Flory A. Van Beek

Although Korngold’s ‘complete works for violin and piano’ make up a reasonably full disc, it is only fair to point out that the Violin Sonata is the single work that is not an arrangement from one of his other pieces. Yet this Sonata, written at the age of 15 for Carl Flesch and Artur Schnabel no less, is a fine example of his early style, with its echoes of Zemlinsky and early Schoenberg. The young Dutch violinist Sonja van Beek and German pianist Andreas Frölich negotiate its challenges with ease: as in Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata, the pianist has as tough a role as the melody instrument. Much Ado about Nothing is one of several arrangements of a suite of four movements derived from incidental music to Shakespeare’s play written in 1918, performed here with affection and a silken suavity. The remainder of the repertoire is made up of arrangements of Korngold lollipops, hit numbers from his operas, such as the unforgettable ‘Marietta’s Lied’ from Die tote Stadt, arranged by the composer as salon pieces and popularised by Kreisler and his ilk. Here, the almost vocal qualities of van Beek’s tone come into their own. An essential disc for the Korngold addict.

The goal of this recording is to celebrate French music through its past: its antique dances, its pastoral ambiences, its atmospheres of legend… starting with a homage to François Couperin. Often considered as the very quintessence of French musical art, this very great composer and harpsichordist succeeded in charming musicians from all times and places, even far removed from his personal universe. We know, for example, that Brahms held him in high esteem. Nearer to our own time, Hendrik Andriessen (1982-1981) – a major figure in Dutch music – borrowed a lovely melody from our composer (from La Basque, in the Second Book of Harpsichord Pieces), as the theme for a set of variations composed in 1944. Led by a tender and agile flute, accompanied by a harp and strings, the work discreetly evokes the rhythms of the antique dances (the Sicilienne, the Chaconne, the Gavotte…) and also contains a ‘scholastic’ fugato; other more lyrical or meditative moments confer an intensity and even a nobility of expression on these charming ‘concert variations’ that make one regret the little reaction that Andriessen's music has suscitated outside of his own country.

The history of Brahms' Op. 34 is quite remarkable. The piece was originally composed in 1863 for a string quintet with two cellos. However, after a few rehearsals and a disappointing private concert, he decided to rework it as a sonata for two pianos…

While Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was above all else a dazzlingly accomplished harpsichordist, his considerable output for flute can easily be explained by the milieu in which he worked for nearly thirty years. The Berlin court of Frederick II was in fact governed by two flautists: the king himself, and his teacher and accredited and exclusive composer, the famous Johann Joachim Quantz. His five flute concertos were derived from a group of seven concertos for harpsichord written between 1747 and 1755. It is very likely that Emanuel Bach himself made all these transcriptions. The versions for flute nearly always date from the same year as the corresponding harpsichord concerto, which suggests virtually simultaneous conceptions.

A recording dedicated to Frank Martin, an important figure of 20th century music, faithful to the tonal tradition, while experimenting with forms and instrumentation; he was also one of the first "classical" composers to have written for the electric guitar!

Michaël Levinas - Le Petit Prince - Orchestre de Picardie, Arie van Beek (2017) {Claves Records}
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© 2017 Claves Records
Classical / Modern Classical / 21st Century / Opera

World Premiere Recording. Born in Paris, Michael Levinas went through the classical and high level teaching of the National Superior Conservatory of Paris, working at the same time with the famous class of accompaniment, orchestra conducting and composing. In that institution he met the great musicians who made the deepest impression on him, in particular, the pianists Vlado Perlemuter, Yvonne Lefébure, and also Yvonne Loriod to whom he showed his first works.