SIBELIUS: String Quartet in D minor, Op. "Voces Intimae." KAIPAINEN:
String Quartet No. 7, Op. 87 "Batsheba." TIENSUU: Rock GRIEG: Holberg Suite, Op, 40. YAMADA: Songs. SHOSTAKOVICH: Three
Fantastic Dances, Op. 5. GEIRR TVEVITT: Five Folksongs. NIELSEN: Humoresque-
Bagateller, Op. 11 The Kalmus Quartet, formed in 2002, consists of violinists Terhi Paldamus
and Jukka Untamala (who are married), violist Jussi Tuhkanen, and cellist
Petja Kainulainen. Apparently they are important on Finland's
contemporary music scene. Here they offer a program beginning with the
only string
quartet composed by Sibelius (which he subtitled "Intimate Voices,")
a staple of the repertory. Then we have
the String Quartet No. 7 by Jouni Kaipainen, subtitled "Batsheba." Program
notes give a detailed account of this music, and why it has that name,
none of which seems to relate to the music itself. And the program ends
with a short work by Jukka Tiensiiu called Rock, which here
receives its world premiere recording. The Sibelius quartet has been
recorded
often, and this new version is not competitive. Om the other two works,
we hear some of the ugliest sounds ever made by four string instruments.
All of this has been recorded most realistically. Approach with
extreme caution! Some months ago this site unenthusiastically mentioned a Pentatone SACD of Dvorák's Symphonies 7 and 8 with the Houston Symphony under its new conductor, Andrés Orozco-Estrada (REVIEW). Now we have another SACD of the Czech composer's music, this one featuring the From the New World symphony. It is quite an interesting interpretation as Estrada micro-manages many phrases bringing out some orchestral detail usually unnoticed. This is a fine performance but it has keen competition. There are dozens of recordings of this beloved symphony; many of them have been mentioned on this site. On milti-channel there are versions by Jansons, Harnoncourt and Pentatone's early issue with Kreizberg (REVIEW).This new issue isn't really competitive as playing time is so brief. Only two Slavonic Dances are included and more should have been included. Playing time is onlyh 54:16. R.E.B. (April 2017) |
|