Volume 27 Issue 3 - December 2021 / January 2022

The Alexander String Quartet marks its
40th anniversary as well as the departure
of founding violist Paul Yarbrough with
Brahms: String Quartets, the final volume in
the ensemble’s series of the complete string
chamber works of Brahms (Foghorn Classics
FCL2022 foghornclassics.com).
Yarbrough notes that the ASQ took
decades to feel ready to record these quartets,
and they certainly get to the heart of the music in powerful
performances of strength and depth in the String Quartets in C
Minor Op.51 No.1 and in A Minor Op.51 No.2. The String Quartet
No.3 in B-flat Major Op.67 – Brahms’ favourite of the three – is bright
and playful.
A transcription of Brahms’ Intermezzo in A Major Op.118 No.2 by
the ASQ’s first violinist Zakarias Grafilo completes a fine disc.
Works by the brother and sister
Mendelssohns are given committed
performances by the Takács Quartet on
Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn String
Quartets (HyperionCDA68330 hyperionrecords.co.uk/a.asp?a=A1355).
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel`s String
Quartet in E-flat Major from 1834 was
her only work in the genre and may
never have been performed in her lifetime, the score and parts not
being published by Breitkopf & Härtel until 1988. It`s now favourably
compared with quartets by her younger brother, Schubert
and Schumann.
The central work on the disc is the String Quartet in F Minor Op.80
from 1847, written by Felix in the closing months of his life and into
which he pours his grief over the death of his sister in May of that
year. His String Quartet in A Minor Op.13 from 1827 completes a
lovely disc.
The high standard set by the Dover Quartet
with its first volume of Beethoven Complete
String Quartets continues with the 3CD set
Volume 2 The Middle Quartets (Cedille CDR
90000 206 cedillerecords.org).
This release covers String Quartets No.7
in F Major Op.59 No.1, No.8 in E Minor
Op.59 No.2, No.9 in C Major Op.59 No.3 (all
commonly referred to as the Razumovsky
quartets), No.10 in E-flat Major Op.74
“Harp” and No.11 in F Major Op.95 “Serioso.”
My December 2020 review of the previous volume described the
performances as being full of conviction and depth, and noted that
this promised to be an outstanding set. There’s certainly no reason to
change those opinions.
Rhythm & the Borrowed Past features
violinist Daniel Kurganov and pianist
Constantine Finehouse performing world
premiere recordings of works by Lera
Auerbach and Richard Beaudoin, along with
works by John Cage and Olivier Messiaen
(Orchid Classics ORC100182 orchidclassics.com).
Auerbach`s Sonata No.3 for violin and
piano and Beaudoin`s In höchster Not (in deepest need) were both
written in 2005, the former a powerful and striking work that makes
an immediate impact and the latter described by the composer as
being marked by a constant evasion of stabilities, the contrapuntal
lines in all three movements not necessarily coinciding.
Cage`s very effective Nocturne from 1947 is written in fluid notation,
resulting in some performances being twice as long as others.
An outstanding performance of Messiaen`s Thème et variations from
1932 completes a top-notch CD.
On Crossroads, the Duo Dramatique –
violinist Dominika Dancewicz and pianist
Donald Doucet – presents a recital of modern
American works for violin and piano (Navona
Records NV6380 navonarecords.com/
catalog/nv6380).
Arthur Gottschalk’s Sonata pays homage
to the jazz violinists Stephane Grappelli,
Johnny Frigo and Joe Venuti in a delightful
work with echoes of “Bluesette” and “When Sunny Gets Blue,” and a
Bebop last movement.
Karl Blench’s Sonata “In D” (a reference to the performers’ names)
uses extreme contrasts in music meant to depict sarcasm, humour and
quiet serenity, with a virtuosic moto perpetuo Finality last movement.
Erberk Eryilmaz’s terrific Insistent Music draws on Eastern European
folk music, with percussive patterns and explosive melodic lines.
Both players are quite outstanding in a CD simply bursting with life
and energy.
The recent pandemic has provided the
impetus for numerous solo recording
projects, the latest of which to reach me is
Reger Three Suites for Solo Viola Op.131d
played by violist Tonya Burton (Tōnsehen
TSN-009 tonsehen.com).
Reger wrote the suites in 1915. They are
short four-movement works (total CD time
is only 30 minutes) which look back to
Bach, whom Reger idolized, but also forward with early-20th-century
traits. Each movement is written in Baroque or Classical form, with
Reger’s usual chromaticism balanced by lyrical melodies.
Burton calls the suites “enticing, expressive and dramatic, all the
while full of humour and charm,” qualities amply displayed in her
excellent performance.
With the 2CD set 21st Century Spanish
Guitar Vol.4 the outstanding guitarist Adam
Levin completes his 13-year commissioning
project that produced more than 30 new
works (Frameworks 793888175143
adamlevinguitar.com).
CD1 is the brilliant and striking Concierto
de La Herradura by the Cuban composer
Eduardo Morales-Caso, with the Orquesta de
Extremadura conducted by Álvaro Albiach.
CD2 features world-premiere recordings of four solo works:
Leonardo Balada’s Caprichos No.14; the bluegrass-influenced Portraits
from the Heartland by Jorge Muñiz, written in 2015 for the bicentennial
of Indiana and built on the state anthem On the Banks of
the Wabash, Far Away; José Luis Turina’s Arboretum; and Salvador
Brotons’ Sonata Sefardita Op.143, a gathering of songs in the
Sephardic tradition.
Music written specifically for the guitarist,
in this case David Tanenbaum, also features
on As She Sings, a CD showcasing works
created for him during the past five decades
(ReEntrant REN01 newfocusrecordings.com).
Sérgio Assad’s Shadows and Light is
followed by Ronald Bruce Smith’s fascinating
Five Pieces for guitar with live electronics,
in which different playing styles
combine with a range of electronic processing.
Music for Guitar is an early piece by Tanenbaum’s father Elias
Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum is joined by mezzo-soprano Wendy
Hillhouse, flute, bass and ceramic gongs for Dušan Bogdanović’s
Games, seven short settings of poetry by the Yugoslavian poet
Vasko Popa.
John Anthony Lennon’s elegiac title track completes an intriguing
and sometimes challenging disc.
thewholenote.com December 2021 | 37