Silver Passion For Life

This album is a collection of musical expressions of passion, pieces by Hungarian composers from the 19th century to the present day. Franz Liszt was actually an Austrian-German cosmopolitan, but in his art and deeds he clearly declared himself Hungarian. Les Préludes is casting the struggles of life and, in a Faustian sense, the conflicts of creative work into music. Ferenc Lehár's life work is unquestionably connected to the peculiarly Austro-Hungarian musical genre of operetta. While the operettas and dances of the 19th century express and serve a real or desired feeling of life, the peculiarity of Lehár’s art is the clear connection it shows to the nostalgia that is typical of the 20th century. Ernő Dohnányi's musical thought is typical of late Romanticism, preserving the tools of German Romanticism, at the same time delicately and seamlessly integrating folk music into his art.

The works for viola da gamba of Elizabethan soldier and composer Tobias Hume are wonderfully eccentric, highly entertaining, and often deeply moving, but not often recorded, so new recordings are always welcome. This 2009 Hyperion disc by German gambist Susanne Heinrich may not be the most poetic, soulful Hume recording ever made – that honor would go to the incomparable Jordi Savall – but it is nevertheless a fine addition to the composer's catalog. With her warm but penetrating tone, polished but passionate technique, and acute sensitivity, Heinrich is a first-class player and interpreter, and her performances are wholly sympathetic to the music. Her account of the bleak "I am Melancholy" is as effective as that of the droll "Tickell, tickell," and her reading of the cheerful "Life" is as moving as that of the grim "Deth." Recorded in transparent and present digital sound, this disc deserves to be heard by all admirers of music for viola da gamba.