Alla Pavlova’s Symphony No. 1 “Farewell to Russia” attempts to convey the mood of the Russian people as their society endured the great upheavals of the 1990s. Scored for chamber ensemble, the Symphony–which sits on a single chord for much of its 26 minutes and features some wonderfully evocative solo writing–is a quiet and ruminative work that brings to mind the static music of Arvo Pärt as it explores some elaborate instrumental modulations. A brief surge of tension and anxiety occurs in the last few minutes, and the work ends in a state of bewildered resignation.
Symphony No. 3, composed in 2000, is more conventional in that it employs a full orchestra and is structured in four distinct movements. Inspired by a statue of Joan of Arc, Pavlova chose a tonal, romantic idiom to express her deeply personal reactions to this tragic figure. Each movement of the symphony has a melancholy, folk-sounding tune at its core, giving the work a decidedly wistful atmosphere. In fact, the music’s directness and overwhelming sense of nostalgia causes much of the piece to sound like a romantic historical film score. It’s all very pleasing, but after you’ve heard it a couple of times you might be inclined to relegate it to background-music status. Both pieces receive polished performances from the Russian Philharmonic under conductors Krimets (No. 1) and Vedernikov. The chamber recording is clear and bright, while the orchestral one is a mite overgenerous with the reverberation.
