In the course of the 18th century, and in almost all ofEurope, the lute, the main instrument of the 16th century, gradually decliption was for the German-speaking countries, where still, on the threshold of the 19th century, it was widespread in chamber ensembles and as a solo instrument. The outstanding figure in this late season was Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750), born in Grottkau, the Habsburg city today is known as Grodkow and situated in Poland. His first teacher was his father, Johann Jacob, a capable musician.

DVORAK, A.: String Quartets, Vol. 7 (Vlach Quartet) - Nos. 1

SCHNITTKE Violin Sonatas: Nos. 1–3. Violin Sonata (1955) • Carolyn Huebl (vn); Mark Wait (pn) • NAXOS 8.570978 (69:20)


The four violin sonatas by Alfred Schnittke (1934–98) could be seen as representing four distinct periods in his life and career. The newly discovered Violin Sonata (1955) was a student work, so it did not receive a place in his official catalog. It anticipates none of Schnittke’s later experimental or dramatically extravagant devices, consisting of a largely romantic first movement featuring an adept and impulsive, if generic, development of his material, and a folk-like second-movement theme subjected to three distinct variations. The so-called First Sonata (1963) is a large leap forward in risk-taking and character, the first movement beginning with a 12-tone theme presented in concisely lyrical and eloquent fashion, followed by a gnomish dance; a reserved, hymnlike movement with Messiaenic piano accompaniment; and a lilting, quasi-fugal finale. The Sonata No. 2 (1968), subtitled “Quasi una Sonata,” was one of his breakthrough works—a single, extended, intuitively designed movement that plays with the conventional relationship between the two instruments, breaks apart and juxtaposes material of varying stylistic demeanor and mood, and employs advanced techniques, especially in the violin. By the time of his Sonata No. 3 (1994), Schnittke had suffered several near-death illnesses and many of his works of this period, such as this one, display a deeply contemplative melancholy and passionate outbursts suggesting a metaphysical struggle. There are moments here, especially in the stark, sparse passages of the final two movements, reminiscent of Shostakovich’s late-in-life violin and viola sonatas.


This being the only currently available collection of all four sonatas on a single disc, it is fortunate that violinist Carolyn Huebl and pianist Mark Wait make such a convincing argument for each of these distinctive works. They handle the variety and contrasts of Schnittke’s polystylistic perspective with sensitivity and security, and adapt their impressive tonal resources to every demand the composer makes. It’s a shame that Gidon Kremer, such a strong advocate for Schnittke’s violin concertos, has not (yet?) turned his attention to the sonatas, although he has recorded the orchestral version of the Sonata No. 2 that Schnittke made in 1987. (There is also an orchestral version of the Sonata No. 1, dating from 1968.) For the historically minded, Mark Lubotsky, who premiered the three numbered sonatas, recorded the First and Second for Ondine with pianist Ralf Gothóni, and, on another Ondine disc, documented the Third with the added bonus of the composer’s wife, Irina Schnittke, on piano. The Joanna Kurkowicz/Sergey Schepkin duo has received praise in these pages for their Bridge recording of the first two as well. But if you’re in the market for an engaging and inexpensive introduction to this music, you need look no further.


FANFARE: Art Lange

Ida Haendel, Vol. 4 (Live)

Oistrakh Collection, Vol. 9: Mendelssohn Piano Trios

Volume 31 of the Delizie Musicale series presents a very nice collection of Vivaldi at a very nice price.

William Mathias' eloquent and accessible style comes to the fore in these premiere recordings of his music for violin and piano. His unpublished Violin Sonata is a highly original and ambitious work from his student days.

Erica Morini, Vol. 3: Beethoven Concerto in D Major, Op. 61

One of China's leading contemporary composers, Jia Daqun has often drawn on the traditional music of his native country. Flavour of Bashu derives its themes from Sichuan opera with its astrigency, rhythmic uncertainty and distinctive piquancy. The Prospect of Coloured Desert is one of his best-loved works, composed for Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. Counterpoint of Times is a chamber concerto of fascinating complexity, whilst the String Quartet has been enriched with folk tunes and vivid performing techniques. Volume 1 is available for download on 970241.

