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Brahms: Piano Concertos; Music for Solo Piano / Levit, Thielemann, VPO
SONY CLASSICS · Nov 2024CD$29.49 -
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Moszkowski: Complete Music for Solo Piano, Vol. 2
Although Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925) wrote a considerable quantity of piano music, only a single piece, ‘Étincelles’, made it into the repertoire, not least because Horowitz enjoyed playing it. The early works on this second instalment in Ian Hobson’s survey of Moszkowski’s complete music for solo piano reveal a debt to Mendelssohn and Schumann, but the effortless craftsmanship to be heard here already justifies a later remark of Paderewski’s: ‘After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano, and his writing embraces the whole gamut of piano technique’. Most of the pieces in Opp. 15 and 18 are attractive salon miniatures, but the Three Piano Pieces in Dance Form, Op. 17, are extended Lisztian essays that showcase Moszkowski’s mastery of the keyboard and his command of form.
Hemsi: Chamber Works / ARC Ensemble
Alberto Hemsi was born in 1898 in Turgutlu (also known as Cassaba), in Anatolia (present-day Turkey). Although there had been a Jewish presence in Anatolia for more than 2000 years, the population expanded considerably following the Alhambra Decree of 1492, with the arrival of Sephardim from Spain and Portugal. It then dwindled precipitously with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of Nazism, the creation of the state of Israel, and the escalation of anti-Semitism in the Arab world. Having completed his training at the conservatory in Milan, Hemsi returned to Anatolia determined to collect and notate as much traditional Sephardic music as he possibly could.
A fascination with national folk music had taken root throughout Europe – Bartók and Kodály in Hungary, Dvorák and Smetana in Bohemia, and Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst in England being the most familiar examples. Because his research was not defined by political or geographical boundaries, Hemsi was compelled to survey the myriad communities spread throughout the vast Sephardic diaspora. He was as fascinated by this musical heritage as he was concerned about its survival but, like so many composers, he also understood how traditional melodies, together with the various performance styles and conventions that supported them, could provide inspiration and nourishment for his own music.
REVIEWS:
Despite Hemsi’s nomadic existence, the works on this disc reflect the composer’s lifelong fascination for Sephardic folk music which he assiduously collected and transcribed, as well as a keen absorption of other exotic idioms. The net result is a sequence of attractive and atmospheric works that cover similar ground.
-- BBC Music Magazine
Hemsi is probably best known for his set of Coplas Seferdies, Sephardi songs published in numerous volumes, but his chamber music is well worth getting to know. The earliest piece in this disc is the innocuous-sounding Méditation for cello and piano (Tom Wiebe and Kevin Ahfat), written at some point before 1931, and couched in the ‘Armenian style’. Pianistically it evokes the cimbalom or, as the notes remind us, to be specific, the Greek santouri, a hammered dulcimer. The slow intense dialogue between the two instruments seems almost deliberately imitative of, or a shadowy second cousin of, Bruch’s Kol nidrei. In 1942 he wrote the Pilpúl Sonata for violin and piano (Emily Kruspe and Ahfat). It’s cast in a standard three-movement format and encodes plenty of Sephardic material, not least in the fleet and pithy first movement, and also in the call-and-response central one, a kind of cantorial recitative that takes the violin high in a way somewhat reminiscent of Bloch. There’s fine drama in the driving finale.
The following year – or thereabouts, as dating can’t be sure – Hemsi wrote an intriguing Quintet in G for Viola (Steven Dann) and string quartet. It signals a slight compositional shift in Hemsi’s thinking, being somewhat more conventional in structure and effect. His relish for insouciant dance patterns and folkloric inflections, though, is most obvious in the Burlesca second movement but the most paradoxical movement is the slow one, a Berceuse, that exudes flowing lyricism which, whilst hardly expressively deep, opens up a channel of lightly flecked impressionism: Hemsi looking backwards and sideways simultaneously. For the finale there’s a Greek dance, bright and brisk and over quickly and triumphantly.
