MOZART PIANO CONCERTOS 11-13 Novák/Wihan

Released this month on Nimbus Alliance Records, Mozart’s intimate ‘quattro’ versions of his three Vienna piano concerti arranged for quartet or string orchestra (though never written for full orchestra). This album features the unsurprisingly award-winning Czech pianist Matyáš Novák alongside compatriots the Wihan Quartet.

Photo: Lenka Hatašová

Performed in a natural and fluid style, and without sentimentality, the studio production is as crystal-clear as to be invigorating. Novák’s playing is in turns crisp and gently assured, and always in perfect balance with the full-bodied strings. And yet, this is a warm and intimate recording. The second movement of Concerto No. 11 is both melodious and mellifluous, the performers’ exacting balance never overplayed. Its closing minuet belies an artful variation of tone.

Similarly enlivened, and thus reenergised, it seems as if Concerto No. 12 could have been written yesterday. A welcome lightness of touch compliments its compositional structure. The ‘uplifting-ness’ of Allegro (first movement) is accentuated by its insistent rising phrases, seemingly never-ending, but of course do – on a high. The Andante (second movement) is graceful and soulful, forever incurring the composer’s emotive reflection upon his mentor.

Photo: Lenka Hatašová

Concerto No. 13 commences with dance-like elements, repetitive never repetitious, and simultaneously calm and soothing. In a measured second movement, the Wihan Quartet draw-out true depths of colour. This follows Novák’s gorgeous ad libitum, inferring a false slowing of pace, whilst his closing cadenza imparts a responsive individualism. The pared-down arrangement ensures that, particularly via a contemporary lens, the music is re-heard.

The wonderful talent comprising Wihan Quartet is: Leoš Čepický on first violin, Jan Schulmeister on second violin, Jakub Čepický on viola, and Michal Kaňka on cello.

– Martin Slidel



#Amadeus #ClassicalMusic #ClassicalReview #LenkaHatašová #MartinSlidel #MartinSlidelMusic #MatyášNovák #Mozart #MozartPianoConcerto11 #MozartPianoConcerto12 #MozartPianoConcerto13 #MusicReview #NewCD #NewRelease #NimbusAllianceRecords #Piano #PianoConcerto #StringQuartet #WihanQuartet

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REPOSE Seidl

Image
Jasmin Seidl, piano Cugate Classics (2021) New from Cugate Classics is a restful collection of original piano pieces by Jasmin Seidl. Gently Minimalist, these offer Glass-like strains although nod to Classical structure and melodicism. Commencing with ‘Sea’, pleasingly underplayed, a glock picks out higher ranges with the percussive aspect of a triangle. If you enjoy Elena Kats-Chernin, you’ll love this: peaceful, calm, serene. The pieces sustain a carillon quality. ‘Sunday Sarabande’ lilts and drifts, with slight shifts of cadence and tempo. ‘Mourning’ proffers slow and ponderous trails in between sets of descendant chords. ‘Lullaby Talk’ repeats its echoey refrain of rising and falling minor thirds – again reminiscent of bells. With ‘Wings’, simple phrases attain tonal height to airily meander. I confess to expecting contrast with ‘Valse Triste’, being in fact a slow stroll in 4/4. Its ‘waltz’ element is a repeating motif in the left hand. ‘Melting’ is indeed so: fluid and dreamy, a ...
Read more

MIRROR IMAGES Vicci

Image
Violeta Vicci, violin; viola; voice Aldilà Records (2020) ‘Mirror Images’ is a mesmerising collection of short works for violin, viola, and voice. A tonic for our times, it comprises truly exceptional performances by Spanish-Swiss performer Violeta Vicci . The album opens with Söderlind’s ‘Elegia II’. Sonorous, melancholy, and graceful, it seems familiar-yet-new. A carefully measured violin recording executed with engaging dynamic contrast. ‘Improvisation I’ is the first of Vicci’s imaginative and personal statements. These intersperse the selection. ‘Improvisation II’ combines ancient and modern dance elements, its gentle cadences strumming like a guitar. ‘Improvisation III’ is wistful, exquisite, whilst ‘Improvisation IV’ draws upon traditional idioms as if an unhinged sea shanty. ‘Improvisation V’ features Vicci’s fluid soprano, echoing the resonance of a bowed string. ‘Improvisation VI’ brings vocal and instrument together, the string seeming to reference a hurdy-gurdy. Bach’s ‘Par...
Read more

REFLECTIONS Kapustin/Jagers

Image
Sarah Kapustin, violin; Roeland Jagers, viola Navis Classics (2020) ‘Reflections’ is a new release from Navis Classics featuring Sarah Kapustin on violin and Roeland Jagers on viola. The duo present a clean yet breathy tone. You often hear the performer’s breath (performers’ breaths) in the exquisite ‘live’ studio production. The phrasing is dynamic and forceful but not forced. It is at the edge of a natural and easy sense of both timbre and rhythm. The collection opens with a series of short and intriguing canons by Josquin des Prez. In order, these form a satisfying narrative. The semi-dissonant cadences resolve with a legitimate melancholy befitting these extraordinary times. It seems to disperse into the resonant and electrifying Martinu ‘Duo’. Like off-kilter Vivaldi, brief, beautiful, but brilliant. ‘Allegro’ and its bookend are stirring and fiery. And, in between, the variant phrases of ‘Lento’ reflect upon the route travelled. A pair of Bach canons arranged by Forbes embody an...
Read more