Amy Beach - Piano Quintet; Piano Trio; Theme & Variations (Ambache)

Information

Composer: Amy Beach

• (01) Piano Quintet in F sharp minor, Op. 67
• (04) Theme & Viariations for flute & string quartet, Op. 80
• (11) Trio for violin, cello & piano, Op. 150

The Ambache
Helen Keen, flute
Elizabeth Layton, violin
Ruth Ehrlich, violin
Martin Outram, viola
Naomi Butterworth, cello
Diana Ambache, piano

Date: 1998
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209752

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

Chamber music from one of America's pioneering women composers from a group who regularly explore unusual repertoire

It was Martin Roscoe and the Endellion Quartet who first opened my ears to the masterly qualities of Amy Beach's substantial and lovely Piano Quintet. First heard in 1908, it is a noble outpouring, big-hearted and melodious, yet soundly argued and satisfyingly constructed too. By the side of Roscoe and the Endellion, these newcomers adopt a more yielding, lusciously romantic approach, but perhaps there isn't quite the same degree of formal elegance and interpretative prowess on show. Sympathetic as these newcomers are, their playing doesn't stir the imagination to quite the same extent as that on the ASV disc. The Chandos recording, too, is perhaps neither as full-bodied nor well defined as that of its rival: tuttis are a touch overbright and piano focus could be sharper.

The remainder of The Ambache's all-Beach programme is, however, well worthy of investigation. The Theme and Variations for flute and string quartet was first performed in September 1916 in San Francisco. The theme itself (taken from Beach's own part-song, An Indian Lullaby) has a serenity and tender simplicity, spawning six eventful variations, the fifth of which (a long-breathed Largo di molto) is the work's emotional kernel. The Piano Trio is a much later piece (it was premiered in January 1939, with the 71-year-old Beach herself at the piano), and the second of its three exquisitely crafted movements again makes use of earlier ideas (the perky miniature Scherzo at the heart of this Lento espressivo is based on a folk-tune from her Op. 64 Piano Suite, Eskimos). Like the Theme and Variations, it's a highly appealing creation, deftly and affectionately performed here. Sound and balance, too, seem to improve for these last two items. All in all, a very likeable release.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/nov99/beach.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Quintet-Variations-String-Quartet/dp/B00001T6KP

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amy Beach (September 5, 1867 – December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. She was one of the first American composers to succeed without the benefit of European training, and one of the most respected and acclaimed American composers of her era. As a pianist, she was acclaimed for concerts she gave featuring her own music in the United States and in Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Beach

***

The Ambache or Ambache Chamber Ensemble is an English group that can consist of anywhere from three to 30 musicians. It was founded in 1984 by pianist Diana Ambache specifically to accompany her in Mozart piano concertos, and the music of Mozart continues to make up a large part of the repertory. The other primary focus of the Ambache Ensemble is the interpretation of music composed by women. The Ambache Ensemble does not use a conductor; however, that has not prevented the group from recording extensively, as it has appeared on the Meridian, Naxos, Virgin Classics, Chandos, and Signum Classics labels.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ambache-chamber-ensemble-mn0002164538

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!