Tre arie antiche (c.1945) are derived from the Coplas Seferdies and are brief three-minute (or so) studies. The first is fast, the central panel more gauzy and withdrawn, and the final piece extremely catchy. Which leaves the 1956 Danze nuziali greche, Op 37 rewritten from piano originals for cello and piano and dedicated in the piano original to Gina Bachauer. These three nuptial dances cover some expressive ground. The first is a fast and exciting panel honoring the mother-in-law, the second is the bride with her slow and expressively ‘sung’ lyricism, thoughtful, tactile and with Semitic cadences, and the final panel is the godfather – loquacious, big-boned, and excitable. It works beautifully for the cello, for which instrument Hemsi clearly had a real affinity.
There are comprehensive, astute notes and an excellently judged recording.
This is another fine reclamation from the ARC Ensemble, some of whose members I’ve mentioned by name but all of whom play with considerable enthusiasm and technical accomplishment.
-- MusicWeb International
Between Fire and Silence
Tribute to Paul Badura-Skoda
Faure: Works For Cello & Piano / Francois Salque, Eric Le Sage
FAURÉ Cello Sonatas No. 1 & 2. Romance. Elégie. Sérénade. Papillon. Berceuse. Clarinet Trio, op. 120 1 • François Salque (vc); Éric Le Sage (pn); 1 Paul Meyer (cl) • ALPHA 600 (74:02)
Here we have the type of recital that has almost disappeared from the face of the earth: quintessentially French performances of quintessentially French music. As an analogy, I should also point out that quintessentially German, Italian, Austrian, Dutch, and British performances have also faded to a precious few. The standardization of both instrumental style and sound has, by and large, imposed a generically pretty but nationally ambiguous style and sound on orchestras, solo musicians, and chamber groups the world over. Heck, we even have a hard enough time coming up with a quintessentially American sound anymore.
But Éric Le Sage and François Salque are indeed throwbacks to at least the 1940s. Salque’s cello avoids the generically rich, dark sort of timbre one hears from most such players the world over nowadays, but has rather a lean, edgy sonority not unlike Pierre Fournier. This does not mean that Salque’s low range lacks depth of tone, just that it’s not a basso profundo sound; it’s more like a basso cantate, which is fine by me. Likewise, Le Sage’s piano plays with light and shade, color and nuance, in a way that, fortunately, has never entirely disappeared from the lexicon of French pianists on record, from Cortot to Thibaudet.
Thus these performances reach inside the music not just in terms of emotional response but also in terms of coloristic response. They do not lack for energy or excitement when the music calls for it, even in such a piece as the op. 69 Romance, yet despite a CD cover that is almost completely black with white and blood-red lettering, their playing is a virtual rainbow. Some modern listeners, more used to the plush generic quality of many musicians nowadays, may find this approach foreign to them or difficult to comprehend, but as the expression goes, “this is the real deal.” As good as the recording of mostly the same music by cellist Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson is (Naxos 8570545), my decision in favor of this release is predicated by exactly the virtues (or, if you prefer, idiosyncrasies) mentioned in the second paragraph. I should also add that Paul Meyer manages to fit in very well indeed in the performance of the Clarinet Trio. You simply can’t sing Italian comic patter like an Italian, you can’t conduct Má Vlast as well as a Czech-born conductor can, and you can’t play French music any better than the French do it.
FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
Gottschalk: Piano Music For 2 And 4 Hands / Marks, Barrett
CD 1*
Réponds-moi, Danse Cubaine, Op. 50 (1859) [2:37]
Printemps d'Amour, Mazurka, Caprice de Concert, Op. 40 (1855) [4:31]
Marche de Nuit, Op. 17 (1855) [5:07]
Ses Yeux, Célèbre Polka de Concert, Op. 66 (1865) [4:32]
La Jota Aragonesa, Caprice Espagnol, Op. 14 (?1853) [4:14]
Le Bananier, Chanson nègre, Op. 5 (?1848) [3:03]
Ojos Criollos, Danse Cubaine, Caprice Brillante, Op. 37 (1859) [2:46]
Orfa, Grande Polka, Op. 71 (?1863/64) [2:39]
La Scintilla (L'Énticelle), Mazurka Sentimentale, Op. 20 (1848/53) [3:18]
Marche Funèbre, Op. 61/64 (1853/54) [5:46]
La Gallina, Danse Cubaine, Op. 53 (1859/63) [2:24]
Radieuse, Grande Valse de Concert, Op. 72 (?1863/64) [5:35]
Grande Tarantelle, Op. 67 (?1865) [5:01]
CD 2**
Souvenirs d'Andalousie, Caprice de Concert sur La Caña. Le Fandango et Le Jaleo de Jerez (1851) [4:17]
Le Banjo, Grotesque Fantasie, Caprice Américain (?1854/55) [4:03]
Grand Scherzo (1869) [4:56]
Pasquinade, Caprice (1863) [3:40]
Berceuse, Cradle Song (1861) [4:47]
Tournament Galop (?1850/51) [3:13]
Mazurk [3:47]
'Union' Paraphrase de Concert on the National Airs, The Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle and Hail Columbia (1852/62) [8:41]
The Last Hope, Méditation Réligeuse (1854) [6:01]
Scherzo Romantique (1851) [3:50]
Le Mancenillier, West Indian Serenade (?1849/50) [5:22]
The Dying Poet, Meditation (?1863) [6:43]
I count M. Louis Moreau Gottschalk among my most joyful and refreshing musical discoveries of recent years. It all started with a second-hand CD of the Irish pianist Philip Martin playing, among other things, Le Banjo, Le Bananier and the jaw-dropping Tremolo. That was followed by a Naxos recording of the orchestral music – review – and, most recently, by Martin’s set of the complete piano music ( review). In a spirit of discovery I was only too keen to hear this Nimbus collection, from two pianists who are new to me. It’s been around for a while, but what makes this set rather special is that CD 1 is devoted to four-handed versions of these showpieces; and that promises to be very entertaining indeed.
So it proves. The Chicago-born Alan Marks and British partner Nerine Barrett get off to a terrific start with Réponds-moi, a now sparkling, now seductive little Cuban number. Anyone who knows the two-hander will be astonished by the ebullience and invention on display here. The piano sound is clear and unfettered, making it ideal for such spontaneous writing and playing. The music-box tinkle of Printemps d’Amour is especially attractive, that quicksilver treble a real delight. What a marvellous sense of collective music-making, and how well these players get to the open, easeful heart of these works.
Rhythms are always impeccable, those in the early Marche de Nuit and Le Bananier superbly sprung. I’m delighted at how the oft winsome character of Gottschalk’s creations is so well caught and characterised. Dances – whether central American or central European – trip off the keyboard in a most disarming way. The imperious mien and Mediterranean warmth of that Spanish caprice are brought out in full. Occasionally, in Orfa for instance, I miss Martin’s more thoughtful, introspective playing style, in which rhythms and textures are more subtly done. Really that’s a minor caveat when Marks and Barrett’s musicianship is otherwise so polished and pleasing.
The first CD ends with a triple flourish. After the Cuban smokiness of La Gallina – simply breathtaking in its quick-fire delivery – and that giddy little Radieuse waltz, comes a crowning tarantella. Marks faces formidable competition in disc two which, recorded several years earlier, sounds a little brighter than the first. Make no mistake, the playing here is very assured, and Marks only yields to Martin in pieces such as Le Banjo. Here the Irishman’s control of touch and dynamics is unrivalled. The American is rather less nuanced or revealing. Then again, he just melts one’s heart with the charming Pasquinade – shades of Tremolo, surely – and the cradle song.
