Mieczysław Weinberg flourished as a composer despite working amidst political and personal setbacks. He gained the admiration of Shostakovich, and was championed by the leading Soviet musicians of the day. The soulful Cello Concertino with its Yiddish overtones and melodic eloquence was discovered posthumously, and is effectively a preliminary version of the more elaborate and intense Cello Concerto. The potent Romantic nature of the Concerto has made this one of Weinberg’s most performed largescale pieces. The Fantasia is an appealing early work – expressive and spontaneous.

With this release, Mieczysław Weinberg’s Cello Concerto joins our already extensive catalogue of his orchestral works that includes his two Flute Concertos (Naxos 8573931), the Clarinet Concerto (8574192) and the Violin Concertino (8572631).

Cellist Nikolay Shugaev has collaborated with orchestras such as the St Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Simfonică București, Norrlandsoperan, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Academy and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, among others, and has appeared at international festivals such as Ceresio Estate, Società dei Concerti di Milano and the Lucerne Festival. His recording of Malipiero’s Cello Concerto (Naxos 8574393) made it ‘a thing of beauty and a great success’ (Fanfare), and saw him admired as ‘an eloquent soloist’ (Gramophone).

Yuri Medianik has been the artistic director and chief conductor of the Tyumen Philharmonic Orchestra since 2022, and is recognised as a distinguished conductor and multi-instrumentalist (violin, bayan, bandoneon) in Russia and internationally. He graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (violin) and the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (bayan), and is a laureate of five international competitions. He completed his postgraduate studies at the Ippolito Ivanov Institute of Music as a conductor. His performance history includes appearances before the presidents of 15 countries. He has conducted the Novaya Opera in Moscow since 2015, with a repertoire of over ten operas and concert programmes, and has been the chief conductor of the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after A.S. Pushkin since 2021.