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Ginastera: String Quartet No 1, 2 & 3 / Enso Quartet
Naxos

Ginastera: String Quartet No 1, 2 & 3 / Enso Quartet

$19.99

Details

Composer
GINASTERA, ALBERTO
Artist
Shelton
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Jun 30, 2009
Catalog #
8570780
UPC
747313078073

About



GINASTERA String Quartets: No. 1; No. 2; No. 3 1 • Ens? Qrt; Lucy Shelton (sop) 1 • NAXOS 8.570780 (73:31 Text and Translation)


More than most, Ginastera’s compositional output may be divided into three stylistic periods. His early works, using an impressionist language, were nationalistic in influence and drew heavily on Argentine dance rhythms. During his middle period, he expanded the scope of his tonality while remaining attached to his Hispanic roots, and in his late works he turned to contemporary avant-garde idioms. In my view, his best work comes from the middle period: the brilliant Harp Concerto and the succinct Variaciones concertantes. He was more individual than in his early impressionistic mode, and paradoxically more individual than he was to become after he adopted the standard stylistic traits of the 1960s and 1970s. His first two string quartets date from the beginning and end of that middle period.


Ginastera’s quartets demand a high level of virtuosity from the performers. Extreme dynamics, high harmonics, and syncopated rhythms requiring tight ensemble appear throughout. The First Quartet of 1948 is notable for its light-footed Scherzo ( vivacissimo ), its atmospheric slow movement ( calmo e poetico ), and a vigorous, stamping finale ( allegramente rustico ).


A similar wispy Scherzo movement occurs in the Second Quartet (1958, rev. 1968), but there it is deconstructed. In five movements, the Second Quartet contains an “extra” movement built from a series of cadenzas from each of the instruments ( libero e rapsodico ), before plunging into its own modernized version of a dance-inflected finale. The first movement presents a 12-tone theme, the first use of that technique in the composer’s work.


By the time of the Third Quartet, Ginastera had left his previous formal procedures behind. He introduced a soprano soloist, as did Schoenberg in his Second Quartet—a precedent of which the status-conscious Argentine composer was well aware. He set texts by Jiménez, Lorca, and Alberti, illuminating the soprano’s vocalizing and occasional spoken declamation with a series of ingenious string effects. The imagery and atmosphere of the poems dictate the musical form, so the task for the musicians is to reproduce specific moods, on top of the considerable technical challenges.


Previous recordings of all three quartets exist, though only one currently available brings them together on a single CD: the Cuarteto Latinoamericano (on Élan). I have not heard that disc, but I have the Latinoamericano recording of Quartet No. 1 in a mixed program from the same label (which may or may not be the same performance): they bring genuine excitement and tight ensemble to the piece, but are equally matched by the Ens? on this new release.


The original performers of the Third Quartet, Benita Valente and the Juilliard Quartet, recorded the work for the Bridge label in an interesting mixed recital that is well worth hearing for the couplings by Harbison and Wernick. Valente sings with great control and understanding, but the recording was made some 27 years after the event, by which time her voice had lost much of its bloom.


On the new disc, Lucy Shelton is a revelation: she brings pure tone and a wide range of vocal color to her interpretation. (Valente is more convincing in the relatively few spoken passages.) The U.S.-based Ens? Quartet plays with warmth and unanimity, meeting all the technical and interpretive hurdles with apparent ease. Naxos’s sound is excellent, the timing is generous, and a translation of the poetry is provided, making this CD the version of choice, regardless of price.


FANFARE: Phillip Scott

Tracklist 14 tracks

  1. 1 I. Allegro violento ed agitato 04:32
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro violento ed agitato
    Duration
    04:32
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  2. 2 II. Vivacissimo 03:44
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Vivacissimo
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  3. 3 III. Calmo e poetico 08:06
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Calmo e poetico
    Duration
    08:06
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  4. 4 IV. Allegramente rustico 03:54
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Allegramente rustico
    Duration
    03:54
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  5. 5 I. Allegro rustico 06:11
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Allegro rustico
    Duration
    06:11
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  6. 6 II. Adagio angoscioso 05:58
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Adagio angoscioso
    Duration
    05:58
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  7. 7 III. Presto magico 03:59
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Presto magico
    Duration
    03:59
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  8. 8 IV. Libero e rapsodico 05:56
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. Libero e rapsodico
    Duration
    05:56
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  9. 9 V. Furioso 04:19
    Track
    9
    Title
    V. Furioso
    Duration
    04:19
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  10. 10 I. Contemplativo 07:51
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. Contemplativo
    Duration
    07:51
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Performer
    Lucy Shelton
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  11. 11 II. Fantastico 04:45
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Fantastico
    Duration
    04:45
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  12. 12 III. Amoroso 06:29
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. Amoroso
    Duration
    06:29
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Performer
    Lucy Shelton
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  13. 13 IV. Drammatico 02:31
    Track
    13
    Title
    IV. Drammatico
    Duration
    02:31
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Performer
    Lucy Shelton
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet
  14. 14 V. Di nuovo Contemplativo 04:26
    Track
    14
    Title
    V. Di nuovo Contemplativo
    Duration
    04:26
    Composer
    Alberto Ginastera
    Performer
    Lucy Shelton
    Ensemble
    Enso String Quartet