It’s an invidious task comparing these two pianists in this repertoire. I wouldn’t want to be without either of them. Just listen to Marks’s runaway rendition of the Tournament Galop and that medley of American patriotic tunes and you’ll hear what I mean. Yes, Martin has the better, fuller recording and a surer, more intuitive way with this music, but Marks certainly captures the generous, larger-than-life nature of these pieces very well indeed. In spite of some lovely touches neither pianist can save the rather maudlin Last Hope and Dying Poet; still they’re hardly dross, and both pianists’ versions are feelingly done.
I see from the rather skimpy liner-notes that Alan Marks died in 1995, which is a pity as I’d have liked to hear more Gottschalk from him. That said, it’s the four-handers that offer the greatest and most consistent musical rewards; the solos are somewhat intermittent in their appeal. Fine, atmospheric recordings though.
Energetic and entertaining; a must for Gottschalk groupies.
-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International
Faure: Cello Sonatas / Ben-Sasson, Sternfield
FAURÉ Music for Cello and Piano • Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson (vc); Allan Sternfield (pn) • NAXOS 8570545 (70:06)
Sicilienne, op. 78. Sonata No. 2, op. 117. Après un rêve, op. 7/1. Elégie, op. 24. Romance, op. 69. Berceuse, op. 16. Papillon, op. 77. Sérénade, op. 98. Sonata No. 1, op. 109. Pavane, op. 50
A blurb on the back cover of this album states that “Fauré’s musical language bridged a gap between 19th-century Romanticism and the music that appeared with the new century.” Sounds like something I’ve said before, even having gone so far as to say that Fauré is the missing link between Brahms and Debussy. Whether one chooses to accept that argument or not, it cannot be denied that Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924), a disciple of Saint-Saëns and an admirer of Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner, had, by the turn of the 20th century, largely fashioned a personal style based on the teachings of Gustave Lefèvre, as set forth in his book Traité d’harmonie , published in 1889. In it Lefèvre advances the idea that chords of the seventh and ninth are not dissonant, ergo, they do not require resolution; and that the third of the scale may freely alternate between major and minor within a “composite” scale that incorporates both modes. These ideas were of course embraced by the likes of Walter Piston and Roger Sessions in their own updated 20th-century treatises on harmony. And one hasn’t far to travel from the unresolved sevenths and ninths of Lefèvre and Fauré to the chromatically altered seventh, ninth, 11th, and bi-tonal chords, and the whole-tone and pentatonic scales of Debussy.
Most of the works on this disc are early to middle Fauré, and thus closer in content and style to the romantic aesthetic than they are to the composer’s later efforts. And three of the pieces are arrangements of works originally written for other media. The famous Après un rêve of 1870, presented here in a transcription by Pablo Casals, was conceived as a mélodie for voice and piano. The 1878–79 Berceuse was a violin and piano piece. And the ubiquitous 1887 Pavane , given here in an arrangement by Henri Büsser, was an orchestral work with choral parts later added.
Placing the remaining numbers, originally for cello, in chronological order, we have the Elégie (1883), the Romance (1894), Papillon (1894), Sicilienne (1898), the Sérénade (1908), the First Sonata (1917), and the Second Sonata (1921). While Fauré’s output did not cease in the decade between the 1898 Sicilienne and the 1908 Sérénade , it’s interesting to note that his 1898 incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande was quite possibly his final doffing of his 19th-century Romantic hat. There’s no questioning that the next few years were a time of reexamination for Fauré. Surely, he must have heard Debussy’s opera based on the same play that was premiered in 1902, and possibly even Schoenberg’s exactly contemporaneous tone poem on the subject. And though I doubt that Sibelius would have been known in France at this early date, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Fauré may even have heard the Finnish composer’s 1905 incidental music of the same title. Whatever the extent of Fauré’s exposure to these various stimuli may have been, changes in his compositional style and technique become evident with his 1906 song cycle La Chanson d’Eve , op. 95.
