Robert Fürstenthal - Chamber Music Vol. 3 (The Rossetti Ensemble)

Information

Composer: Robert Fürstenthal

• Horn Sonata in D Minor, Op. 54
• Cello Sonata in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 44
• Oboe Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 50
• Viola Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 60a
• String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 40

The Rossetti Ensemble

Nicholas Korth, horn

Timothy Lowe, cello

Malcolm Messiter, oboe

Martyn Jackson, violin

Sara Trickey, violin

Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola

John Lenehan, piano

Date: 2020

Label: Toccata Classics

https://toccataclassics.com/product/robert-furstenthal-chamber-music-volume-three/

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Review

This latest installment of Furstenthal’s music features four instrumental sonatas and a string quartet. Like the preceding volumes, the music here is of very fine quality, and timeless.

Furstenthal’s promising musical career was derailed when Austria was invaded in 1838. The young composer fled to the United States — and never wrote another note.

Not until 1973, that is, when Furstenthal reconnected with his first love. Thanks to her encouragement, he began writing again and continued composing for the rest of his life (Furstenthal died in 2016, aged 96.)

Furstenthal said that “when I compose, I am back in Vienna.” That sense of nostalgia is strong in many of his works. Furstenthal’s style is that of the late-Romantic. Some of these sonatas reminded me of Robert Fuch’s music.

Furstenthal’s instrumental sonatas have a deceptively simple charm about them. The technical challenges for the instrumentalists seem modest. But the works demand a high degree of musicianship to fully realize their expressiveness.

The members of the Rossetti Ensemble deliver, as they have on the previous volumes. The performances sound both sympathetic and invested.

Furstenthal was a composer with something to say. Though it was long delayed, I’m glad Toccata Classics gave him the opportunity to be heard.

-- WTJU

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Robert Fürstenthal (27 June 1920 – 16 November 2016) is a composer of Austrian origin. Born into a Jewish family in Vienna, he demonstrated his taste for music early and practiced the piano, but had no academic training due to the Nazi's control of music institutions. Fürstenthal left Vienna for London in 1939, then settled in San Francisco in 1940. He enlisted in the US Army and from 1942 to 1945 served in an intelligence division in Europe. Fürstenthal composed 160 lieder on German and English poems, and about forty chamber works. His style was influenced by Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf and Gustav Mahler.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fürstenthal

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The Rossetti Ensemble was created in 2018 based on long-standing collaborations between pianist John Lenehan, violinist Sara Trickey, violist Sarah-Jane Bradley and cellist Tim Lowe. In addition to the standard piano quartet repertoire, the group is flexible, working with other high profile instrumentalists and singers to produce imaginative and varied programmes. Its performance of transcription of Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin for oboe and piano quartet has been particularly well received, and future projects include an exciting mix of Bach and Piazzolla. The group's first CDs was issued by Toccata Classics.
https://www.rossettiensemble.online/

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