Seven years after their triumph with quartets by Dvorák, the Pavel Haas Quartet are making a triumphant return to Dvorák’s music. For the recording of the quintets, they have invited two guests: the pianist Boris Giltburg (winner of the 2013 Queen Elisabeth Competition) and Pavel Nikl, a founding member of the Pavel Haas Quartet. Dvorák composed his Second Piano Quintet at his beloved summer residence Vysoká late in the summer of 1887. The famed critic Eduard Hanslick received the work’s performance in Vienna enthusiastically: “It is one of his most beautiful works. It is real Dvorák.” The String Quintet, Op. 97, although younger by just six years, represents an entirely “different Dvorák”. After the New World Symphony and the American Quartet, it is Dvorák’s third work composed while in North America. And what did Hanslick have to say this time? “It is perhaps the simplest, most natural, and happiest music composed since the days of Haydn.” The degree to which the Pavel Haas Quartet feels at home with Dvorák’s music is shown by the many awards their recordings have received (Diapason d’Or, BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month, Gramophone Award nomination). "Another Pavel Haas Quartet [album], another triumph.” (Gramophone)

As both conductor at La Scala from 1802 to 1833, and a professor at the new conservatoire in Milan, Alessandro Rolla (1757-1841) was the heartbeat of Milanese music in the turbulent early decades of the 19th century. He was also an accomplished performer on both violin and viola, and his own compositional output reflects his instrumental mastery, filtered through his experience of leading the Italian premieres of quartets and symphonies by Beethoven as well as operas by Mozart: he was a complete musician of his time. The F major Viola Concerto opening this attractive new album belongs to Rolla’s apprentice years in service to the ducal court at Parma. With its uncompromising technical demands and unwavering focus on the solo instrument, the concerto represents a missing link between the idioms of Tartini and Paganini. The dawn of bel canto may be discerned in the slow movement of the album’s concluding D minor Viola Concerto, which concludes with a charmingly bucolic Rondo. Dating from Rolla’s Milanese years, the 1805 Tantum ergo also features a concertante role for the viola, in sinuous accompaniment to the vocal bass soloist: a highly original device perhaps prompted by Mozart’s famous Sinfonia Concertante. As a performer, Rolla reserved the most haunting melodies and moments for himself: After a vocal cadenza on the closing Amen it is the viola that sets the seal on the work with an intensely lyrical phrase and a brilliantly virtuosic stretta. The D major Sinfonia likewise belongs to the first decade of the 1800s – infused with Rossinian verve and bubbling with operatic drama in the quick outer movements. The Milanese violist Simonide Braconi plays Rolla’s music to the manner born, being the long-standing principal violist at La Scala. He is accompanied here by a chamber orchestra based in nearby Pavia and specialising in Classical-era works by neglected composers.

This album is a sequel to ‘Café 1930’, which also featured Piercarlo Sacco and Andrea Dieci in violin/guitar arrangements of Piazzolla. Released in 2014, ‘Café 1930’ was praised for the virtuosity of Sacco and sensitive partnership of Dieci: ‘The record is a great gift for any party and every occasion, even for oneself when looking for something out of the ordinary, but full of charm and interest.’ (www.saltinaria.it) ‘In a new exciting mix of the traditional dance with jazz and classical music influences… All the pieces are played with energy, drive and an innate feeling for the characteristic Tango spirit by Piercarlo Sacco and guitarist Andrea Dieci.’ (www.neuguitars.com) Their sequel opens with the title track, one of Piazzolla’s best-known tangos, named after the street where he lived during his years in New York. Imágines 676 is an explicit reference to a club in Buenos Aires located in Calle Tucuman 676, where he used to play with his quintet, alternating with musicians such as João Gilberto and Stan Getz. For Fièvre and Détresse, Sacco has matched the melody with the smokier, rough-breathing sound of the viola. Several out-of-the-way Piazzolla tangos are included here, such as Psicosis, Suavidad, Dernier lamento, Tango choc and Made in USA, again in the free and passionate arrangements that made their first album a critical success.

Ispirare consists of contemporary music for viola and the pieces that inspired their creation. These works were chosen not only because they are engaging to perform and listen to, but also for their capacity to provide a creative spark for other composers.

Violist Melia Watras has distinguished herself as one of her instrument’s leading voices. A soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and composer, Watras has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous new compositions, while appearing at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. Ispirare is her fourth solo CD, adding to an expanding discography that also includes 14 chamber music recordings.

Early in his career, George Rochberg was one of America’s leading proponents of serialism, but began to change course in the mid-1960s. The tragic death of his son contributed to this period of artistic change, and Rochberg broke from pure serialism in an effort to find a more personal expression through music. This album features his stunning “Sonata” for viola. 