Both of the cello sonatas belong to Fauré’s late period, the second of the two being among his last works. While still conforming to a Classical three-movement fast-slow-fast pattern, the harmonic language is now freer and the melodic treatment more fluid, giving a sense that the music is “through-composed.” With the exception of an 1888 Petite pièce in G Major, op. 49, which has been lost, the current Naxos disc, as far as I know, gives us all of Fauré’s original works for cello, plus the three aforementioned arrangements.
German-born, prize-winning cellist Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson studied with Pierre Fournier and Sergiu Celibidache. She is today an Israeli citizen, and principal cellist and frequent soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Her discography, at least according to Naxos’s brief bio, includes the Bach suites for solo cello, but I was not able to find it, or any other of her recordings, listed. Allan Sternfield is a “made in the U.S.A.” product, having studied at Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory of Music. He was subsequently coached by Leon Fleisher and Wilhelm Kempff.
Naxos has here entered into competition with itself, for another fine release on the same label with Maria Kliegel and Nina Tichman, minus the Pavane , contains exactly the same program. Such duplication seems odd, especially since both discs seem to have been recorded only a year and a half apart. The current Joost/Sternfield CD, just released, was recorded mid 2007; the Kliegel/Tichman, released in 2008, was recorded late in 2005. It’s a head-scratcher to be sure. Be that as it may, a comparison between the two reveals little difference, certainly not enough to warrant purchasing Joost/Sternfield if you already have Kliegel/Tichman. J&S offer an extra with the inclusion of the Pavane , a piece you’re already bound to have in its original orchestral version. In general, though not in every single case, J&S are a bit slower in their tempo choices than K&T in the short pieces, and considerably so in the two sonatas. This may impart a somewhat more nostalgic feeling to J&S’s readings, which can, at times, suggest a salon atmosphere. But in terms of technical execution, tone production, and intonation, I would be happy with either recording.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder & Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Baiba Skride Plays Benjamin Britten / Alsop, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony
The story of the discovery and resurrection of Britten's Double Concerto for Violin and Viola is one of those rare moments of musicological spice that can capture the interest of even the more casual music lover. Unlike it, the Violin Concerto Op. 15 found itself thrust onto the world stage of music right away, its genesis having been rather straightforward – if hardly smooth.
Winner of the first prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2001) Baiba Skride displays a natural approach to music-making that has endeared her to many of today’s most prestigious conductors and orchestras worldwide. She performs the Double Concerto with violist Ivan Vukcevic, who has appeared in some of the most important venues and festivals in Europe. They are accompanied by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop, whose performances won her many Gramophone Awards.
Brahms & Mozart: Piano Concertos / Gould
A Musical Journey - France: From Marseille to Cannes
Brahms: Piano Concertos; Music for Solo Piano / Levit, Thielemann, VPO
This is the first recording of pianist Igor Levit, conductor Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic with Brahms' two Piano Concertos. The release is a triple-CD album with Levit's recording of Brahm's late solo piano works opp 116-119. As a special encore Levit and Thielemann also play the four-hand Brahms Waltz op. 39/15 together.
REVIEW:
Levit’s utterly compelling accounts of the late sets are the more impressive element in this collection. He does not put a foot wrong in any of them; each piece is perfectly shaped, its subtly varied emotional charge instantly identified. It’s hard to think of many better recordings of these 20 gems, and certainly not of all four opus numbers together.
— The Guardian
Juon: Chamber Music for Viola / Vendryes, Pikayzen, David
Paul Juon was born in Moscow, of Swiss parents, in 1872, studying there with Arensky and Taneyev; Rachmaninov, a fellow student, dubbed him ‘the Russian Brahms’. At the Hochschule der Musik in Berlin, Woldemar Bargiel, Clara Schumann’s half-brother, was his main teacher before Juon himself became a respected member of the staff. There are indeed echoes of Brahms in Juon’s early music but there is also a fondness for Russian folksong and a mastery of counterpoint, which all feed into his urgent, late-Romantic lyricism.
