Reissue CD Reviews
HINDEMITH: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 11, No. 4; BRAHMS: Trio for Horn Violin, and Piano; SHOSTAKOVICH: Quintet for Piano and Strings in G Minor - Artur Balsam, piano/Boris Kroyt, viola/John Barrows, horn/Jac Gorodetzky, violin/Budapest Q. - Bridge
More rare Library of Congress performances, 1951 to 1966
Published on July 06, 2005
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HINDEMITH: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 11, No. 4; BRAHMS:
Trio for Horn Violin, and Piano in E-flat; SHOSTAKOVICH: Quintet for
Piano and Strings in G Minor, Op. 57 - Artur Balsam, piano/Boris Kroyt,
viola/John Barrows, horn/Jac Gorodetzky, violin/Budapest String Quartet
Bridge 9175 74:08 (Distrib. Albany)****:
Some excellent chamber music resurfaces here, from three distinct concert dates from the Library of Congress, 1951-1966, with the earliest performance’s being the Shostakovich Piano Quartet (18 December 1951) and the last the rare Hindemith collaboration (4 March 1966) with the under-represented Boris Kroyt (1897-1969) and the under-rated brilliant Polish pianist Artur Balsam (1906-1994). Filling in the middle of this excellent program is the Brahms Horn Trio with French horn virtuoso John Barrows (1913-1974), whose inscription of this same work with Joseph Szigeti and Mieczyslaw Horszowski on Mercury is on my must-restore list of performances. The violinist for the Brahms, Jac Gorodetzky, like violist Boris Kroyt, was a member of the Budapest String Quartet who rarely appeared outside of the ensemble, so we have a double opportunity to hear them in more intimate repertory.
The star of these programs is Artur Balsam, whose effortless poise in the diverse, musical styles sounds entirely natural, belying some of the grueling finger work that marks each of the compositions. The Hindemith Sonata (1919) has a more romantic cast than his other, more severe and polyphonically austere viola works, so Kroyt’s viola has many opportunities to show off its luster. The knotty last movement has Kroyt all over the fingerboard, making a virtuoso showpiece of a work meant to demonstrate the composer’s own skills on his chosen instrument. The Brahms Horn Trio (10 April 1952) enjoys a sober but impassioned balance which bespeaks the players’ delight in each other’s sonority. Gorodetzky’s violin is crisp and accurate, while Barrows’ horn alternately evokes the sound of the Black Forest and the mournful elegy in memory of the composer’s mother. The G Minor Shostakovich Quintet (1940) is a busy piece, not without its moments of profound sentiment in the Intermezzo (Lento) movement. The composer pays homage to Bach in the opening two movements, breaking the somber mood with a jaunty Scherzo, the middle of the Quintet’s extended arch-form. All dashed off rather brilliantly and in fine bravura fashion by Balsam and the Budapest Quartet - to whose respective recorded legacies this disc proves an invaluable addition.
--Gary Lemco
Bridge 9175 74:08 (Distrib. Albany)****:
Some excellent chamber music resurfaces here, from three distinct concert dates from the Library of Congress, 1951-1966, with the earliest performance’s being the Shostakovich Piano Quartet (18 December 1951) and the last the rare Hindemith collaboration (4 March 1966) with the under-represented Boris Kroyt (1897-1969) and the under-rated brilliant Polish pianist Artur Balsam (1906-1994). Filling in the middle of this excellent program is the Brahms Horn Trio with French horn virtuoso John Barrows (1913-1974), whose inscription of this same work with Joseph Szigeti and Mieczyslaw Horszowski on Mercury is on my must-restore list of performances. The violinist for the Brahms, Jac Gorodetzky, like violist Boris Kroyt, was a member of the Budapest String Quartet who rarely appeared outside of the ensemble, so we have a double opportunity to hear them in more intimate repertory.
The star of these programs is Artur Balsam, whose effortless poise in the diverse, musical styles sounds entirely natural, belying some of the grueling finger work that marks each of the compositions. The Hindemith Sonata (1919) has a more romantic cast than his other, more severe and polyphonically austere viola works, so Kroyt’s viola has many opportunities to show off its luster. The knotty last movement has Kroyt all over the fingerboard, making a virtuoso showpiece of a work meant to demonstrate the composer’s own skills on his chosen instrument. The Brahms Horn Trio (10 April 1952) enjoys a sober but impassioned balance which bespeaks the players’ delight in each other’s sonority. Gorodetzky’s violin is crisp and accurate, while Barrows’ horn alternately evokes the sound of the Black Forest and the mournful elegy in memory of the composer’s mother. The G Minor Shostakovich Quintet (1940) is a busy piece, not without its moments of profound sentiment in the Intermezzo (Lento) movement. The composer pays homage to Bach in the opening two movements, breaking the somber mood with a jaunty Scherzo, the middle of the Quintet’s extended arch-form. All dashed off rather brilliantly and in fine bravura fashion by Balsam and the Budapest Quartet - to whose respective recorded legacies this disc proves an invaluable addition.
--Gary Lemco
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