By 1896, at the age of twenty-five, Alexander Zemlinsky was one of the rising stars in the Viennese musical firmament. His first opera had been written, he had won a number of awards, and he had earned the support of Johannes Brahms. In July of the same year he began writing his First String Quartet, a work of sweeping lyricism, rich dance patterns, and self-confidence, couched within the bounds of a relatively conventional palette. Seventeen years later he began his Second String Quartet. Kaleidoscopic in effect, mood, and technical demands, and redolent of the music of the new century led by his brother-in-law Arnold Schoenberg it was to place Zemlinsky securely in the European avant-garde.

"The first instalment of the Escher Quartet's survey of Zemlinsky appeared last year. This second disc is as impressive, and includes a superb performance of the Second Quartet, one of Zemlinsky's greatest and most radical achievements. The Eschers sustain the huge span of music magnificently, while making sure that every tiny detail of Zemlinksy's meticulous string writing is heard."

-- Andrew Clements, The Guardian [6/12//14]

Although his brief life prevented him from being particularly prolific (he died in 1950, aged 55), E.J. Moeran was a fine composer with a distinctive and very attractive voice. It’s odd that his music hasn’t received more acclaim. After all, there are plenty of French and Spanish composers, including Falla, Dukas, and Mompou, who wrote very little and yet get plenty of attention. Moeran certainly was in their league in his best work, and both the Cello Concerto and the Serenade belong in that category.

Composed for his wife, Peers Coetmore, the concerto is suffused with the spirit of Irish folk song, but also contains an edge to the harmony that places it far beyond the droopy musings of the English “cow pat” school. Guy Johnston’s playing here is as fine as in any version yet recorded; and with tempos marginally fleeter than the competition on Chandos, this version may well become the reference recording for the work. Credit for that certainly goes equally to JoAnn Falletta, who also offers the scintillating neo-classical Serenade in its original version containing eight movements instead of the usual six.

The program concludes with two charming miniatures, Whythorne’s Shadow, and Lonely Waters, the latter with its folk-song motto sung quite prettily at the end by Rebekah Coffey (there’s also a purely orchestral version). Excellent, well-balanced engineering completes this wholly recommendable release.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Comprising professors and band directors, the Taiwan Wind Ensemble is a leading international exponent of the wind repertory, not least in its exciting series of commissions. On this disc it presents a selection of music of orchestrations and originals from around the world. There are a variety of overtures and evocative dances from Bach to Bernstein, as well as Alfred Reed’s richly colorful Armenian Dances. They are complemented by Taiwanese composer Chia-Ying Chiang’s mysterious and beautiful recent composition A Chasing After The Wind, which takes its title from Ecclesiastes.

Another day dawns and another guitar competition prizewinner emerges. Will there be room for them all in the upper echelons of the musical world? I doubt it, but the young Mexican, Cecilio Perera—winner of the 2011 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition—has already created a career as performer and teacher, presently holding the post of professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. The disc opens with a breathless account of Ponce’s Preludio and he seems to enjoy presenting himself with considerable demands in terms of agility, the Gigue taken at a tempo a long way from the intended dance. I would have equally liked a little more of the ‘moderato’ indication in the opening Allegro of the Ponce’s First Sonata. Yet present him with the extreme difficulties of Leo Brouwer’s Sonata, and musically he seems to relax, the many ‘effects’ the work calls for created in the most varied musical colours. It is a piece already well represented in the Naxos catalogue, but this is the performance I would want, the unhurried central Saraband de Scriabin quite magical. More comfortable tempos continue in the world premiere recording of Julio Cesar Oliva’s Tangomania. Though composed in 2011, and taking its inspiration from Piazzolla, it is in a purely tonal style from a much earlier era, the third section having a particularly catchy tune. Vincent Emilio Sojo’s Five Pieces from Venezuela are charming miniatures, while Ponce’s equally engaging Tres Canciones populares mexicanas make for a happy conclusion. Audible left hand shifts are few; the playing technically flawless, and the Canadian team have produced another of their top-flight recordings.

