Reynaldo Hahn - Chamber Works (Quatuor Tchalik; Dania Tchalik)

Information

Composer: Reynaldo Hahn

• String Quartet No. 1 in B flat minor
• Romance in B flat major, for violin & piano
• String Quartet No. 2 in G flat major
• Variations chantantes sur un air ancien in E flat major, for cello & piano
• Deux improvisations sur des airs irlandais, for cello & piano
• Piano Quintet in F sharp minor

Quatuor Tchalik

Gabriel Tchalik & Louise Tchalik, violins

Sarah Tchalik, viola

Marc Tchalik, cello

&

Dania Tchalik, piano

Date: 2020

Label: Alkonost Classic

https://bru-zane.com/en/pubblicazione/reynaldo-hahn/

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

Review

Founded in 2013, the Quatuor Tchalik is a family affair - Gabriel and Louise (violins), Sarah (viola) and Marc Tchalik (cello). They are frequently joined by Dania on piano. They’ve performed together from an early age, so there’s an intuitive understanding between them, which certainly reveals itself in their music-making. They’ve chosen a programme featuring the music of the Venezuelan-born French composer, Reynaldo Hahn. Best known for his songs and operettas, the chamber music comprises some of his finest scores.

Both String Quartets emerged from the composer’s last creative period. The Second World War had left its mark and, although saddened, his inspiration remained intact. The String Quartet No. 1 in A minor is steeped throughout in nostalgia. The opening measures are an awakening before the movement takes off in more joyous vein. The second movement is dreamy and wistful and is followed by an Andantino similarly cast. It’s only in the finale that any sense of gaiety emerges, where the interweaving lines between the instruments is conversational in manner. There’s a glance backwards a couple of times, recalling the joyous passage in the first movement.

Four years later in 1943 Hahn penned his Second Quartet in F major. It’s a more accomplished and elaborate affair, again in four movements. The first movement has an energy to it, but also luxuriates in beguiling lyricism. The second movement is flighty and whimsical and acts as a sort of scherzo. The slow movement is an absolute delight. Warm, expressive and poignant, it tugs at the heart strings. The work ends with a carefree finale.

The Piano Quintet was composed in 1922 and published the following year. Easy on the ear and warmly tuneful, it has immediate appeal, which explains its popularity during the composer’s lifetime. Quite why it’s not more well-known today is difficult to explain. In three movements, the opener is lavish, big-boned and highly dramatic. By contrast, the Andante non troppo lento is soulful and introspective, and one can detect a hint of Fauré. The sunny final movement has an insouciant charm, and delights for its sunny disposition.

The Romance for Violin and Piano is an enchanting salon piece, exquisitely realized in a radiantly heartfelt reading by Gabriel and Dania Tchalik. Variations chantantes sur un air ancient for cello and piano is based on an aria from Francesco Cavalli’s opera Xerse. It’s character is noble and dignified. Deux Improvisations sur des airs irlandais, also for the same instrumental combination, date from 1894 following a visit the composer made to England. The pieces are titled The Little Red-Lark and The Willow-Tree. They’re based on airs by Alfred Perceval Graves and Charles Stanford, taken from the collection Songs of Old Ireland and beautifully realized by Marc and Dania Tchalik.

All told, the Tchaliks deliver stylish and idiomatic performances. They’re blessed with an attractive and responsive acoustic, and the sound quality is second-to-none. This is a most enjoyable recording, giving pleasure from beginning to end.

-- Stephen Greenbank, MusicWeb International

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

Reynaldo Hahn (August 9, 1874 in Caracas, Venezuela – January 28, 1947 in Paris, France) was a Venezuelan, naturalised French, composer, conductor, music critic, diarist, theatre director, and salon singer. Hahn studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers included Jules Massenet, Charles Gounod, Camille Saint-Saëns and Émile Decombes. Best known as a composer of songs, he wrote in the French classical tradition of the mélodie. As a conductor Hahn specialised in Mozart. For many years he was one of the best critics on music and musicians and a influential music critic of the leading Paris daily, Le Figaro.

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

***

The Tchalik Quartet is made up of four siblings of Franco-Russian origin. They have studied with renowned chamber musicians such as Jan Talich and Vladimír Bukač (Talich Quartet), Yovan Markovitch (Quatuor Danel), Luc-Marie Aguerra (Quatuor Ysaÿe), Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartett), and especially Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet). The Quartet has played at prestigious festivals in France, and made their first tour in China in 2019. The instruments played by the members of the Quartet are exclusively made for them by luthier Philippe Mitéran and bow-maker Konstantin Cheptitski

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatuor_Tchalik

https://www.quatuortchalik.com/

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

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!