Various Composers - Silhouettes (Dana Zemtsov; Anna Fedorova)

Information

• Rebecca Clarke - Sonata for Viola & Piano
• Claude Debussy - La Plus que Lente (transcription: E. Strakhov)
• Arne Werkman - Suite for Viola and Piano, Op. 51
• Claude Debussy - Clair de Lune (transcription: V. Borisovsky)
• Darius Milhaud - Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano, Op. 240
• George Enescu - Concert Piece for Viola and Piano
• Claude Debussy - Beau Soir (transcription: A. Grechaninov)

Dana Zemtsov, viola

Anna Fedorova, piano

Date: 2020

Label: Channel Classics

https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/silhouettes

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Review

Dana Zemtsov’s previous albums for this label (4/15, 9/15) confirm she is a sensitive and virtuoso player with a flair for intelligent programme-building. So it proves again on this latest release, interweaving three arrangements (by different hands) of Debussy miniatures with more substantial items by Rebecca Clarke, Milhaud, Enescu and a Dutch composer new to me, Arne Werkman (b1960). The last-named’s Suite (2007), a bracing four-movement set, revels in its Hindemithian angularity and neoclassicism. This contrasts nicely with Milhaud’s gentler, more relaxed First Sonata (1944), another positively backward-looking work with a whiff of Pulcinella. Of the few rival accounts of the Milhaud, Paul Cortese’s is perhaps the most characteristic (ASV), but Zemtsov’s greater fluency is winning.

The finest, weightiest item here is the Clarke Sonata (1919), of which there are over 20 competing accounts currently available (excluding those transcribed for cello). This newcomer is as strong as any of their main rivals, with Zemtsov’s warmly expressive playing matched by Fedorova’s nuanced accompaniment. They are not as fast in the opening movement (nor the slowest) as Clarke’s Impetuoso marking might suggest – and as several others, Barbara Buntrock (Avie, 9/14) for example, have read it – but their playing compels attention throughout. The Scherzo is delightfully played but the main focus is the Adagio – Allegro finale which, by the way, runs to 11'10", not the 4'00" that the booklet erroneously gives.

The other performance that impressed me here was of Enescu’s wonderful Concert Piece (1906). There are fewer recordings currently available than this piece deserves but competition is fierce: Yuri Bashmet’s beautifully toned account (the first on CD – RCA, 12/90) and Maxim Rysanov’s fine alternative (Avie, 6/07). Zemtsov’s is much more than a viable alternative, exploring its vein of melancholy with real feeling. What tips the balance towards this new version, indeed throughout, is Channel Classics’ demonstration-quality sound – noted already by the disc’s featuring favourably in October’s High Fidelity review (page 104).

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/chamber/silhouettes/

https://www.thestrad.com/reviews/dana-zemtsov-silhouettes/10985.article

https://www.allmusic.com/album/silhouettes-mw0003369383

https://www.audaud.com/silhouettes-anna-fedorova-piano-dana-zemtsov-viola-channel-classics/

https://www.amazon.com/Silhouettes-Anna-Federova/dp/B085RPXHXK

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Dana Zemtsov is one of the most promising viola soloists of her generation. Born into a family of musicians in 1992, Dana received her first music lessons from her grandmother and her parents. She continued her studies with viola virtuoso Michael Kugel. Dana teaches regularly at places such as the Kuhmo Festival, Cividale International Masterclasses and the Davidsbündler Music Academy in The Hague. Together with family members, she annually organizes the Zemtsov Viola Masterclasses. So far, she has released five critically acclaimed albums, all on the Channel Classics Records label.

http://www.danazemtsov.com/

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Anna Fedorova (born February 27, 1990 in Kyiv) is a Ukrainian concert pianist. After graduating from the Lysenko Musical College, she studied under Leonid Margarius at the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, and under Norma Fisher at the Royal College of Music in London. Fedorova performs as soloist, chamber musician and with symphony orchestras in the major concert halls across Europe, the US, Mexico, Argentina, and parts of Asia. She signed for Channel Classics in 2018, and by the end of 2022, will have released three solo piano albums, four chamber music albums, and all of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos.

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

https://www.annafedorova.com/

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