Jean Françaix; Alexandre Tansman; László Lajtha - Paris Bar (Notos Quartett)

Information

Composer: Jean Françaix; Alexandre Tansman; László Lajtha

• Françaix - Divertissement
• Tansman - Suite-divertissement
• Lajtha - Piano Quartet, Op. 6

Notos Quartett

Sindri Lederer, violin

Andrea Burger, viola

Philip Graham, cello

Antonia Köster, piano

Date: 2022

Label: Sony Classical

https://sonyclassical.de/alben/releases-details/paris-bar-francaix-tansman-lajtha

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Review

The Notos Quartet’s growing reputation has up until now been based largely on music of an impassioned nature, whether it be studio recordings of Bartók, Dohnányi, Kodály and Brahms, or live YouTube performances of Schumann and Walton. Now this piano-based quartet has turned its attention to music that, at least in the case of Françaix’s Divertissement and Tansman’s Suite-Divertissement, requires a slightly lighter touch.

Almost inevitably in works of this kind, the piano takes centre stage and, in the Françaix, Antonia Köster injects just the right degree of playfulness into the proceedings. Violinist Sindri Lederer, violist Andrea Burger and cellist Philip Graham share with Köster a highly tuned sensitivity for musical balance and palpably enjoy the freewheeling neo-Classicism of this piece.

The six-movement Tansman – an Introduction et Marche, Sarabande, Scherzino (Polka), Mélodie, Nocturne and Finale – is emotionally more wide-ranging, and the Notos responds in kind, with playing that ranges from extreme delicacy to full-on melodic rapture.

This is the premiere recording of László Lajtha’s early Piano Quartet, composed in 1925, not long after the first of his ten string quartets. The Notos relishes to the full its intoxicating, elusively Franco–Hungarian flavour.

-- Julian Haylock, The Strad

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Jean Françaix (23 May 1912, in Le Mans – 25 September 1997, in Paris) was a French composer and pianist. He studied at the Conservatoires in Le Mans and Paris, and was considered one of the best students of Nadia Boulanger. Although an accomplished pianist and often played his own works, Françaix's primary occupation was his extraordinarily active compositional career. He remained prolific throughout his life, writing over 200 pieces in a wide variety of styles. Françaix wrote pieces in many of the major large musical forms, including concerti, symphonies, opera, ballet, as well as numerous chamber works.

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

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Alexandre Tansman (12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of Jewish origin. He spent his early years in his native Poland, but lived in France for most of his life, being granted French citizenship in 1938. His music is often said to be primarily neoclassical, drawing on his Polish Jewish heritage as well as his French musical influences. Tansman wrote more than 300 works, including 7 operas, 11 ballets, 6 oratorios, 80 orchestral pages (with 9 symphonies), and numerous works of chamber and piano music. Almost all his works have been now recorded on CDs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Tansman

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László Lajtha (30 June 1892 – 16 February 1963) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist and conductor. He studied with Viktor Herzfeld in the Academy of Music in Budapest and then in Leipzig, Geneva and finally Paris with Vincent d'Indy. Lajtha served at the front during the First World War, then began teaching at the Budapest National Conservatory in 1919. After the Second World War, he was appointed Director of Music for Hungarian Radio, director of the Museum of Ethnography and of the Budapest National Conservatory. Lajtha's works include 9 symphonies, 10 string quartets, along with many others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/László Lajtha

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Since its foundation in 2007 the Notos quartet has won six first prizes as well as numerous special prizes at international competitions. In 2017 the quartet was also awarded the ECHO Klassik as newcomer of the year. The ensemble's debut album, "Hungarian Treasures" on Sony Classical/RCA, includes the world premiere recording of Béla Bartók’s piano quartet, a rediscovery for which the ensemble receives international acclaim. The quartet lists Alban Berg Quartet, Mandelring Quartet as well as Uwe-Martin Haiberg, Clemens Hagen, Menahem Pressler and András Schiff as their mentors.
http://www.notosquartett.de/en

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