Hartmann Violn

Allison Brewster Franzetti's debut on Naxos invites the listener to compare and contrast four early modern piano works, performed with muscular vigor and sharp intelligence, and presented in a terrific-sounding album. However, this disc's title is slightly inaccurate, for among the twentieth century piano sonatas by Alban Berg, Paul Hindemith, and Karl Amadeus Hartmann is placed Arnold Schoenberg's Three Piano Pieces, which is neither a sonata nor even of the same century as the other works, as it dates from 1894.

As a drummer for a Dutch infantry regiment, German born Friedrich Hartmann Graf (1727-1795) was captured during the War of the Austrian Succession. Upon his release, he took up the flute and became a traveling virtuoso. After a stint in The Hague with his older brother Christian Ernst (1723-1805), he accepted a position in Augsburg where he composed most of his 46 flute concertos. All four on this disc follow the standard format of ‘fast-slow-fast’, and were probably composed in the 1770’s, the first 2 likely near the end of the decade. Written in C Major, the opening ‘Allegro’ of the first concerto is thoroughly engaging.

John McCabe - Hartmann Variations, Chagall Windows & Notturni ed alba
(Gomez - Hallé Orchestra - Loughran - CBSO - Frémaux )
EAC 099pb4 Rip | FLAC+CUE, LOGs | 1 CD | 71:38 min
330 MB | 300 dpi PDF Complete Scans
Genre: 20th Century - Contemporary | Label: EMI

Hello buddies! Here you are an OOP cd with several orchestral works by the gifted British pianist and composer John McCabe. Enjoy!!

The Hartmann, completed in 1933, shows the influence of Berg's Lyric Suite as well as Bartók's 1928 quartet, with which it shares this outstanding disc. Hartmann went into "inner exile" after the Nazi takeover, refusing to allow his work to be published or performed in Germany. Performed abroad, the quartet won a Swiss prize in 1936. It's a powerful work, with a dark, tragic opening that gives way to furious outbursts and energetic declamations. Making an immediate impact, it should not be missed, especially in the Zehetmair Quartet's spontaneous, tingling performance

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, although a relatively small orchestra, is one of the most adventurous orchestras in Europe and one of the best orchestras in a country that has more symphonies per capita than any other country. Based in Helsinki, it is the primary radio orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company.