Silvestrov - 3 Postludien, Postludium No. 3
New release
On February 23, 2024 PENTATONE will release a single recorded by cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Nadia Shpachenko, featuring Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov's Postludium No. 3. Available on all listening platforms, this recording was made to mark the two-year anniversary of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine.
“Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s Postludium No. 3 merges the cello and piano organically into one celestial, loving breath, a metaphor for the power of music to unify in a divisive world. Playing Silvestrov’s music and celebrating Ukrainian culture with native-born Nadia Shpachenko has been a wonderfully meaningful experience. Slava Ukraini!”
“Valentin Silvestrov’s Postludium No. 3 is a touching, thoughtful, and deeply imaginative composition. Collaboration on this piece with the extraordinary cellist Matt Haimovitz gave me an outlet to convey my pain about the war, while projecting hope. Evoking memories of my childhood in Kharkiv, a city that has been under constant attack since the war began on my birthday exactly two years ago, this release is personal.”
about Matt Haimovitz
Renowned as a musical pioneer, multi-Grammy-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz is praised by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles” and by The New Yorker as “remarkable virtuoso” who “never turns in a predictable performance.” He brings a fresh ear to familiar repertoire, champions new music, and initiates groundbreaking collaborations, as well as creating innovative recording projects. In addition to his touring schedule, Haimovitz mentors an award-winning studio of young cellists at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal and is now the first-ever John Cage Fellow at The New School’s Mannes School of Music in New York City.
Haimovitz made his debut in 1984, at the age of 13, as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic. He has gone on to perform on the world’s most esteemed stages, with such orchestras and conductors as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, the English Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Kent Nagano. His latest endeavor, THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT, encompasses 81 new commissions from a diverse intersection of North American communities and has been featured in the most recent 59th Venice Biennale Arte.
Making his first recording at 17 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Haimovitz’s recording career encompasses more than 30 years of award-winning work on Deutsche Grammophon (Universal), Oxingale Records, and the PENTATONE Oxingale Series. His honors include the Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Grand Prix du Disque, and the Premio Internazionale “Accademia Musicale Chigiana.” He studied with Leonard Rose at The Juilliard School and graduated magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard University. Haimovitz plays a Venetian cello, made in 1710 by Matteo Gofriller.
About Nadia Shpachenko
A “gifted and versatile pianist” (San Francisco Chronicle) and GRAMMY® Award winner Nadia Shpachenko enjoys bringing into the world things that are outside the box—powerful pieces that often possess unusual sonic qualities or instrumentation. Nadia’s concert highlights include recitals at Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, on the Piano Spheres and Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella and Chamber Music Series, and with orchestras in Europe and the Americas. An enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music, Shpachenko premiered more than 100 works by Zoltan Almashi, Armando Bayolo, Elliott Carter, Christopher Cerrone, Paul Chihara, George Crumb, Ian Dicke, Daniel Felsenfeld, Tom Flaherty, Annie Gosfield, Yuri Ishchenko, Vera Ivanova, Dana Kaufman, Leon Kirchner, Amy Beth Kirsten, Han Lash, James Matheson, Missy Mazzoli, Harold Meltzer, Evgeni Orkin, David Sanford, Isaac Schankler, Alexander Shchetynsky, Adam Schoenberg, Lewis Spratlan, Evan Ware, Gernot Wolfgang, Iannis Xenakis, Peter Yates, Pamela Z, Jack Van Zandt, and many others.
Described as “powerful… impressive… haunting” (Gramophone), Nadia’s album Invasion: Music and Art for Ukraine features premiere recordings of music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lewis Spratlan and art by numerous Ukrainian artists, with 100% of proceeds donated to Ukraine humanitarian aid. Nadia’s 2019 Reference Recordings album The Poetry of Places, featuring premieres of architecture-inspired works, won the Best Classical Compendium GRAMMY® Award. Nadia’s new Reference Recordings soccer-inspired album The Beautiful Game will be released in Summer 2024. She can be heard on seven other internationally released albums of world premieres.
Nadia Shpachenko holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Her principal teachers included John Perry, Victor Rosenbaum, and Victor Derevianko. Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, she is a Steinway Artist, Schoenhut Toy Piano Artist, and professor of music at Cal Poly Pomona University.