viola – Alto CD

String Quartets from Vienna: Korngold & Kreisler

amuletts — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 00:04:39 +0000

“Kreisler and Korngold … both shared the same Viennese musical roots and both fled Vienna for the USA to escape Nazi persecution. Also, both of the string quartets presented here possess a haunting Viennese nostalgia. Kreisler’s Quartet is a delightful discovery containing much memorable melodic material … many impressive moments … Korngold’s is a later work, of a Vienna gone for ever. As ever, his melodic gifts are prolific throughout. The Angeles Quartet are exceptionally fine and committed throughout… highly recommendable” (Gramophone)

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)

Quartet in A minor (1921) [30:06]

1 Fantasia 8:20

2 Scherzo 6:56

3 Prelude & Romance 5:47

4 Finale 9:03

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)

Quartet No.3, Op.34 (1945) [27:38]

5 Allegro moderato 7:34

6 Scherzo: Allegro molto 4:28

7 Sostenuto: Like a Folk Tune 9:20

8 Finale: Allegro con fuoco 6:15

Recorded August 1993 at Whitman Auditorium, Steamboat Springs, CO; Produced/engineered 1995

for Koch International by Joanna Nickrenz & Marc Aubort, Elite Recordings Inc., NYC

Alfred Schnittke: Viola & Cello (no.1) Concertos

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:42:57 +0000

“Both these especially lyrical works were composed specifically for (these) star players whose recordings have generally been accepted as definitive….(Viola) Improving on Yuri Bashmet’s recordings…was never going to be an easy task. Other performers may play the piece, but Bashmet lives it” (Cello):“The Schnittke concerto was written for Gutman, and she takes possession of it with playing that blazes with emotional conviction as well as technical command…(It) comes to life…in a finale that seems to cross the anguished soul-searching of the last section of Berg’s Violin Concerto with the heaven-storming assertions that conclude Mahler’s Third Symphony. Schnittke added (this) after his near fatal illness in 1985, and its blend of triumph and foreboding is awesome” (© Gramophone)

Viola Concerto (1985) (35.21)

[1] Largo 4:52
[2] Allegro molto 13:00
[3] Largo 17:39

Cello Concerto No.1 (1986) (42.14)

[4] Pesante. Moderato 14:58
[5] Largo 10:23
[6] Allegro vivace 3:34
[7] Largo 13:18

Beethoven String Quartets Op.59 (1-3) ‘Razumovsky’ Op.74 ‘Harp’

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:42:36 +0000

“(They) open Op.59/I like a relaxed invitation … (their) nourishing perceptions are worth anyone’s time” (Gramophone) “Extra sharpness of characterization as well as the extra warmth, compared with their earlier cycle … (No.2): the sublime molto adagio has an inner hush beyond the earlier set. (‘Harp’): fun brought out in the first movement … the adagio treated songfully…excellent sound.” ( Penguin Guide 3 stars)

Disc One (74:54)

String Quartet in F, Op.59 No.1 (‘Razumovsky’)

[1] I: Allegro 11:13
[2] II: Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 9:20
[3] III: Adagio molto e mesto – 14:18
[4] IV: Thème Russe (Allegro) 8:32
String Quartet in C, Op.59 No.3 (‘Razumovsky’)
[5] I: Introducione (Andante con moto) – allegro vivace 10:44
[6] II: Andante con moto quasi allegretto 8:52
[7] III: Menuetto (Grazioso) 5:13
[8] IV: Allegro molto 6:38

Disc Two (68:08)

String Quartet in E minor, Op.59 No.2 (‘Razumovsky’)

[1] I: Allegro 12:59
[2] II: Molto adagio 12:32
[3] III: Allegretto 6:57
[4] IV: Presto 5:26

String Quartet in E flat, Op.74 (‘Harp’)

[5] I: Poco adagio – allego 9:47
[6] II: Adagio, ma non troppo 8:50
[7] III: Presto – 4:59
[8] IV: Allegretto con variazioni 6:34

