"Valentin Silvestrov is one of the greatest composers of our time" - Arvo Pärt 'Bagatellen und Serenaden' is the sixth ECM album devoted to Silvestrov's music since the Grammy-nominated 'Leggiero, pesante' brought the Ukrainian composer to wider attention in 2001. 'Metamusik/Postludium', 'Requiem for Larissa', 'Silent Songs', and 'Symphony No. 6' followed. Additionally, Alexei Lubimov has championed Silvestrov's music on his own recital discs 'Der Bote' and 'Misterioso'. Valentin Silvestrov studied piano at the Kiev Evening Music School, and composition at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He was alert from the outset to new compositional approaches, and an individual lyricism and melodic feeling have been hallmarks of his work through all periods of his artistic development. Producer Manfred Eicher appreciated Silvestrov's quietly distinctive touch from one piece he performed on 'Leggiero, pesante', so when the composer approached the piano at the Munich sessions for this disc in February 2006, microphones were ready to record this remarkable improvised cycle of Bagatelles. "Stille Musik" for string orchestra is dedicated to Manfred Eicher whose interest in Silvestrov was first awakened with the Stille Lieder of the early 1980s. 'Der Bote', in its 1996 version for strings and piano, is the only piece recorded previously (by Kremerata Baltica), but Lubimov makes it very much his own. Zwei Dialoge mit Nachwort, dedicated to Pärt, also posits dreamlike dialogues with and between Schubert and Wagner - again with shimmering, beautiful playing by Lubimov and the orchestra. Personnel: Valentin Silvestrov - (piano), Alexei Lubimov - (piano), Munich Chamber Orchestra, Christoph Poppen - (conductor)