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How to describe the music of Vyacheslav Artyomov? Imagine combining the structures of Arvo Pärt, the ethereal sound clouds of Kaija Saariaho, the intensity of György Ligeti, and the deep spirituality of John Tavener. Artyomov has a unique compositional voice that, while sharing elements with the afore-named composers, communicates in a musical language that’s all his own. The Russian National Orchestra plays cleanly and precisely — two essentials for the impact of Artyomov’s music to be fully realized.

” —Ralph Graves

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Artyomov has a unique compositional voice that communicates in a musical language that’s all his own. I was enraptured by his mystical world of tones and colors. The Russian National Orchestra plays cleanly and precisely. These new recordings of Artyomov’s music from Divine Art are welcome, indeed.

” —Ralph Graves

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This large-scale work—with its huge dynamic range, its bouts of gnarled Bergian harmonies, its vehement percussion outbursts, its anguished strivings, its Messiaenic bird-chattering in the woodwinds, its Schoenbergian flutter-tonguing—is far closer to neo-Expressionism than it is to anything by the so-called New Spiritualists. Tristia II… is shorter, gentler, and more hyp¬notic, a piece that’s apt to whisper as often as Gentle Emanations is to scream. Both works get what sound like committed performances—and the sound is no obstacle.

” —Peter J. Rabinowitz

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“With Currentzis the [Symphony] is interpreted by a conductor who sees Artyomov as the 21st century’s Bruckner. Correspondingly he develops the piece with intensity and effectiveness for its whole duration. The emphasis of this composition {Tristia II] however, is on the piano part, which blends naturally in the orchestral movement. The Russian national orchestra is an established, successful body which devotes itself expertly to Artyomov’s work. With Ponkin and even more so with Currentzis they found conductors, who are able to shape the large forms and create tension which persists. Pianist Kopachevsky mastered the piano part with excellence.”

” —Uwe Krusch

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“Surprise! This is a fully developed voice in new music, someone who has carried over the mysterious cosmos of late Scriabin and Messiaen and made something new out of the unrealized potentials that lurked behind those composers’s most prescient creations. Artyomov speaks to me, in elegant and vivid eloquence. The Russian National Orchestra under conductors Teodor Currentzis and Vladimir Ponkin bring this complex and very personal music into vivid relief against the seeming silence of the universe. Artyomov travels in the wake of those before and manages to say something new and different. That is a remarkable achievement and he most certainly deserves a hearing.”

” —Classical Modern Music

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“[The Symphony] is a remarkably powerful score that maintains a mood of inexorable mystery, of an almost ethereal luminosity contrasted with tension-filled episodes of menace and anger. [In Tristia II] the Russian National Orchestra excels under baton of Teodor Currentzis, giving a compelling performance that feels well-paced, producing wonderful orchestral textures. Pianist Philip Kopachevsky provides alert playing of real clarity. excellent sound, crystal clear and nicely balanced too.”

” —Norbert Tischer