Search - Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Elliott Carter :: Romances & Elegies for Viola & Piano

Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Elliott Carter
Romances & Elegies for Viola & Piano
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (7) - Disc #1
1. Lachrymae, reflections on a song of Dowland, for viola & piano, Op. 48
2. Romance for viola & piano
3. Elegy, for viola (or cello) & piano
4. Elegy for viola & piano in G minor, Op. 44
5. Romance oubliée, for viola (or violin, or cello) & piano, S. 132 (LW D16)
6. Adagio for violin (or viola or cello) & piano
7. Elégie for viola or cello & piano, Op. 30

CD Details

All Artists: Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Elliott Carter, Alexander Glazunov, Franz Liszt, Zoltan Kodaly, Henri Vieuxtemps, Robert Levin
Title: Romances & Elegies for Viola & Piano
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: ECM Records
Release Date: 4/18/2000
Album Type: Original recording reissued
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Instruments, Strings
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 042282774422, 042282774422

Synopsis

Amazon.com

This elegiac music seems very well-suited to the dark sound of the viola. Kashkashian plays it simply and very expressively, without slides or sentimentality; glowing and shimmering, her tone is pure, warm, inflected. The program has great variety. Britten's mournful Lachrymae (Reflections on a Song of John Dowland) comes to an agitated climax and ends with an old chorale. Vaughan Williams's Romance is a peaceful pastoral; Carter's Elegy is somber, gentle, and hardly dissonant; Glasunov's Elegy is very romantic. Liszt's Romance is very rhetorical--half recitation, half lamentation--but ends serenely. Kodály's Adagio, solemn and inward, comes to a passionate climax; the opening returns in the highest register. Vieuxtemps's romantic virtuoso piece has musical substance as well as passion, rhetoric, a big climax, and a wild, brilliant ending. --Edith Eisler

CD Reviews

Sensitive Playing

Grady Harp | 09/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was pleased to see this recording By Kim Kashkashian. The interplay between the viola and the piano is exceptional and it is clear these two performers have a fine sense of the music. The typical ECM recording excellence adds to this effect. This is twentieth century and somber music. The warmth of Kashkashian's viola makes this recording the perfect match for a fine bordeaux and a quiet evening of listening."

Songs for Winter Solstice

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 12/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Perhaps none of the composers of this lovely set of works for viola and piano had in mind the death theme surrounding the winter solstice, the end of the season of growing, a time for pause and even sleep to prepare for the rumblings of rebirth, but that is what comes to mind while listening to this very well chosen collection of elegies.

Violist Kim Kashkashian and pianist Robert Levin seem extensions of each other, so well melded are these performances. While most will be familiar with the gorgeous Benjamin Britten 'Lachrymae, reflections on a song of Dowland', there are enough unfamiliar works to spark even the most experienced listener. Some highlights are the Vaughn Williams 'Romance', the Adagio of Zoltan Kodaly, and the Vieuxtemps 'Elegie'. The spectrum even manages to include Elliot Carter's 'Elegy' so you can rest assured there is a wide spread of periods and oddly enough they all create a cohesive program.

Kashkashian's tone is never forced, always refined, and never pushing towards heart on the sleeve. This is a beautiful recording, especially for winter nights. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 05"