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Ashton: Music For Cello And Piano, Vol. 1 / Mizerska, Abbate
Toccata

Ashton: Music For Cello And Piano, Vol. 1 / Mizerska, Abbate

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Details

Composer
ASHTON, ALGERNON
Artist
Mizerska, Abbate
Format
CD
Label
Toccata
Released
Nov 13, 2012
Catalog #
TOCC0143
UPC
5060113441430

About

Ashton (b. 1859, Durham), is a best-kept secret of British music. He has a generous output of piano music, chamber works and songs. Ashton’s writing for both cello and piano is virtuosic. What strikes the ear is the quality of his melodic inspiration – the lyrical immediacy of his tunes suggests Schubert, set in a style of Brahmsian richness. This CD features world premiere recordings.

REVIEW:

Algernon Ashton, (1859–1937) was a British-born composer who was educated in Germany. When his father died in 1863, his mother moved the family to Leipzig where she was befriended by Clara Schumann. Even as a child, Algernon attended the famous Schumann soirees and rubbed shoulders with famous musicians. After finishing his education, he returned to England. He became professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London and spent the rest of his life in England. Ashton was a prolific composer but many of his works were not published and very few have been recorded. His chamber music output includes four sonatas for violin and piano, four for cello and piano, two piano quartets, and two piano quintets. He also wrote symphonies, but they were never published. The opening work on this Toccata disc is his Arioso, a beautiful piece in a contemplative mood. It has some of the colors of Brahms, but none of his rhythmic bite. The Sonata No. 1 in F Major opens with an Allegro Appassionato, an impassioned plea begging the listener to take a mental voyage to Ashton’s lyrical world of drawing rooms with polished grand pianos and crimson velvet drapes where chamber music was as common as video games are today. He develops the second movement, the Larghetto, with consummate skill and clothes it with jewel tones. Only in the Finale, which he asks to be played Allegro Frescamente, does he bring in a truly rhythmic melody. It could be a happy folk dance replete with clapping and stomping on the accented notes. It’s the kind of music that makes you get up and move! Abbate and Mizerska play all of this music joyfully and with great skill.

The Phantasiestücke is an invitation to reverie. Ashton is a master of melody and he begins with a broad sunny tune that might bring back memories of a hike in German or English woodlands. In the second movement, marked Andantino con Gran Espressione, he leads us away from the cares of the everyday world into the nirvana of pure musical concentration where we can spend a few blissful minutes. After we reach our goal, we return to the village for the last movement marked Allegro Scherzando. There we can relax and tap our toes to another of Ashton’s fast and furious folk tunes. The Second Sonata is a bit more dramatic than the First. Its markings, Moderato and Adagio ma non troppo are somewhat deceiving, because this work is constantly increasing in tension as it builds toward its marvelously animated finale. The two fine artists who currently reside and teach in London, the Polish-born Evva Mizerska and the Naples-born Emma Abbate, play all of this music with great finesse. Ashton’s music is a revelation. It deserves a much wider audience than it has had so far. The sound on the disc is clear with each instrument given equal presence. I enjoyed getting to know Ashton’s story and his music and think this disc should have a place in many record libraries.

-- Fanfare

Tracklist 10 tracks

  1. 1 Arioso, Op. 43 07:15
    Track
    1
    Title
    Arioso, Op. 43
    Duration
    07:15
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  2. 2 I. Allegro appassionato 10:25
    Track
    2
    Title
    I. Allegro appassionato
    Duration
    10:25
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  3. 3 II. Larghetto 05:58
    Track
    3
    Title
    II. Larghetto
    Duration
    05:58
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  4. 4 III. Finale: Allegro frescamente 06:13
    Track
    4
    Title
    III. Finale: Allegro frescamente
    Duration
    06:13
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  5. 5 I. Moderato 04:31
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Moderato
    Duration
    04:31
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  6. 6 II. Andantino con gran espressione 04:11
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Andantino con gran espressione
    Duration
    04:11
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  7. 7 III. Allegro scherzando 03:40
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Allegro scherzando
    Duration
    03:40
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  8. 8 I. Allegro moderato 09:29
    Track
    8
    Title
    I. Allegro moderato
    Duration
    09:29
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  9. 9 II. Adagio ma mon troppo 06:43
    Track
    9
    Title
    II. Adagio ma mon troppo
    Duration
    06:43
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate
  10. 10 III. Finale: Allegro animato 09:30
    Track
    10
    Title
    III. Finale: Allegro animato
    Duration
    09:30
    Composer
    Algernon Ashton
    Performer
    Evva Mizerska, Emma Abbate