Jurgis Karnavičius - String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 (Vilnius String Quartet)

Information

Composer: Jurgis Karnavičius

• (01) String Quartet No. 1, Op. 1
• (05) String Quartet No. 2, Op. 6

Vilnius String Quartet

Dalia Kuznecovaitė, & Artūras Šilalė, violins

Kristina Anusevičiūtė, viola

Augustinas Vasiliauskas, cello

Date: 2021

Label: Ondine

https://www.ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=2.2&oid=6706

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

Review

Jurgis Karnavičius’s work is newly rediscovered in his native Lithuania, though his historical importance has always been clear. Born in 1884, he studied and worked in Russia (St Petersburg, where his teachers included Liadov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov and Steinberg), but in 1927 he made a conscious decision to return to the land of his birth and be a genuinely Lithuanian composer. Indeed, he wrote the first Lithuanian opera of the period following independence, in 1933. But his Russian training was very obvious in his music, and he remained an isolated figure.

The Quartet No 1 dates from 1913, after his graduation. It is extremely classical in conception and gesture, in the traditional four movements, though it is tonally quite adventurous (one is never quite certain where the third movement is going after its serpentine, imitative opening), and the abrupt contrasts of the second-movement Allegro – Moderato – Allegro are genuinely striking.

Dating from four years later, the Quartet No 2 is darker in tone, while still essentially lyrical. Both the first movement, Molto moderato – Allegro moderato, and the third, Andante, have a real sense of a build-up of power, as though under pressure from external events, and even in the notionally cheerful second (Allegretto – Sostenuto – Allegretto) one has the sense that the cheerfulness is hard won, while the final Allegro has definite dark undertones. The Vilnius Quartet miss none of these nuances, and Ondine’s recording team have done them full justice. A fascinating discovery.

-- Ivan Moody, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2021/Apr/Karnavicius-quartets-ODE13512.htm

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2021/Mar/Karnavicius-quartets-ODE13512.htm

https://www.thestrad.com/reviews/vilnius-quartet-karnaviius/13522.article

https://artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2021/02/18/karnavicius-string-quartets/

https://www.pizzicato.lu/attraktive-quartette-aus-litauen/

https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=ODE1351-2&languageid=EN

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

Jurgis Karnavičius (23 April 1884 – 22 December 1941) was a Lithuanian composer of classical music and a forerunner of the development of Lithuanian operatic works. Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, he studied law, music theory and composition in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was a professor at the Leningrad Conservatory of Music. Returning to Lithuania in 1927, Karnavičius taught at the Conservatory of Music in Kaunas, and played the viola with the orchestra of the State Opera. His first opera, Gražina, which premiered on February 16, 1933, is considered among the first of the "Lithuanian National Operas".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurgis_Karnavičius_(composer)

***

Having made its debut in 1965, the Vilnius String Quartet has been one of the leading collectives in the cultural life of Lithuania. Its intriguing and remarkable programmes introduce the Lithuanian listeners with both the music masterpieces and lesser known repertoire. The Quartet’s has made over 40 recordings on various Lithuanian, Russian, German, French, Finnish, Swedish, British and American labels. Current members include: Dalia Kuznecovaitė (violin, student of Audronė Vainiūnaitė), Artūras Šilalė (violin), Kristina Anusevičiūtė (viola), and Deividas Dumčius (cello, student of Augustinas Vasiliausksas).

https://www.filharmonija.lt/en/performers/vsq.html

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

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!