Moscow Conservatoire with Sergei Taneyev and Konstantin Igumnov. Although he was acutely receptive to the musical influences of the day, he wasn't slow in finding his own individual voice. Having said that, I can hear echoes of Rachmaninov and Scriabin in these works, the melodic generosity of the former and the adventurous harmony of the latter.

In the summer of 1989, when I was 15, my ‘love affair’ with Alfred Schnittke’s music began”, recalls Daniel Hope. Three years later the violinist became acquainted with the Russian composer, studying with and performing for Schnittke many of his works over the next years. “A little more than 20 years after his death, I decided it was time to revisit his music and to pay a recorded tribute to his extraordinary talent. In my mind there is no more striking a talent in contemporary music than that of Alfred Schnittke.”

Silent Songs - the fascinating collection of songs by the eminent Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov - enchants with its incomparable atmosphere of silence in a new, impressive interpretation. Elene Gvritishvili and Alexey Pudinov's selection of Silent Songs celebrates the subtle beauty of the music, the contemplative lyricism and the sound of their words.

Pianist Peter Jablonski's second album on Ondine features a large selection of piano works by Alexey Stanchinsky (1888-1914), one of the most talented Russian composers of the early 20th Century. Stanchinsky was not only a talent but a genuine innovator who despite of his early death had a profound influence on the generation of composers to follow. Peter Jablonski is the perfect interpreter to these magnificent gems.