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Kreisler: Russian & Slavonic Miniatures / Koeckert, Et Al
Naxos

Kreisler: Russian & Slavonic Miniatures / Koeckert, Et Al

$19.99 Only 1 left

Details

Composer
KREISLER
Artist
Koeckert/Chernyavska
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Aug 16, 2005
Catalog #
8557388
UPC
747313238828

About

Fritz Kreisler poured forth a steady stream of transcriptions of popular songs, like The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise, of those that would sometime become popular songs, like Dawes’s Melody, as well as of tunes that entered the public consciousness without ever quite achieving popular status. All these are in addition to his soon-to-become beloved original compositions, like the “Lanner waltzes” Liebesleid, Liebesfreud, and Schön Rosmarin. Nicolas Koeckert and Milana Chernyavska have collected Transcriptions of the Third Kind with Slavic flavoring in an anthology of almost popular (at least, recognizable) favorites by Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and Dvo?ák. These he plays with a combination of tonal warmth and technical alertness that wins him a place among violinists who play Kreisler’s works, if not quite as Kreisler himself did, at least as convincing in their own way. The number of violinists in this category will, of course, vary from listener to listener. Surely, Elman must belong there, although he sounds nothing like Kreisler, and so does Francescatti, whose dashing style and biting clarity hardly recall Kreisler’s Gemütlichkeit. Yet, since even so aristocratic and individual a violinist as Milstein can fail to make his point in some of these works, it’s clear that a strong personality and redoubtable technique don’t suffice. While Koeckert glories in the rich tonal possibilities of such pieces as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Hymn to the Sun, he never becomes smarmy, taking, for example, a brisk tempo where he might bog down in Dvo?ák’s Humoresque. Hearing Kreisler’s recordings for the first time may offer a jolting surprise to those who had experienced his pieces only in performances by other violinists. (The number of such listeners may be greater than anyone might estimate: I once encountered a recent master’s degree recipient from a well-known music school—in violin performance, no less—who mused about how wonderful it would be if we could actually hear the way Kreisler played his own pieces. O tempora, O mores!) Kreisler’s playing sounds vibrant yet expressive, and, of course, authoritative and convincing. But it’s not sentimental in the popular sense. Even in Ethelbert Nevin’s songs, The Rosary and Mighty lak’ a Rose (both of which he recorded twice, the latter for its first time with Geraldine Farrar in 1915), he never wallowed. He may have addressed his audiences in the vernacular, but he refused to condescend. Koeckert also walks this fine line, although his chosen material doesn’t bring him so close to the abyss. And he sparkles with the required brilliance in pieces like Tchaikovsky’s Humoresque. Whatever composer Kreisler transcribed always emerged from the process sounding a bit like Kreisler, or at least, Viennese, like Kreisler himself (think of his reworking of Paganini’s First Violin Concerto). He infused some of this personal element into his piano parts, which, like Heifetz’s, give the distinct, if not distracting, impression of being well crafted. And Milana Chernyavska plays them that way. These pieces would be hard to come by, at least in one place, outside RCA’s 10-CD Kreisler collection, 19:4. All the more, then, do they deserve an enthusiastic welcome in Koeckert’s idiomatic and ingratiating collection, in reverberant yet revealing recorded sound that Kreisler himself could only have envied. Recommended.

FANFARE: Robert Maxham

Tracklist 17 tracks

  1. 1 Zolotoy petushok (The Golden Cockerel), Act II: Hymn to the Sun (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano) 04:15
    Track
    1
    Title
    Zolotoy petushok (The Golden Cockerel), Act II: Hymn to the Sun (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano)
    Duration
    04:15
    Composer
    Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  2. 2 Scheherazade, Op. 35: II. The Kalender Prince, "Oriental Dance" (arr. F. Kreisler) 04:35
    Track
    2
    Title
    Scheherazade, Op. 35: II. The Kalender Prince, "Oriental Dance" (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    04:35
    Composer
    Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  3. 3 Zigeunermelodien (Gypsy Melodies), Op. 55: IV. Songs My Mother Taught Me 02:57
    Track
    3
    Title
    Zigeunermelodien (Gypsy Melodies), Op. 55: IV. Songs My Mother Taught Me
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  4. 4 Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2: II. Scherzo (arr. F. Kreisler) 04:10
    Track
    4
    Title
    Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2: II. Scherzo (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    04:10
    Composer
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  5. 5 Scheherazade, Op. 35: III. The Young Prince and Princess, "Arab Song" (arr. F. Kreisler) 04:31
    Track
    5
    Title
    Scheherazade, Op. 35: III. The Young Prince and Princess, "Arab Song" (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    04:31
    Composer
    Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  6. 6 2 Morceaux, Op. 10: No. 2 in E Minor, Humoresque (arr. F. Kreisler) 02:24
    Track
    6
    Title
    2 Morceaux, Op. 10: No. 2 in E Minor, Humoresque (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  7. 7 Slavonic Dances, Series 2, Op. 72, B. 145: No. 2 in E Minor (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano) 05:08
    Track
    7
    Title
    Slavonic Dances, Series 2, Op. 72, B. 145: No. 2 in E Minor (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano)
    Duration
    05:08
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  8. 8 Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2: III. Chant sans paroles (arr. F. Kreisler) 03:23
    Track
    8
    Title
    Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2: III. Chant sans paroles (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  9. 9 8 Humoresques, Op. 101, B. 187: No. 7. Poco lento e grazioso in G-Flat Major (arr. F. Kreisler) 02:53
    Track
    9
    Title
    8 Humoresques, Op. 101, B. 187: No. 7. Poco lento e grazioso in G-Flat Major (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    02:53
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  10. 10 Slavonic Fantasy 05:05
    Track
    10
    Title
    Slavonic Fantasy
    Duration
    05:05
    Composer
    Fritz Kreisler
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  11. 11 Symphony No. 9, Op. 95, "From the New World": II. Largo (arr. F. Kreisler) 05:31
    Track
    11
    Title
    Symphony No. 9, Op. 95, "From the New World": II. Largo (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    05:31
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  12. 12 Sadko: Song of the Indian Guest (Chant hindou) (arr. F. Kreisler) 03:24
    Track
    12
    Title
    Sadko: Song of the Indian Guest (Chant hindou) (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    03:24
    Composer
    Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  13. 13 Slavonic Dances, Series 1, Op. 46, B. 78: No. 2 in E Minor (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano) 03:34
    Track
    13
    Title
    Slavonic Dances, Series 1, Op. 46, B. 78: No. 2 in E Minor (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano)
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  14. 14 Slavonic Dances, Series 2, Op. 72, B. 145: No. 8 in A-Flat Major (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano) 05:36
    Track
    14
    Title
    Slavonic Dances, Series 2, Op. 72, B. 145: No. 8 in A-Flat Major (arr. F. Kreisler for violin and piano)
    Duration
    05:36
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  15. 15 Sonatina in G Major, Op. 100: II. Larghetto, "Indian Lament" (arr. F. Kreisler) 04:41
    Track
    15
    Title
    Sonatina in G Major, Op. 100: II. Larghetto, "Indian Lament" (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    04:41
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  16. 16 String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11: II. Andante cantabile (arr. F. Kreisler) 05:32
    Track
    16
    Title
    String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11: II. Andante cantabile (arr. F. Kreisler)
    Duration
    05:32
    Composer
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska
  17. 17 Fantasy 09:06
    Track
    17
    Title
    Fantasy
    Duration
    09:06
    Composer
    Fritz Kreisler, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
    Performer
    Nicolas Koeckert, Milana Chernyavska