Melia has been a long-time admirer of the amazing music of Shulamit Ran, and approached her with the idea of writing a new work influenced by an existing composition, which culminated in the beautiful “Perfect Storm.” Shulamit’s choice to pair her piece with Berio’s Black is the color… from “Folk Songs,” led Melia to Naturale. 

Luciano Berio reinvents American, Armenian, Azerbaijani and Italian folk tunes in his 1964 song cycle, “Folk Songs,” for mezzo-soprano and a small chamber group. Black is the color… has traditional lyrics with a melody written by Kentucky folk singer and composer John Jacob Niles.

GAIGEROVA Suite for Viola and Piano. WINKLER 2 Pieces, op. 31. Viola Sonata in c. JUON Viola Sonata in D • Eliesha Nelson (va); Glen Inanga (pn) • SONO LUMINUS DSL-92136 (71:02)

Varvara Adrianovna Gaigerova studied with Heinrich Neuhaus, Georgy Catoire, and Nikolai Miaskovsky at the Moscow Conservatory. The same professors taught Dmitri Kabalevsky, Sviatoslav Richter, and Emil Gilels. Gaigerova eventually became one of the Bolshoi Theatre’s hard-working pianists. In her spare time, she composed works for piano and viola as well as a symphony on Kalmyk themes and songs setting texts by Pushkin. She lived in terribly troubled times. For reasons unknown to us, she stayed in Russia when everyone who could left for greener pastures in Europe and the Americas. We do not know what happened to her during World War II, only that she died in 1944, when she was a mere 40 years old.

Eliesha Nelson’s viola has a warm, cream-laden tone. When you hear her play Gaigerova’s sensuous, heartstoppingly beautiful music, you wonder why we have not heard these works before. The Suite for Viola and Piano has sonorities that remind one a little of Scriabin, although Gaigerova’s composition is not in the least derivative. It begins with a propulsive Allegro agitato that gradually transitions to a slower movement. It finishes with a fast-paced section and a plaintive finale. Nelson brings out the luminous textures of this music with her engaging artistry. Her pianist, Glen Inanga, who plays a Steinway concert grand, is a most skillful partner. His contributions add greatly to the value of this disc. So does the clear and immediate sound of Sono Luminus engineers Daniel Shores and Dan Merceruio.

Alexander Winkler’s Elegiac Meditation is a slow and deliberate piece that begins with harmonious double-stopping. The pace shows off the ability of this violist, whose legato is as smooth as an old-fashioned butterscotch sundae. The next track offers a complete change of mood. La Toupie (The Top) describes the spinning of that once common toy. The viola imitates the rhythmic revolutions of a spinning top or wheel and you can see it whirl in your mind’s eye. To some degree, it is reminiscent of earlier composers’ spinning wheels, but here it is much happier and it injects a needed bit of comic relief into the program. The C-Minor Sonata brings us back to earth with compelling and significant music that touches the inner recesses of the soul. In the concluding variations on a tune from Brittany, the composer takes a beautiful folk tune and displays it in various guises: fast, slow, light, heavy, etc. It’s fun to listen to and you will notice that this finely crafted work is played with accuracy and precision.

Paul Juon is sometimes called the Russian Brahms and is thought to be a link between Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. His D-Major Sonata brings us a glimpse of rare Northern European sunshine. Nelson and Inanga bring out its uplifting melody with a forward motion that keeps the tension tight. Svetlana Stepchenko and Zoya Abolitz recorded this piece on a Russian disc in 1998, but it is no longer easy to find. In any case, there is no need to look for a better rendition than the one by Nelson and Inanga.

FANFARE: Maria Nockin

Winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, 1998 Pulitzer Prize, and 2011 Nemmers Award, Aaron Jay Kernis is one of America’s most honored composers. His music appears prominently on concert programs worldwide, and he has been commissioned by America’s preeminent performing organizations and artists, including the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco, Toronto, and Melbourne (AU) Symphonies. The Viola Concerto – composed for the soloist Paul Neubauer – was in its first instance inspired and informed by the viola music of Robert and Clara Schumann, but takes on a number of other influences. Taking the performers own interest in folk music as an influence too, the final movement A Song My Mother Taught Me is based on the well-known Yiddish song Tumbalalaika. Dreamsongs also follows folk influences, following inspiration from sources including aboriginal ‘dreamsongs’ and the West African djembe drum. A virtuosic work, it was developed in collaboration with the cellist Joshua Roman who features as soloist in this recording. Conductor Rebecca Miller leads the Royal Northern Sinfonia in the final work Concerto with Echoes, inspired by the Sixth Brandenburg Concerto.