Schnittke's star has been on the wane since a rash of performances and recordings in the decade before his death in 1998. Composing, in the wake of numerous potentially fatal strokes, with manic rapidity, his later output needs a good deal of sifting to separate the wheat from the chaff. So its good to have the Fourth Violin Concerto (1984), which gives you all Schnittke's intense self-expression without (quite) descending into caricature. And there's no-one more suited … mehrto balance histrionics with profundity than dedicatee Gidon Kremer, whose passionate reading makes the work a vital and relevant one. Arthur Lourié has gone down in history as the driving force behind Stravinsky's neo-classical conversion, though you'd never guess that from these two late pieces. The Blackamoor suite (1961) is a distinctive but bitty collection of passages from an earlier opera; Funeral Games (1964) sounds like a bizarre mixture of late Stravinsky and Morton Feldman--its chill remoteness a welcome foil to Schnittke's anguished soul-searching. --Richard Whitehouse weniger

1 - Pastorale For Violin And Wind Quartet
2 - Violin Concerto No. 4: Andante
3 - Violin Concerto No. 4: Vivo (Cadenza Visuale)
4 - Violin Concerto No. 4: Adagio
5 - Violin Concerto No. 4: Lento (Cadenze Visuale)… mehr
6 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Introduzione: Lento
7 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Game Of Dice: Allegro
8 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Introduction To The Ballets: Lento
9 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Ballet No. 1: The Dance Of The Night And The Wind
10 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Ballet No. 2: The Appearance Of The Silver Egg
11 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Ballet No. 3: Hymn To Eros
12 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Ballet No. 4: Amor's Aria
13 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Toccatina
14 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Dance Of The Skomorochs (Harlequins)
15 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Les Adieux: Prelude De Concert
16 - The Blackamoor Of Peter The Great - Symphonic Prose - Orchestral Suite Based On Original Instrumental And Vocal Passages Adapted From The Opera: Coda
17 - The Sleeping Beauty: Variation De Le Fee De Lilas: Allegro Con Moto
18 - The Sleeping Beauty: Entr'Acte: Andante Sostenuto
19 - Funeral Games In Honor Of Chronos weniger