L.o.s. 2022

Few composers can be said to be ‘citizens of nowhere’ and yet, exactly this moniker is appropriate for Mieczysław Weinberg. He was born and raised in Poland to a Jewish family, but for complex reasons spent the majority of his life in Soviet Russia. He had a prolific output(over 150 opus-numbered works, and more besides), but never reached international fame during his lifetime. Since his death in 1996, that has all changed. His powerful music speaks to generations, made all the more powerful by his emotive biography. Weinberg was born in December 1919; his father was a violinist and conductor for several Jewish theatres in Warsaw, and his mother was an actor and singer. After beginning piano, Weinberg showed great talent and began joining his father in the orchestra pit from the age of 11. He studied at the Warsaw conservatoire, and was even offered a scholarship to study in America.

This third effort by Italian outfit Tilion is a mixed affair in oh so many ways; and although not always successful there should be quite a lot of material on this disc that will satisfy those interested in boundary-breaking, innovative and creative music…

In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more pipe divisions or other means for producing tones, each played with its own keyboard, played either with the hands on a keyboard or with the feet using pedals.