REVIEW
Paul Juon...studied with Woldemar Bargiel in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik. These influences developed him into a hothouse for late-Romantic lyricism and, on this showing, a skilled purveyor of channelled sentimentality.
The sound here is right upfront to the listener...The musicians play right to your heart.
Of the two tightly-timed viola sonatas, the D major, Op. 15 work is from the turn of the 19th and twentieth centuries. It overflows with torrential Brahmsian high romance, rather in the style of the Brahms Double Concerto. There’s no question of a temperate or distanced approach here and the musicians are at one with that mind-set; they constantly ‘push’ the mood and the tempo to intensify rather than in impatience with it. Listen to them in the finale. The Second Viola Sonata Op. 82a is from 1924. Its Moderato assai is a shade cooler but soulful and does not disappoint. On this disc it is the viola sonatas, with their robust and memorable themes and treatment, that will have the listener sitting bolt-upright.
--MusicWeb International (Rob Barnett)
Evocation
The Chopin I Love
CHOPIN ORBIT
PIANO SONATAS 3
Le Beau: Chamber Music
Luise Adolpha Le Beau was a celebrated pianist who scored successes with compositions of her own, prevailing against all the feelings of resentment working against women composers during the middle of the nineteenth century. The three young musicians Bartek Niziol, Denis Severin, and Tatiana Korsunskaya have dedicated themselves to the chamber music of this composer who is practically forgotten today in what is a thrilling debut making us eager to hear more.
Chopin: Complete Nocturnes, Barcarolle / Feltsman
No. 12 could take place by a stream. In 13, we contemplate death—there is a resemblance here to the funeral march of the Second Sonata. No. 14 perhaps takes place on a summer evening. An important question is posed during 15. No. 16 apparently contains the recollection of a dance. An intimate conversation is related during 17. No. 18 may portray a dinner between two lovers. No. 19 is about a lover’s despair. The sentiment in 20 is of the poignancy of young love. No. 21 sounds mazurka-like. I can think of two digital recordings of the nocturnes in Feltsman’s league, by Daniel Barenboim and François Chaplin, but Feltsman’s may prove the most satisfying on a regular basis.
Feltsman’s Barcarolle is fluid and majestic. His Berceuse is a pianistic kaleidoscope, with shifting textures and colors.
It’s perhaps worth remembering that the first recording by Feltsman issued on a U.S. label was Chopin’s preludes. He really is a Chopin player to the manner born. His sense of line is infallible, and no detail is so small as to escape his attention. Plus, he has the rare ability to convey an atmosphere, which is essential to a great Chopin style. That Feltsman has made a considerable career playing Bach may not be coincidental, given Chopin’s love for Bach and the subtlety of the Pole’s harmony. What’s more, Feltsman’s love for Chopin absolutely comes across in these recordings. You really can’t fake the excitement and affection that suffuse these readings. Feltsman here matches the greatest Chopin performances preserved in recorded sound. These [recordings] are likely to remain touchstones for decades to come."
FANFARE: Dave Saemann
Glazunov: String Quintet, Etc / Rosen, Fine Arts Quartet
Founded over sixty years ago in Chicago the Fine Arts Quartet is a highly accomplished ensemble. On the evidence of these superb performances and other recent releases such as the Schumann String Quartets 1-3 they prove themselves to be in the same elevated league as ensembles such as the Emerson, Škampa, Talich, Takács, Hagen, Quatuor Mosaïques, Kodály, Henschel, Belcea and Zehetmair.
