Prices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Lalo: Concerto Russe & Piano Concerto
Jean-Jacques Kantorow follows his critically acclaimed recording of music by Édouard Lalo with a second disc featuring two further works that were originally intended for Sarasate, the brief Fantaisie-ballet on themes from Lalo’s ballet Namouna, and the large-scale Concerto russe. The Concerto russe borrows themes from two wedding songs included by Rimsky-Korsakov in his collection 100 Russian Folk Songs. The disc closes with the Piano Concerto from 1888 – the composer’s final major work, played by Pierre-Alain Volondat. “Edouard Lalo's music is rarely played now, so this album is a welcome addition to his discography...Pierre-Alain Volondat is the heavyweight soloist in the Piano Concerto, Kees Bakels the energetic conductor.” The Guardian, 9th August 2012 **** “Four of the five works show off Kantorow's transcendent virtuosity, but the finest is the 1888 Piano Concerto, well interpreted by Volondat.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2012 **** “The Piano Concerto...could hardly be played with greater assurance and affection than by Volondat...Kantorow's brilliance evokes memories of Sarasate himself. The recordings are exemplary in sound and balance.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  |
“This collection opens splendidly with a spankingly good performance of the Overture to Leroi d'Ys, with its melodrama, brassy splashes and a rather memorable swooning cello solo. It has all the gusto and panache of a Beecham performance and is certainly the finest account on disc since Paray's old Mercury version. Then come the two concertante violin works, both written with Sarasate in mind (separated by the comparatively familiar Scherzo, given here with rumbustious zest). Why are they not better known? The Violin Concerto has plenty going for it, a nicely coloured palette, a disarmingly nostalgic lyrical melody to haunt the first movement, followed by a delightful, songful Andante, which Olivier Charlier plays with engaging delicacy.
But the real surprise is the Concerto russe, virtually another Symphonie espagnole, but with Slavic rather than Spanish ideas, and very good ones too. Its lovely slow movement, the 'Chant russe', opens with a chorale and the violin steals in with a genuine Russian folk tune, which (with its rhythmic snaps) is astonishingly reminiscent of the Bruch Scottish Fantasy. Charlier plays it most tenderly and the result is gently ravishing.
The 'Intermezzo', with its off-beat timpani interjections and catchy main theme, is delicious, rhythmically sparkling in Charlier's hands, and there's another luscious secondary theme to come in the middle. The finale opens with a burst of sombre Slavonic passion from the strings, and another folk melody arrives. Soon the music quickens, culminating in a vivacious conclusion, with Charlier's contribution always lightly sparkling. Highly recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
|
|
| |
|
