Валентин Сильвестров, Валерий Матюхин, Богдана Пивненко. Мелодії миттєвостей. (подарочное издание). /digi-pack/

I can't really put into words what the music of Fleeting Melodies means to me. I got in touch with it about a year ago and all the music I compose is now under the influence of it. The smooth quality of it, the slightest touch of such beauty and the ability to achieve it is of such rarity that this is something to treasure. It's one of those moments that you have to quiet yourself and pay attention just because there's so much into these humble sounds, these fragile and beauty structures, that anything you'll do is enough to disrupt them. You need a lot of respect for music to listen to these pieces and that's what I'd recommend to someone who doesn't know Silvestrov's music. Just let it breathe and surround you.

I was the happy buyer of the last copy available. It was a gift (I know, I know, how could I not keep it...), but I know it will be very well kept.

The performers on this disc – Bohdana Pivnenko (violin) and Valeriy Matiukhin (piano) – show both their love and understanding of Valentin Silvestrov’s work. His interpretative instruction, which they execute brilliantly throughout the album, ‘While listening, this music must sound light and clear, distant…’, could apply to just about all of his late work – it settles on the ear of the listener like a mist that is barely there, a whisper from another place, another time…delicate, but not to be ignored. More than any other contemporary composer whose work I’ve experienced, Silvestrov’s music sings – with or without a vocal component. The beauty in these pieces carries meaning and emotion felt on the deepest level, wrapped in music that appeals to both the heart and intellect. Pivnenko and Matiukhin weave their lines in and out of each other, rapt in their interpretation and at the same time sensitive to the voicings offered by their partner – there is not a single failed nuance or overplayed line. It’s like listening to liquid flowing – the recording’s generous 72 minute length is over before one expects it to be, and repeated listenings follow as naturally as one breath follows the next.

I highly recommend this stunning recording, as well as the service I received from UMKA...first-rate.