Russian Painters - Symphony No. 5

He was an immediate contemporary of Shostakovich, Kabalevsky, and Khachaturian, but in contrast to them his name is forgotten today (unless we know that his conductor-grandson bears the same name): Vladimir Jurowski (1915-72). Like the composers named above, Jurowski studied with Myaskovsky. He occupied himself with a wide range of genres, from opera and symphonies through chamber music and vocal works, to music for many feature films and cartoons. Jurowski was a master at capturing the popular tone. His music is dazzlingly orchestrated, always melodious and stirring. This release fulfills the wish of his son Michail to have some of his fathers compositions made available in audio form. The seven symphonic pictures of the Russian Painters in particular form a cycle reflecting the pictorial world of each of the artists concerned in rich contrasts and with great impressiveness.