Mozart: The Two Piano Quartets K478, K493

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:42:36 +0000

“Mozart’s piano quartets, sharply contrasted, are among the finest of his chamber works, with K478 bringing depths that G minor always seems to draw from him. This new performance … has a better, more just balance, so that sparkling piano is a constant delight … partnered by an exceptionally strong trio of string players … lighter and faster than rivals, yet dazzlingly clear… The E flat K493 … more orchestral texture, but again this performance is lighter and the slow movement more tenderly expressive. In the finale too the Nash play with extra sparkle, with rhythms jauntily sprung … far more charming than … rivals, and the rapid triplet figuration is a delight to the ear … this new offering stands among the finest.”(Gramophone)

Piano Quartet in G minor, K478 (1785)
[1] I: Allegro 14:24
[2] II: Andante 6:57
[3] III: Rondo: Allegro moderato 7:45
Piano Quartet in E flat, K493 (I786)
[4] I: Allegro 15:20
[5] Il: Larghetto 13:22
[6] III: Allegretto 8:51

Johannes Brahms String Sextets 1 & 2

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:42:35 +0000

“(1st Sextet) revelling in the work’s glorious fullness, but of course The Lindsays and colleagues are able to put heart and soul into the music while keeping a careful control of the overall balance … wholehearted character of the playing is a big advantage … (They all) delight us with a range of the most beautiful, transparent sonorities … both sextets have a compelling sense of direction – in the Second’s magnificent first movement, we can feel what a giant young Brahms had become.” (Gramophone)

String Sextet No.1 in B flat, Op.18
[1] Allegro ma non troppo 14:48
[2] Andante, ma Moderato 9:42
[3] Scherzo (Allegro molto – Animato –
Tempo I – piü animato) 3:14
[4] Poco Allegretto e grazioso – Animato, poco a poco piü 10:21
String Sextet No.2 in G, Op.36
[5] Allegro non troppo 14:38
[6] Scherzo (Allegro non troppo – Presto giocoso –
Tempo I – Animato) 7:39
[7] Poco Adagio 9:17
[8] Poco Allegro – Animato 8:46

Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No.2 / Souvenir de Florence (sextet)

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:42:13 +0000

‘The Second Quartet in particular is a most memorable piece, with its first-movement fusion of song, dance and symphonic rhetoric, its action-packed sequences and strong melodies. (Souvenir): Rostropovich is, of course, a compelling presence … driving tempos, distinguished solo work and an overall interpretation that is notably exciting in its own right.’ (Gramophone) ‘Both their earlier recordings (as here) are unassailable recommendations. Look no further’ (Penguin Guide 3 stars)

String Quartet No.2 in F major, Op.22 [35:03]

[1] Adagio – Moderato assai 11:36
[2] Scherzo: Allegro giusto 5:23
[3] Andante ma non tanto 12:23
[4] Finale: Allegro con moto 5:40

Souvenir de Florence (sextet) in D minor, Op.70 [33:54]
Also with Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) and Genrikh Talalyan (viola)

[5] I. Allegro con spirito 10:11
[6] II. Adagio cantabile e con moto 10:31
[7] III. Allegretto moderato 6:17
[8] IV. Allegro con brio e vivace 6:53

Music for Viola & Piano

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:39:35 +0000

“there is much to be said for the spareness of the contrast achieved by the alto stringed instrument alongside the piano in the more elegiac viola sonata. In this form, the piece is lonelier, the viola nobler. Bashmet’s version of the original version (with Sviatislav Richter on Olympia, recorded in 1985, issued in 1997) makes a very powerful case for it.” (Positive Feedback Online Oct 2006) (5* award on RateYourMusic.com)

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Viola Sonata in F major, Op. 11 No. 4
[1] I. Fantasie 3:11
[2] II. Theme with Variations 4:31
[3] III. Finale: Theme with Variations 9:53
Benjamin Britten (1913-76)
[4] Lachrymae for viola and piano, Op. 48 15:06
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75)

Viola Sonata, Op. 147
[5] I. Moderato 11:46
[6] II. Allegretto 6:58
[7] III. Adagio 17:05