Sergei Zhukov: Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto – Eleonora Bekova

   in Classical Music (Aug, 2018)
This is decidedly rare repertoire. Ukrainian-born, Russian-trained Sergei Zhukov (born 1951) writes pluralist music. Take the piano concerto, written for Eleonora Bekova (the Bekova sisters here are two thirds of the Bekova Trio). The music is at times soft-edged, at others more modernist, with expressionism and minimalism zooming in and out of focus. The subtitle ‘Silentium’ is inspired by a poem by Osip Mandelstam, read by the pianist in the finale. It opens with 20 seconds of composed silence, while Part III places emphasis on notes leftto resonate.

The violin concerto’s four movements reflect morning, noon, evening and night, with the soaring violin representing angels, the orchestra the more earthbound participant. …