Danish String Quartet PRISM I

For its third ECM release, the Danish String Quartet – hailed by the Washington Post as “one of the best quartets before the public today” and as simply “terrific” by The Guardian – inaugurates a series of albums with the overarching title of Prism, in which the group will present one of Beethoven’s late string quartets in the context of a related fugue by J.S. Bach as well as a linked masterwork from the quartet literature. With Prism 1, it is the first of Beethoven’s late quartets, his grand Op. 127 in E-flat Major, alongside Bach’s luminous fugue in the same key (arranged by Mozart) and Dmitri Shostakovich’s final string quartet, No. 15 in E-flat minor, a haunted and haunting sequence of six adagios.

For Prism 1, the DSQ convened at the Reitstadel in Neumarkt, Germany, the group applying its lyricism and spirit of ensemble to this interconnected sound world of Bach, Beethoven and Shostakovich. Bach’s fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 876, was one of five pieces that Mozart transcribed for string quartet from his predecessor’s epochal collection of preludes and fugues, The Well-Tempered Clavier. Like Mozart, Beethoven also revered Bach and studied The Well-Tempered Clavier closely, his playing of its pieces noted in press reports on the young performer. Beethoven’s five late string quartets were his ultimate statement in music; the first three of these late quartets were commissioned by a Russian prince, in 1822. Shostakovich’s 15 string quartets constitute the greatest cycle of such works after Beethoven; the rarified example of the German’s late quartets was surely on the Russian composer’s mind as he completed his final – and longest and most intimate – work in the genre, in 1974, the year before his death.The spacious grandeur of Beethoven’s late quartets and, in particular, their epically hymnal slow movements – including that of the Op. 127, marked Adagio, mon non troppo e molto cantabile – were an obvious, powerful influence on the adagios of Shostakovich’s final quartet. Reflecting on the impact of Beethoven’s late string quartets, the DSQ note that “they changed the game. Every composer after Beethoven had to consider these five works and somehow figure out how to carry on the torch. Beethoven had taken a fundamentally linear development from Bach and exploded everything into myriad colors, directions and opportunities.” (ECM Records)

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Andris Nelsons DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 "The year 1905"

Deutsche Grammophon proudly continues the widely acclaimed, Grammy winning Shostakovich Symphony cycle with Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Andris Nelsons is the Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and new Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. With both appointments, and in leading a pioneering alliance between these two esteemed institutions, he is firmly underlined as one of the most renowned, exciting and innovative conductors on the international scene today. After the “scandalously successful” (Sunday Times) Symphony No. 10 in 2015 and “the sheer expressive beauty” Gramophone Magazine) of Symphonies Nos. 5, 8, 9 from 2016 Andris Nelsons and his Bostonians turn their attention to the extrovert Fourth and dramatic Eleventh - both recorded live for the third instalment of this long-term collaboration of the Boston Symphony Orchestra – “America's most cultured orchestra” (BBC Music Magazine).

Aris Quartett SHOSTAKOVICH - SCHUBERT

The Aris Quartett, one of the most exciting ensembles on the international scene, won several ARD awards in 2016. The second GENUIN CD confirms the amount of publicity the quartet has received. Two existential chamber music works can be found there, which in their unconditionality and unheard-of expressiveness demand everything from the listener. The Aris Quartett plays Shostakovich's famous 8th string quartet and Schubert's Death and the Maiden with an uncompromising style that pulls you out of your chair: spooky nocturnal pieces, deeply sad lamentation and a demonic dance macabre – world class!

Iveta Apkalna LIGHT & DARK

For Iveta Apkalna, the organ is the queen of instruments. The now released recording "Light and Dark" from the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg brings the wide sound spectrum of this queen to you!

The wide-ranging programme offers contemporary organ music by Thierry Escaich as well as works by Leoš Janáček. This first recording on the organ of the Elbphilharmonie not only shines with a program rich in contrasts. Titular organist Iveta Apkalna also gives the album a personal touch with "Hell und Dunkel" by Sofia Asgatowna Gubaidulina.

"It's true that our whole life consists of contrasts, but often we don't even notice it. Of course life is colourful, but the basic colours are black and white, and these are my favourite colours too," told Iveta Apkalna at NDR Kultur.