I strongly believe that Glazunov’s substantial output of music is not as well known as it deserves to be. The most frequently heard work is the Violin Concerto (1904). One sometimes hears music from his two major ballets Raymonda (1898) and The Seasons (1900) also the Chant du Ménestrel (1900) in either of its versions for cello and piano or for cello and orchestra. As a frequent attender of chamber music recitals I have yet to hear any performances of Glazunov’s chamber works. Although not known for their progressive or experimental nature his works are generally of high quality and I commend any chamber music lover to hear the two volumes of String Quartets from the Utrecht String Quartet on MDG 603 1236-2 (Quartets 3 and 5) and MDG 603 1237-2 (Quartets 2, 4 and Elegy for Strings) and also the recording of the Quartets 3 and 5 from the Shostakovich Quartet on Regis RRC 1211.
Grove-Online; Wikipedia and virtually every other resource I have consulted give the composition date for Glazunov’s Five Novelettes, Op.15 as 1886. However, the information in the Naxos booklet notes says 1881; which means that Glazunov would have been a mere sixteen year old when he wrote the score. Evidently he originally gave the less descriptive title of ‘Suite’ to this five movement work. Lasting almost as long in performance as the A major String Quintet the amiable and predominantly folk music-inspired Five Novelettes is an outstanding work and a hidden gem of the chamber music repertoire.
Glazunov’s Five Novelettes have all been given exotic titles. They open with an appealing Alla spagnuola (In the Spanish style). Briskly performed with high spirits by the Fine Arts Quartet the piece also contains a contrasting dreamy central section. The dance-like piece entitled Orientale has the character of a Percy Grainger folk dance rather than anything terribly oriental. Again there is a contrasting central core. In the Dorian mode the third movement is a reverential Interludium in modo antico that reminded me of sacred music from the Russian Orthodox Church. There’s considerable warmth and good humour to be heard in the Valse. The buoyantly played final piece, marked All’ungherese (In Hungarian style), convey strong evocations of tradition gypsy and Magyar rhythms.
The four movement String Quintet in A major, Op.39 is scored for a second cello rather than the more usual viola - in the manner of Schubert’s Quintet in C major, D. 956. Here the Fine Arts are augmented by the services of second cellist Nathaniel Rosen. The opening Allegro begins with a glorious melody for the viola. One is struck by the appeal of this highly attractive music infused as it is with lush and brazen Romanticism. Pizzicato strings herald the opening of the engaging Scherzo. The heartrending strains of the Andante could melt even the stoniest of hearts. In the highly-flavoured Russian-sounding themes of the Finale the players successfully conclude proceedings in a robust and vivacious manner.
There are only a small number of alternative versions of Glazunov’s String Quintet and Five Novelettes and none that I consider an improvement over this superb Naxos release. I am reasonably familiar with what is probably the best known version of the String Quintet from the ASMF Chamber Ensemble on Chandos (c/w Tchaikovsky String Sextet in D minor, Op 70). In the Five Novelettes the versions most likely to be encountered are those from the St. Petersburg String Quartet on Delos and also from the Lyric Quartet on Meridian; both recordings having the String Quartet No. 5, Op. 70 as their coupling.
I gained significant enjoyment from this desirable release. The sonics are to demonstration standard. The delightful and substantial Five Novelettes are a hidden gem worthy of discovery.
-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International
Philippe Entremont Plays Chopin
At the beginning of the Fifties Philippe Entremont appeared on the international musical stage with the enthusiasm of critics and audience. He was born in Reims - France - im 1934 from a family of musicians, in 1952 he won the the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition Award; and this fact opened him a real international career,and, after having listened him the famous conductor Eugene Ormandy cast him for performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra one of most famous Orchestra in the world. Entremont began recording his first album when he was just twenty and were unforgettable performance specially his 1955 and 1959 Chopin recordings; performance that IDIS re-present in this CD after fifty years of inexplicable silence. It is enough consider the Ballades at the beginning of the CD or the Nocturne op 15 no 1 to realize what a wonderful performer he had been when he was just twenty. He had a wonderful and perfect virtuosity combined with a gift to tell through the music still unmached.
