Like a Ripple Spreading Outwards

A cd of modern music by Valentin Silvestrov, Metamusik a symphony for piano and orchestra and Postludium a symphonic poem for piano and orchestra. The performers are Alexei Lubimov on piano with the Radio Symphonieorchester Wien conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. Both pieces follow similar structures, with a short sharp loud aggressive orchestral beginning that slowly decays over a period of fifty and twenty minutes respectively, like ripples spreading outwards from a rock thrown in a pool, or the universe evolving from the big bang. sometimes the music almost reaches the point of stasis but just about maintains some forward momentum. The intricate piano utterances delicately pinpointed by subtle orchestral colours reach a kind of calm but with a slight unease hovering.