Iveta Apklana is no stranger in her native Latvia. From there she conquered the world with her talent for the great instrument. On 27 January 2017 she was honoured to inaugurate the organ of the Elbphilharmonie with a Mozart recital. With the new organ album "Light And Dark", the charming instrumentalist will be able to inspire even more people with her "Queen".

This gem of classical music is an enrichment for any collection. Whether physical or digital, the album is a listening experience for conscious connoisseurs.

Briggs Piano Trio GÁL Piano Trio in E, Op. 18 SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67

The Briggs Piano Trio, which Avie brought together for this release, have a mission to raise the profile of the Austrian composer Hans Gál. In 2016, Sarah Beth Briggs and Kenneth Woods collaborated on the world premiere recording of the composer's Piano Concerto. Earlier this year, Briggs contributed to Volume 3 of Gál chamber music series on Toccata Classics. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to review both those discs. Kenneth Woods, whose many-faceted career includes not only playing the cello but also conducting, has recorded the composer's four symphonies. Looking around, there is every evidence that a Gál renaissance is underway, and not before time.
Hans Gál, born in Vienna in 1890, studied piano with Richard Robert, who also taught Clara Haskil, Rudolf Serkin and George Szell. Robert later appointed Gál teacher of piano, harmony and counterpoint at the New Conservatory in Vienna. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Gál saw the writing on the wall and eventually fled to the UK in 1938. He spent a period of internment in the Isle of Man. In 1942 his mother died, and his aunt and sister took their own lives shortly after to avoid deportation to Auschwitz. In December 1942 his son Peter, only eighteen, met a similar fate. Throughout the composer’s long life, music was to sustain him, and the tragedies that came his way in no way dimmed his creative powers. He eventually relocated to Edinburgh, where he remained for the rest of his life. He helped found the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. He died in 1987 aged 97.
Gál penned his Piano Trio in E major in 1923. His fortunes had been on the rise. He had been awarded the Rothschild Prize in 1919, and had secured a post on the teaching staff at the University of Vienna, albeit on a modest salary. Then came a period of political instability caused by German hyperinflation, but none of this turmoil is reflected in the Trio. I discovered that this was the first of two piano trios he wrote. The other was a short work in G major, Op. 49b, composed just over twenty-five years later in 1949. Both trios, together with the 'Heurigen' Variations have been recorded before, in 2004, on the Camerata label. I have never heard this alternative so I will not offer any comparisons.
The Op. 18 Trio is in three movements. The first is melodically rich, where dreamy lyricism alternates with more dramatic intent. Sweeping declamatory romantic gestures are seasoned with the occasional hint of nostalgia. The piano seems to have a prominent role. The central movement is a Scherzo in all but name. It opens with a sprightly romp which falls over itself into a bout of rough and tumble. The trio section offers some warm lyrical contrast. The finale has a slow wistful introduction; this gradually becomes a whimsical allegro, which is capricious and mercurial in character.
The Variations on a Viennese 'Heurigen' Melody date back to 1914, but were only published after the First World War. The work has gained some popularity since, and here provides some lighter fare before the anguished Shostakovich Trio. The Briggs Piano Trio seem to be really enjoying themselves here, and imbue the work with an alluring Viennese charm.
Shostakovich's four-movement Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor from 1944 was dedicated to his friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, who had recently died at age 41. It was premiered in Leningrad on 14 November the same year. The work is a response to both the national tragedy of war and his own very personal loss. The first movement opens with ethereal harmonics around which the muted violin weaves an eerie melody, backed by some dark sombre piano chords. The atmosphere could not be more bleak. The tempo becomes more animated but the overall mood is restless and agitated; there is no peace. To the second scherzo-like movement, the players bring savage irony and wit. A passacaglia with funereal tread, weighed down with pain and anguish, precedes an Allegretto finale, where joy and sorrow rub shoulders. Shostakovich makes use of Jewish themes in what one can only describe as a danse macabre. The ensemble deliver a rhythmically potent reading which really makes you sit up and take notice. Their energy is totally infectious.
For Gál enthusiasts, like myself, this release will be self-recommending. The Briggs Piano Trio’s immaculately tailored performances, enhanced by superb sound quality, get my warm-hearted recommendation. (Stephen Greenbank)