Valentin Silvestrov: Forgotten Word I Wished to Say Alexei Lubimov

• Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937): Kitsch-Musik:
• 1Silvestrov: Kitsch-Musik: I. Allegro vivace02:42
• 2Silvestrov: Kitsch-Musik: II. Moderato03:32
• 3Silvestrov: Kitsch-Musik: III. Allegretto02:48
• 4Silvestrov: Kitsch-Musik: IV. Moderato02:56
• 5Silvestrov: Kitsch-Musik: V. Allegretto01:48
• Stufen:
• 6Silvestrov: Stufen: I. Widmung03:53
• 7Silvestrov: Stufen: II. Elegie03:37
• 8Silvestrov: Stufen: III. Meine Seele03:55
• 9Silvestrov: Stufen: IV. Schon mischen sich die grauen Schatten03:04
• 10Silvestrov: Stufen: V. Was wollt ihr Tage!04:06
• 11Silvestrov: Stufen: VI. Elegie04:25
• 12Silvestrov: Stufen: VII. Oh, meine prophetische Seele02:38
• 13Silvestrov: Stufen: VIII. Ihr Schwestern - Schwere und Zärte05:23
• 14Silvestrov: Stufen: IX. An den Schlaf04:07
• 15Silvestrov: Stufen: X. Letzte Liebe04:37
• 16Silvestrov: Stufen: XI. Das Wort bleibt ungesagt, ich find's nicht wieder08:42
• Three Pieces for Piano Solo, Op. 204:
• 17Silvestrov: Three Pieces for Piano Solo, Op. 204: I. Serenade02:12
• 18Silvestrov: Three Pieces for Piano Solo, Op. 204: II. Walzer01:35
• 19Silvestrov: Three Pieces for Piano Solo, Op. 204: III. Barcarole03:30
• Two Pieces for Piano Solo:
• 20Silvestrov: Two Pieces for Piano Solo: I. Augenblick01:31
• 21Silvestrov: Two Pieces for Piano Solo: II. Wiegenlied05:04
• Total Runtime01:16:05

Info for Valentin Silvestrov: Forgotten Word I Wished to Say

Solo piano works and the vocal cycle "Stufen" by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov with the Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov and the Ukrainian soprano Viktoriia Vitrenko appear on the album "Valentin Silvestrov: Forgotten Word I Wished to Say" on Sony Classical as a co-production with BR-KLASSIK.

Valentin Silvestrov is the most important contemporary Ukrainian composer. And he has lived in Berlin since 2022. At the age of 84, he was forced to leave his hometown of Kiev because of the war. However, 2022 was not only a year of temporary farewell for him, but also of honouring his remarkable oeuvre. Silvestrov was honoured with the OPUS Klassik for his life's work. In addition to major orchestral works, including eight symphonies alone, and choral compositions, Silvestrov primarily wrote songs and piano works, which also express his close connection to the musical heritage of Mozart, Schubert and Mahler, for example.

Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov, who has been a friend of Silvestrov's for decades and lives in Paris and is considered one of the most important interpreters of his music, and Ukrainian soprano and conductor Viktoriia Vitrenko have selected works composed between the 1970s and 2023 for the album "Forgotten Word I Wished to Say". These include the vocal cycle "Stufen", "Kitschmusik" for piano, a piano cycle from 2012, as well as two pieces that were composed in exile in Berlin and have now been recorded for the first time. The multi-part "Kitschmusik" for solo piano refers to the great Romantics Schumann, Chopin and Brahms, while Silvestrov dedicated the "Three Pieces" for solo piano (2012) to his wife Larissa Bondarenko, who died young. In the piano cycle "Two Pieces" (Berlin, 2023), the harmless moment and a tragic lullaby contrast with each other. The work, filled with pain and nostalgia, seems to have been composed under the impression of the terrible events that have occurred on a daily basis since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nevertheless, at the end one hears a floating, transparent, bright sound that expresses the hope for peace in the near future.

In the song cycle "Stufen" (1981-82, 1997), Silvestrov set poems by Pushkin, Mandelstam, Block and John Keats, among others, to songs that revolve around love, oblivion, madness, farewell and silence. The cycle reveals Valentin Silvestrov's special melodic talent. "Good verses are known to have their own music," says the composer. "And I simply feel the need to subordinate myself to it."

Alexei Lubimov, piano

Alexei Lubimov
Born in Moscow, pianist Alexei Lubimov is one of the most strikingly original musicians performing today. His large repertoire combined with his dedication to principle and musical morals make him a notable exception in today’s music scene. Following studies with Heinrich Neuhaus Alexei Lubimov established an early dual passion for baroque music performed on traditional instruments and also 20th century composers such as Schönberg, Webern, Stockhausen, Boulez, Ives, Ligeti, Schnittke, Gubaidulina, Silvestrov and Pärt. He has premiered many contemporary pieces in Russia and founded a music festival there: “Alternativa”. He formed a quartet dedicated to baroque music during the 1970s when international travel became impossible. Performing old and new music well, however, did not stop Alexei Lubimov from being an outstanding performer of classical and romantic repertoire as his many recordings show.

As political restrictions were lifted in Russia during the 1980s, Alexei Lubimov soon emerged among the first rank of international pianists giving concerts in Europe, North America and Japan. He has appeared with such orchestras such as the Helsinki-, Israel-, Los Angeles-, Munich- and St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic in London, Russian National Orchestra, Orchestre Phil. de Radio France, Toronto Symphony and Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin under the most important international conductors: Ashkenazy, Järvi, Kondrashin, Hogwood, Mackerras, Nagano, Norrington, Pletnev, Saraste, Salonen, Janovski or Tortelier. He has given historic performances with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Wiener Akademie and the Collegium Vocale Gent.


In the world of chamber music, he performs regularly with famous soloists and ensembles at festivals throughout the world.

In recent seasons he has given concerts with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Russian Natioanl Orchestra in Moscow and the Tonkünstlerorchester (2 concerts in the Great Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein) as well as innumerable solo recitals. He toured with Haydn Sinfonietta playing Mozart concertos and played Mozart with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under Robert King, Haydn with the Camerata Salzburg under Sir Roger Norrington in New York, Pärt’s Lamentate with RSO Vienna under Andrey Boreyko at the Musikverein and with the Tampere Philharmonic under John Storgards. Other highlights include performances of Prometeus by Scriabin at the Salzburg Festival and in Copenhagen and performances with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment (Beethoven), Munich Philharmonic (Silvestrov), SWR Stuttgart (Pärt), DSO Berlin (Pärt), Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Pärt), Anima Eterna Brugge and Russian National Orchestra. In 2010 he has performed solo and with orchestra in Brussels, Utrecht, Budapest, Lille, London and New York, to name only a few examples. The repertoire ranged from baroque to living composers.

His recordings have been issued on various labels including Melodia, Erato, BIS or Sony featuring the complete Mozart sonatas, Schubert, Chopin, Beethoven and Brahms as well as music of the 20th century. Since 2003 he has recorded regularly for ECM producing some unusual CDs of particular note: “Der Bote,” with music of Liszt, Glinka and CPE Bach alongside John Cage and Tigran Mansurian; Arvo Pärt’s Lamentate with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, “Messe Noir” with music of Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Scriabin; and “Misteriosos” with music of Silvestrov, Pärt and Ustvolskaya. His recording of Schubert’s Impromptus Op. 90 and Op.142 was released in 2009 by Harmonia Mundi.

Booklet for Valentin Silvestrov: Forgotten Word I Wished to Say