Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Naxos

Dohnányi: Serenade For String Trio, Et Al /Spectrum Concerts

$19.99 Only 1 left

Details

Composer
DOHNANYI
Artist
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
May 01, 2003
Catalog #
8557153
UPC
747313215324

About

Ernö Dohnányi's music slowly has been getting the discographic attention it deserves, and these exemplary readings of his marvelous Serenade for String Trio and Sextet happily join company with some other fine versions. By and large, these new renditions do not necessarily improve on the other prime modern choices--the Serenade offered by Domus on Virgin and the Sextet with Endymion Ensemble on ASV--but the warmly phrased and crisp playing by the members of Spectrum Concerts Berlin will certainly fuel competition in a decidedly uncrowded field.


Those who have yet to experience these miniature masterpieces are in for a treat. Both works admittedly recall Brahms in sonority and structure, but they stand on their own as wholly original works with myriad and often clever twists of character, from witty to sinister. For instance, note how Dohnányi conveys the entire sentiment of the Serenade in the neatly concise first movement, and how its fragmented march pops up momentarily at the end of the finale. The brilliantly conceived inner movements exhibit dramatic breadth in the tender Romance, the motoric Scherzo, and the beguiling variations of the Andante, whose veiled theme unfolds rather discretely. The musicians here are nothing less than committed, but hearing this made me want to reach for the legendary 1941 Heifetz-Primrose-Feuermann to recapture the idiomatic grace of one of the truly great recordings of its time.


The broad, muscular music of the Sextet also pays a debt to Brahms--it almost sounds like the Horn Trio and Piano Quintet in F minor mixed together and then sprinkled with more humor and a dash of additional verve. The first movement of the Sextet is almost symphonic in length and grandeur, propelled by sweeping themes and finishing with a knockout climax. Dohnányi finally liberates himself from Brahms and moves into 20th-century Vienna in the high-spirited finale, filled with off-kilter rhythmic vitality and irreverent little waltzes. Special mention should go to the excellent horn playing of Ron Schaaper, whose sensitive vibrato and immense glowing sound in the outer movements are glorious to hear.
--Michael Liebowitz, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist 9 tracks

  1. 1 Marcia: Allegro 02:02
    Track
    1
    Title
    Marcia: Allegro
    Duration
    02:02
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  2. 2 Romanza: Adagio non troppo, quasi andante 03:39
    Track
    2
    Title
    Romanza: Adagio non troppo, quasi andante
    Duration
    03:39
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  3. 3 Scherzo: Vivace 04:23
    Track
    3
    Title
    Scherzo: Vivace
    Duration
    04:23
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  4. 4 Tema con variazioni: Andante con moto 06:12
    Track
    4
    Title
    Tema con variazioni: Andante con moto
    Duration
    06:12
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  5. 5 Rondo (Finale): Allegro vivace 04:10
    Track
    5
    Title
    Rondo (Finale): Allegro vivace
    Duration
    04:10
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  6. 6 Allegro appassionato 11:19
    Track
    6
    Title
    Allegro appassionato
    Duration
    11:19
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  7. 7 Intermezzo: Adagio 05:22
    Track
    7
    Title
    Intermezzo: Adagio
    Duration
    05:22
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  8. 8 Allegro con sentimento - Poco Adagio, Andante tranquillo 06:58
    Track
    8
    Title
    Allegro con sentimento - Poco Adagio, Andante tranquillo
    Duration
    06:58
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin
  9. 9 Finale: Allegro vivace, giocoso 05:34
    Track
    9
    Title
    Finale: Allegro vivace, giocoso
    Duration
    05:34
    Composer
    Ernő Dohnányi
    Ensemble
    Spectrum Concerts Berlin