Moshei Vainberg (b. 1919) has claimed that he was a pupil of Shostakovich who never studied with him. There was a close affinity between them, and Shostakovich's admiration took the form of the dedication of his Tenth String Quartet; he also befriended and helped the younger man, clearly impressed but also moved by sufferings at the hands of the Soviet authorities far worse than his own. Vainberg's Fourth Symphony, a work strongly under the influence of Shostakovich, was reviewed in these columns in February; here now is the second volume of a separate set from Olympia (Vol. 1 consisted of Nos. 6 and 10).

It is well worth attention. No. 7 is, rather oddly, written for strings with a major obbligato part for the harpsichord. Vainberg has the skill to make much sense of this, not least because he has an ear for texture worthy of Shostakovich himself. Tall string chords, motoric rhythms, a pawkily humorous twist to the woodwind writing, the harpsichord pattering or ticking out fragments of themes or taking over with some stalking, enigmatic figuration: these gestures clearly have their origin in much that Shostakovich had made his own. Vainberg has a gift for development, so that here the simple interval of a third can be spun out at length. What he lacks is the memorable thematic invention of Shostakovich, and also the real formal control to prevent his developments from sometimes going slack.

So in the Twelfth Symphony, a heartfelt tribute to his mentor, there is a powerful first movement that cannot quite sustain the inventive or formal power to cover its span of 20 minutes. There are other touching tributes to Shostakovich's manner, even his mannerisms, but not parodistically, for instance with some manic brass and a squealing E flat clarinet; and the Adagio is naturally a heartfelt tribute but also (which is not guaranteed by strong feelings) a moving one. When all reservations have been made, there are here two interesting and often impressive and enjoyable works. The performances are excellent, the recordings good without being outstanding; and there is an informative and helpful note by Per Skans.

JW
(From: Gramophone, November 1994)