Ernst Toch - Tanz-Suite; Cello Concerto (Spectrum Concerts Berlin; Christian Poltéra)

Information

Composer: Ernst Toch

• (01) Tanz-Suite, Op. 30
• (07) Cello Concerto, Op. 35

Christian Poltéra, cello

Spectrum Concerts Berlin

Thomas Carroll, conductor

Date: 2006

Label: Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559282

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

The two works on this disc date from the early to mid 1920s and very much belong to the “new objectivity” of composers such as Weill and early Hindemith. Indeed, when listening to the Cello Concerto, the latter’s Kammermusik series comes readily to mind. The Dance Suite, inventively scored for flute, clarinet, violins, viola, double bass, and percussion, is quite a substantial piece as well, lasting nearly half an hour and featuring a typically manic, highly stylized take on theoretically popular music. Both works are extremely acerbic harmonically, often verging on atonality, but at the same time quite recognizably melodic and often shot through with a curiously haunting, bittersweet lyricism.

In short, these works are very much redolent of their time and place, and if the period or the idiom interests you, then so will these very polished and well recorded performances. There’s really nothing more that needs to be said: the players are uniformly fine, with cellist Christian Poltéra making the concerto sound as close to effortless as it probably ever can. The music may be gnarly, but it’s also highly virtuosic and often fun (particularly in the Dance Suite), and this latter quality comes through quite effectively. In sum, this is a fine disc, but one for specialized tastes.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/feb07/Toch_8559282.htm

https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.559282&languageid=EN

https://www.amazon.com/Tanz-Suite-Cello-Concerto-Ernst-Toch/dp/B000IY066G

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Ernst Toch (7 December 1887 – 1 October 1964) was an Austrian composer of classical music and film scores. In his youth he was a pianist of considerable stature, performing to acclaim throughout much of western Europe. Following Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, Toch went into exile, first to Paris and then London. He moved to the US in 1935, began composing film music for Hollywood and became a professor at the University of Southern California. Toch was considered one of the great avant-garde composers in the pre-Nazi era; he wrote music for films, symphonies, chamber music & chamber operas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Toch

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Founded by cellist Frank Sumner Dodge in 1988, Spectrum Concerts Berlin is a chamber ensemble that performs music from the baroque and classical periods as well as 20th century and contemporary chamber music. The ensemble features a number of musicians, including Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Robert D. Levin, Eldar Nebolsin, Maxim Rysanov, Clara-Jumi Kang, Torleif Thedéen, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Jens Peter Maintz and many others. A sister group, Spectrum Concerts Berlin-USA, Inc., was founded in New York City in 2005 for the purpose of extending the work of the ensemble.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_Concerts_Berlin
http://www.spectrumconcerts.com/

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Christian Poltéra (born 1977 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss cellist. He studied cello with Nancy Chumachenko, Boris Pergamenschikow and Heinrich Schiff. During his student years Poltéra was already drawing notice as a soloist, and by the turn of the new century he was regarded among the most talented young Swiss cellists. He regularly appears as soloist with leading orchestras and has collaborated in chamber music with artists such as Mitsuko Uchida and Gidon Kremer. Poltéra has recorded for various labels, including BIS, Chandos, DG, and Naxos. Poltéra plays a 1675 Antonio Casini cello.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/christian-polt-eacute-ra-mn0001691728/biography

http://www.christianpoltera.com/

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