Chausson: Concert/String Quartet Chamber String Quartet Chandos

Chausson: Concert/String Quartet

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CHAN 10754

Chausson: Concert/String Quartet

Running Time: 67:33

CD UPC: 0095115175422

Release Date: February 2013
Originally recorded in 2012

Composer (1855-1899)
Ernest Chausson

Solo violin
Jennifer Pike

Solo piano
Tom Poster

Chamber
Doric String Quartet

Venue
Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk

Producer
Jonathan Cooper

Engineer
Jonathan Cooper

Genre:
Chamber
String Quartet

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ERNEST CHAUSSON

(1855-1899)

String Quartet, Op. 35 (1987-99, left incomplete)

28:12

in C minor - in c-Moll - en ut mineur

Completed and edited by Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931)

Grave - Modéré - Grave - Moins lent - Modéré

12:55

Très calme

7:14

III

Gaiement et pas trop vite - Le double plus lent - Lent -

7:51

Premier Mouvement. Gaiement et pas trop vite - Plus vite - Encore plus vite - Lent - Très vif - Même mouvement

Concert, Op. 21 (1889-91)

39:49

in D major - in D-Dur - en ré majeur

for piano, violin, and string quartet

Décidé - Calme - Animé

14:51

Sicilienne. Pas vite

4:15

III

Grave - Un peu plus vite - Mouvement

10:21

Finale. Très animé - Très vif - Plus large - Plus animé -

10:06

Premier Mouvement

Solo: Jennifer Pike violin

Solo: Tom Poster piano

68:14

Chamber: Doric String Quartet

Alex Redington violin

Jonathan Stone violin

Simon Tandree viola

John Myerscough cello

4-6 July 2012

About

This is the sixth recording by the Doric String Quartet for Chandos Records, and the discography is going from strength to strength. The album of Schumann’s String Quartets, Op. 41 was ‘Recording of the Month’ simultaneously in BBC Music and Gramophone, and nominated for a Gramophone Award in the Chamber Music category in 2012.

The Quartet here turns to the French composer Ernest Chausson. The work of this composer is deeply individual, but it does reflect some technical influences of Wagner too, and of César Franck, his other musical hero. In general, Chausson’s compositional style bridges the gap between the ripe romanticism of Massenet and Franck, and the more introverted impressionism of Debussy.

The String Quartet in C minor was the last piece on which Chausson would ever work. He had fully scored all but part of the third and last movement when in 1899, at the age of forty-four, he suffered a fatal bicycle accident – in fact, he was engaged in writing the last movement on the very day of his accident. Relying on the drafts left behind by the composer, Vincent d’Indy completed the final movement at the request of Chausson’s family.

‘Never have I had such a success! I can’t get over it. Everyone seems to love the Concert.’ These are the words that Chausson, clearly elated, wrote in his diary after the first performance, in 1892, of his Concert in D major for violin, piano, and string quartet. The work is a model of cohesion, with strong ideas and melodies of great impact. Indeed, the autograph manuscript is covered with alterations and crossings-out, a sign of the composer’s drive towards absolute perfection in this masterpiece of chamber music.

In the Concert, the Doric String Quartet shares the stage with another exclusive Chandos artist, Jennifer Pike, who in 2002, at the age of twelve, notably became the youngest-ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. She has given performances throughout the UK and abroad and, now aged just twenty-three, is widely regarded as one of the finest violinists in Britain. Tom Poster is internationally recognised as a pianist of outstanding artistry and versatility, equally in demand as a soloist and as a chamber musician across an unusually extensive repertoire.

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Reviews

“... The more I listen to this new Chandos release with the Doric Quartet joined by Poster and Pike, the more i like it. The piece is a strange hybrid, containing elements of concerto and chamber work, and leaving performers to figure out how best to approach it. A middle-ground approach seems to work best, and that’s the solution the current players adopt. That the Concert is coupled with a very satisfying performance of Chausson’s C-minor Quartet makes this new release a recommendation.”

Jerry Dubbins – Fanfare magazine – July/August 2013

“...This disc is outstanding, notably for Jennifer Pike’s playing of the violin.”

Michael Kennedy – The Sunday Telegraph – 16 June 2013

Repertoire ***** Sound **** Interpretation *****

Carsten Dürer – Ensemble magazine – June/July 2013

Music **** (Very Good) Sound **** (Very Good)

Marcus Stäbler – Fono Forum magazine – May 2013

“A rewarding release.”

Colin Clarke – International piano magazine – May/June 2013

“A real front-runner for the Concert, and the most convincing of advocates for the more problematic String Quartet.”

Harriet Smith – Gramophone magazine – May 2013

Recording of the Month

“The recorded sound is warm and resonant without being overwhelmingly lush. Amazingly enough there appear to be no other discs in the catalogue which make the obvious coupling of theConcertand theString Quartet.But even if there were, this CD would be an immediate choice for these works. Anybody who is at all interested in late romantic chamber music should snap it up without delay... By the way the design of the CD packaging with its cover illustration of Monet’sMorning on the Seineis a thing of beauty in its own right.”

Paul Corfield Godfrey – MusicWeb-International.com – April 2013

**** - Execellent album

Jacques Bonnaure - Classica magazine - April 2013

“Altogether this is a lovely disc.”

Peter Spaull – Liverpool Daily Post – 28 February 2013

Performance ***** Recording ****

Christopher Dingle - BBC Music magazine - April 2013

“... this performance makes a rewarding case for a unique and hugely involving work a very fine recording.”

Andrew Morris – International Record Review – March 2013

Great record, and eventually even got to play it. Useless 'help' from Support.

A Balsdon

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