If you have not yet listened to the music of this Polish composer who lived from 1919 to 1996, and you admire the music of Shostakovich, Mahler, Bartok....you owe it to yourself to obtain one or more of these excellent Chandos recordings, that will hopefully complete the series of Weinberg's 26 symphonies.

Given the amount of tragedy in his life, it is a wonder that he had the spiritual strength to become such a prolific composer. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he fled to Russia where he eventually became friends with Shostakovich, and they both shared mutual admiration for each other's music. And like Shostakovich, Weinberg himself witnessed many horrors and atrocities, which are reflected in his music that is full of bold orchestration, lyricism, extended tonalities and grim, bleak passages. Again, hats off to Chandos for bringing to us something new to experience and more to look forward to in the future.

Jean-Yves Duperron