A belated thank you for your support, Antonio.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Sergei Taneyev - String Quartets Nos. 2 & 6 (California String Quartet)


Information

Composer: Sergei Taneyev
  1. String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 5: I. Allegro
  2. String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 5: II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
  3. String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 5: III. Adagio espressivo
  4. String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 5: IV. Finale. Allegro vigorosamente
  5. String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 19: I. Allegro giusto
  6. String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 19: II. Adagio serioso
  7. String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 19: III. Gigue
  8. String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 19: IV. Allegro moderato

California String Quartet
Benjamin Lash, violin
Katia Popov, violin
Luanne Homzy, viola
Zach Dellinger, cello

Date: 2017
Label: Centaur

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Review

Sergey Taneyev may have lacked the strong creative personality of his teacher Tchaikovsky and his pupils Rachmaninoff and Scriabin yet, like Glazunov, he was a master craftsman who could always fall back on technical ingenuity when the inspiration dried up. Of the two complete quartet cycles currently available on disc, the eponymous Taneyev Quartet’s 1970s series on Northern Flowers possesses a dramatic sweep and edge-of-the-seat spontaneity that imparts a distinctly Russian flavour to the music, while the Carpe Diem Quartet’s Naxos series focus on lyrical intensity, delighting in cross-referencing Beethovenian models.

By comparison, the California Quartet, which benefits from a more open and natural-sounding acoustic, emphasises the Second Quartet’s indebtedness to Brahms and (especially) Dvořák, and even makes the finale’s fugal episode sound convincing – Romantic composers seemingly felt obliged to embrace Beethoven’s contrapuntal obsessions. The musicians also revel in Taneyev’s Mendelssohn-like democratising of the ensemble, creating an invigorating feeling of busyness in the outer movements. The Sixth Quartet is harmonically and thematically more adventurous, most notably in the slow movement’s climactic middle section. The finale’s unexpected juxtaposition of tempos, styles and (at one point) earthy chromatic harmonies is tricky to bring off convincingly, but the Americans segue so naturally between the various elements that one barely notices. 

-- Julian Haylock, The Strad

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Sergei Taneyev (November 25 [O.S. November 13] 1856 – June 19 [O.S. June 6] 1915) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author. Among his teachers at the Moscow Conservatory are Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (composition) and Nikolai Rubinstein (piano). Taneyev's specialized field of study was counterpoint, and he was considered one of the greatest of contrapuntalists. Taneyev's compositions, including nine complete string quartets and four symphonies, reveal his mastery of classical composition technique, but many of them were considered "dry and laboured in character".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Taneyev

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The California String Quartet was formed in 2002 by members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Their collaboration earned them the “Most Outstanding Chamber Ensemble” award from the LA Weekly, and the respect and admiration of audiences, critics and peers in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California. The California String Quartet has appeared on TV and on classical radio K-Mozart numerous times and has been a guest of some of the most prestigious chamber music series. The Quartet collaborates with many contemporary composers and has premiered numerous of new works.
http://www.lamusicalsalon.org/california-string-quartet/
https://www.californiastringquartet.com/

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