-- David Denton, Naxos [9/2012]

This first of four volumes represents award-winning guitarist Adam Levin’s major collaboration with the new century’s ‘Spanish Masters’. Bridges to the past include medieval sources in the Secuencia Sefardita and Baroque in the unconventional variations of Handeliana. These stand alongside pastoral scenes in Viento de Primavera and a celebration of Albéniz from Leonardo Balada. From contemplative moods to spectacular virtuosity, this is a musical voyage both unexpected and unforgettable. Adam Levin has been acclaimed for his ‘enviable technique’ and a ‘high musicianship which shines like a beacon through his performances’. (Classical Guitar magazine)

The journey starts in the Austrian region of Muhlviertel, shows the Lippizaner horses of Piber in Styria and the storks and vineyards of Rust by the Neusiedlersee. The music of the tour consists of two of Beethoven's best known sonatas for violin and piano, the Spring Sonata and the Kreutzer Sonata.

Includes work(s) by David Popper, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Jacques Offenbach. Soloists: Maria Kliegel, Raimund Havenith.
Includes work(s) for cel and pno by Sergei Rachmaninov. Soloists: Maria Kliegel, Raimund Havenith.

It is safe to say that Giovanni Battista Somis has by now been completely forgotten, this despite the great profoundness of his works, rather highly regarded up to the first years of the 20th c. This edition unearths his second opus, formed of twelve three-part sonatas, each characterized by an initial slow movement followed by two fast ones. These compositions combine the great cantabile quality of the Italian style with a sparkling virtuoso inventiveness. Played and interpreted by violinist Roberto Noferini with the basso continuo realization of Chiara Cattani.

The renowned Trio Hegel, violin, viola and cello, in this CD is offering to us an extract of the chamber music prevalent in the salons and the courts from the end of the eighteenth century up to the mid/late nineteenth century. The authors of these compositions - Cherubini and Cambini - were both of Tuscan origin, and both worked in Paris (Cherubini there was even director of the Conservatory from 1821) enjoying great fame. The string trios here are compositions rich in nuances and gallantry (according to the taste of the time), always very well made; they represent a summary of what was the typical Parisian hausmusik, bringing the listener to the enchanting atmospheres of Paris in the late nineteenth century.

Alfred Hill was the doyen of Australasian composers, and his exploration of the string quartet demonstrates the range of his imagination. Both the Tenth and Eleventh quartets were written in 1935, but they offer richly differing affiliations.

ARTISTS: Cast: Gregory Kunde, Paoletta Marrocu, Simone Del Savio, Andrea Papi. Orchestra e Coro del Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti, Marcello Rota, conductor.

Notes in Italian, English, Japanese
Subtitles in Italian, English
Disc Format: DVD
Picture Format: 16:9, NTSC
Region Code: 0 (All Region)
Sound Format: Stereo PCM, Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 120 Minutes

Recorded live at the Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, 9/2010

A native of Luxembourg, Lou Koster was largely self-taught as a composer, flourishing in the interwar period as a pianist whose activities included accompanying silent films. Orchestrated from piano originals, pieces such as Lore-Lore and Moselträume were radio hits in the 1930s, and Koster became renowned for subtle, sensuous light music filled with unexpected turns and emotional nuances.

Just a few repeat listening sessions leave me with the indelible impression that we are dealing with some of the most agreeable music of its kind and of its time—all the more notable given the truly great string quartets that have been written and published by his much more famous contemporaries. -- Jens F. Laurson, FANFARE [reviewing Volume 2 of this series]

Includes sonata(s) by various composers. Soloists: Dorina Frati, Daniele Roi.

Vivaldi L'arte dell'Arco / Giovanni & Federico Gigliemo, violins; et al Six Concerti a Due for Violin

Marcelo Bratke continues with Volume 3 of his series devoted to the complete solo piano works of Heitor Villa-Lobos.

"...Villa-Lobos gained significant prestige in the Paris of the 1920s, the period of his boldest and most creative work, before returning to a more orderly approach in the 1930s. In 1928, when the publisher Max Eschig commissioned a few works for students of the celebrated professor and pianist Marguerite Long at the Paris Conservatory, Villa-Lobos wrote one of his most charming and most original compositions, Francette et Pià. He imagined a little Indian boy called Pià befriending a little French girl, Francette. There is a “barbarian” mood from the beginning, with syncopated jazz à la Revue Nègre bringing in French children’s songs such as Au Clair de la Lune or Marlbrough s’en va-t-en guerre, reflections of Brazilian themes, the Marseillaise, and many other references scored in miraculously straightforward language." - Quartz Records, (From the album liner notes.)