Richard Strauss - Metamorphosen; Piano Quartet (Nash Ensemble)

Information

Composer: Richard Strauss

• (01) Metamorphosen (arr. Rudolf Leopold)
• (02) Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 13
• (06) Prelude to Capriccio, Op. 85

The Nash Ensemble
Marianne Thorsen; Malin Broman, violin
Lawrence Power; Philip Dukes, viola
Paul Watkins; Pierre Doumenge, cello
Duncan McTier, double bass
Ian Brown, piano

Date: 2007
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67574

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Review

Lesser Strauss, maybe, but the Nash make an enjoyable case for it

The early and late Strauss on this finely recorded disc are separated by some 60 years: the Piano Quartet was completed in 1884, the year after Wagner's death, while Metamorphosen dates from the early months of 1945. Strauss at 20 had abundant promise: Strauss at 80 had managed to avoid lapsing into self-parody. The result is full of interest.

The Piano Quartet is invariably labelled “Brahmsian” and the opening makes that association clear. Yet the piece is too loosely put together, too focused on small-scale harmonic effects, to sound like Brahms for long. Anyone looking for evidence that Strauss's true metier would be programme music and opera need look no further. It's an enjoyable piece for all that, expansively dramatic and genuinely expressive fi with that touch of spontaneity which signals Strauss at his best.

The Nash Ensemble bring affectionate fervour to the Quartet, without lingering excessively over its creakier transitions. With the Capriccio Prelude and Metamorphosen I would have preferred a cooler touch - the latter in particular risks overheating, with uniformly high dynamic levels. The status of this version of Metamorphosen is ambiguous, since it derives from a draft discovered in 1990. This preceded the final scoring for 23 solo strings, and one wonders if Strauss might not have revised the former in light of the latter had he wished to preserve it - especially the very awkward harmonic switch at the end, which the final version eliminates. A curiosity, then, which inevitably sounds more like a dilution of the familiar score than a genuine alternative.

-- Arnold Whittall, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.classical-music.com/review/r-strauss-8

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/May09/Strauss_CDA67574.htm

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=151331

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/h/hyp67574a.php

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/feb/09/classicalmusicandopera.shopping3

https://www.allmusic.com/album/strauss-metamorphosen-capriccio-piano-quartet-mw0001427035

https://www.amazon.com/Strauss-Metamorphosen-Quartet-Capriccio-Prelude/dp/B000LV6CKU

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Richard Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, lieder, tone poems and other orchestral works. Strauss was also a prominent conductor throughout Germany and Austria, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. Strauss made a large number of recordings, both of his own music as well as music by German and Austrian composers. Along with Gustav Mahler, Strauss represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Strauss

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London-based Nash Ensemble is a chamber orchestra consisting of 11 regular members, though their number can vary widely according to the work performed. The group's repertory is broad, but favours modern works by English composers. Founded in 1964 by Amelia Freedman, its longtime artistic director, the Nash Ensemble took its name from the famous Nash terraces in London, designed by architect John Nash. Mostly associated with the Hyperion label, it has continued to record prolifically, with releases balanced between mainstream repertory and contemporary works in many styles and from many different countries

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/nash-ensemble-mn0001914151

http://www.nashensemble.org.uk/

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