Volume 28 Issue 1 | September 20 - November 8, 2022

stunning recital that simply crackles with electricity and intensity.
The established works are the Ligeti Sonata for Solo Cello with
a dazzling Capriccio second movement, Dutilleux’s Trois strophes
sur le nom de Sacher and a towering reading of the monumental
Kodály Sonata for Solo Cello Op.8. A lesser-known work – which
should surely be part of the standard repertoire – is Khachaturian’s
terrific Sonata-Fantasie for Solo Cello Op.104 from 1974, and the CD’s
title track is the 2021 commission Farewell-Fantasia by the Danish
composer Bent Sørensen.
Outstanding technique and musical intelligence combine for a
superb start to Swensen’s recording career.
Corazón (Heart) is the new CD from the
American cellist John-Henry Crawford,
accompanied for the most part by pianist
Victor Santiago Asuncion and in three
pieces by the South Korean guitarist JIJI
(Jiyeon Kim) in a program that reflects
the cellist’s love of Latin American music
(Orchard Classics ORC100198 orchidclassics.com).
The major work is the Sonata in G Minor by the Mexican composer
Manuel Ponce, also represented by the well-known Estrellita and
the title track Por ti mi corazón. There are short single pieces by Leo
Brouwer, Carlos Guastavino and Egberto Gismonti, as well as three
by Heitor Villa-Lobos and two by Astor Piazzolla, whose closing track
Oblivion features Crawford on multiple-tracked cello. The guitar
provides the accompaniment in Estrellita and the Brouwer and
Gismonti pieces.
Every track is a gem, with Crawford quite superb in music he says
“pulls at the heartstrings and exudes romance and passion” – as does
the playing on a captivatingly gorgeous disc.
Longtime collaborators John Williams
and Yo-Yo Ma reunite for A Gathering of
Friends, their new CD with the New York
Philharmonic featuring the premiere
recording of the revised version of Williams’
Cello Concerto, originally written for
Ma in 1994. Selections from three of
Williams’ movie scores are also heard in
new arrangements with solo cello (Sony
Classical 886449741939 sonyclassical.com/releases).
Don’t expect any Korngold-like movie material in the concerto – it’s
an intense and highly compelling work very much in a modern style,
with some lovely cello writing and a beautiful tonal final resolution.
Three pieces from Schindler’s List – Theme, Kraków Ghetto
Winter 41 and Remembrances – need little introduction. The other
movie tracks are With Malice Toward None from Lincoln and A
Prayer For Peace from Munich, the latter a duo for Ma and guitarist
Pablo Sáinz-Villegas.
Ma is joined by harpist Jessica Zhou in A Gathering of Friends –
Highwood’s Ghost, written in 2018 for the Bernstein Centenary at
Tanglewood, where there is a legend of a ghost in the manor house.
If you still believe that contemporary
string quartets are always a tough
listen then Robert Paterson String
Quartets 1-3 in superb performances
by the Indianapolis Quartet should
change your mind (American Modern
Recordings AMR1054 americanmodernrecordings.com).
This is clearly music to be enjoyed.
String Quartet No.1 includes a “swing” first
movement, a country waltz with a middle section called “Andrew
Lloyd Webber Disease” and an Energetic Polka. String Quartet No.2
features Rigor Mortis, portraying the barking dog from the comic strip
of the same name.
String Quartet No.3, commissioned by the Indianapolis Quartet
explores “other voices,” including Tourette’s syndrome in Twist and
Shout and an auctioneer and country fiddling in Auction Chant.
It’s imaginative, hugely entertaining and quite brilliant writing,
with Paterson always in total control of style and structure.
Prism IV – Beethoven Mendelssohn Bach is
the penultimate release by the Danish String
Quartet in their Prism project, where a
Bach fugue is connected to a late Beethoven
quartet that is in turn connected to a quartet
by a later master (ECM New Series ECM2564
ecmrecords.com/shop).
Bach’s Fugue in G Minor from Book 1
of the Well-Tempered Clavier opens the
disc, followed by an intense performance of Beethoven’s String
Quartet No.15 in A Minor Op.132, published in 1826. Crystal-clear
definition, terrific ensemble, dynamics and tone all make for an
outstanding reading.
The standard never drops in Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No.2 in A
Minor Op.13, begun in July 1827 just months after Beethoven’s death.
Mendelssohn was fascinated by Beethoven’s late quartets, and his
Op.13 continues their progress towards the new Romanticism.
The 2CD set of Mozart String Quartets
Vol.5 is the final volume in the series by
the Armida Quartet (Avi 8553496 avimusic.de).
The two earliest quartets are No.3 in G
Major K156 and No.5 in F Major K158 from
a group of six written in Milan in 1772.
The quartets No.10 in C Major K170, No.11
in E-flat Major K171 and No.13 in D Minor K173 are from the six
“Viennese” quartets written the following year after Mozart’s exposure
to Haydn’s recently published string quartets.
Finally, there are two works from the six “Haydn” quartets that
followed the publication of Haydn’s own Op.33 set of six in 1783:
No.15 in D Minor K421 and No.16 in E-flat Major K428.
The Armida Quartet is working with the publisher G. Henle Verlag
on a new Urtext Edition of the Mozart quartets, and their insight and
attention to detail are evident throughout finely judged performances.
There’s more top-notch quartet playing,
this time from the Takács Quartet, on
Haydn String Quartets Opp.42, 77 and 103
(Hyperion CDA68364 hyperion-records.
co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68364).
The String Quartet in D Minor Op.42
was the first following the huge success of
Haydn’s Op.33 set. The two Op.77 quartets –
No.1 in G Major and No.2 in F Major – were
the final two quartets that Haydn completed, the two middle movements
of a quartet unfinished at his death and published as Op.103
completing the CD.
The Takács Quartet has previously released CDs of Haydn’s Op.71
and Op.74 Quartets to great acclaim and it’s easy to hear why, with
bright, clear playing, a lovely dynamic range and a resonant recording
making for a delightful disc.
The Brazilian guitarist Plínio Fernandes,
now resident in London, makes his CD
debut with Saudade (Nostalgia), a “virtuosic,
soaring melodic set” combining his two
passions – the popular songs of Brazil and
the classical tradition of Villa-Lobos (Decca
Gold 4857617 pliniofernandesmusic.com).
It’s the familiar Five Preludes of Villa-
Lobos that are at the centre of a very
attractive recital, the other 13 tracks featuring songs by, among others,
Antônio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Violeta Parra and Jacob
do Bandolím, mostly in arrangements by Sergio Assad. Guest artists
are cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, his violinist brother Braimah and
50 | September 20 - November 8, 2022 thewholenote.com