A double CD with 24 song miniatures of the composer performed by a stellar cast — released 5 November 2026 on Manfred Eicher's legendary label.
ECM Records — the world's most influential art-house classical label — releases the Valentyn Sylvestrov monographic album 'Quiet Songs' on 5 November 2026. This is a double CD with 24 chamber-vocal miniatures of the composer, covering the period 1974–2025. The album was personally produced by ECM founder Manfred Eicher, who has collaborated with Sylvestrov for over 25 years (the first joint release was in 2003). The performing cast is stellar: tenor Andreas Scholl (Switzerland), soprano Aniko Voitko (Ukraine), pianist Alexei Lubimov (Berlin — staged several Sylvestrov premieres), and baritone Matthias Goerne (Germany). The texts are poetry of Taras Shevchenko, Alexander Pushkin, Osip Mandelstam, Anna Akhmatova, and original Sylvestrov texts. Recording took place at Studio Powerplant (Zurich) in March–April 2026. A particular feature of the album is the 64-page booklet with an essay by Manfred Eicher about the composer's creative path, a Sylvestrov interview recorded in Vienna in January 2026, and facsimiles of seven manuscripts. The album releases in three formats: digital, double-CD digipak, and limited-edition vinyl (300 copies). Pre-orders began on the official ECM site on 1 May 2026.
