Emil Tabakov: Complete Symphonies, Volume Seven
The music of the Bulgarian composer-conductor Emil Tabakov (b. 1947) explores the darker side of the human spirit in monumental scores as austere as they are powerful. Like many of his earlier symphonies, the Ninth, nearly an hour in length, is conceived on a massive scale. The opening Adagio forms an epic, glacial prelude to the driving Presto second movement. Two further slow movements follow: a Largo, which offers an island of relief after the tumult of the scherzo, and a finale which, after opening with an extensive Largo of its own, is transformed into a wild, driving, violent Allegro moderato. The symphony is prefaced by a virtuoso study for string ensemble written over 30 years earlier and remarkable for its contrapuntal fireworks and its explosive, almost elemental energy.
Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble (Tracks 1–3)
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra (Tracks 4–7)
Emil Tabakov, conductor
Listen To This Recording:
- I minim = 96–92
- II ♩ = 63
- III Presto (minim = 108–112)
- I Adagio
- II Presto
- III Largo
- IV Largo – Allegro moderato
Concerto for Fifteen String Instruments (1979)
Symphony No. 9 (2015)*
*FIRST RECORDING, LIVE
MusicWeb International :
‘Emil Tabakov is a force to be reckoned with and I shall certainly be seeking out his other symphonies. It is his music and so the recording in which he is conductor must surely be considered definitive and the two groups of musicians involved could hardly be bettered. The sound is clear and precise even in the recording of the Concerto for Fifteen String Instruments from 1980. This is altogether a disc of music that all lovers of contemporary music will find fascinating and hugely rewarding’
—Steve Arloff, MusicWeb International