Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence; Korngold: String Sextet

by Nash Ensemble

Overview

The subtitle of Tchaikovsky's String Sextet in D minor, Op. 70, "Souvenir de Florence," suggests that it is among the composer's lighter works, but really, only its elegant third movement, which apparently occurred to the composer during an Italian sojourn, fits that characterization. As for the rest, Tchaikovsky labored over the music for several years, putting it aside and taking it up again. The sextet has an intensity peculiar to late Tchaikovsky, plunging in on an unresolved chord right at the outset as if the troubled dialogue it embodies were already underway before the music began. The Nash Ensemble captures the way Tchaikovsky's chamber music seems to strive toward symphonic dimensions (the Piano Trio in A minor is another good example) but then is confined with great tension to the smaller format. Listen to the passage about two minutes into the finale, where the texture contracts to a single note and then begins to expand again; it is masterfully handled. The String Sextet in D major, Op. 10, of the 17-year-old Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a work that did not receive its premiere recording until the 1980s, is even more heated, perhaps the chamber work Mahler would have written if he had written one. The traces of early Schoenberg are also heard in the work, and once again, the Nash Ensemble's performance is full-blooded and forceful. This is a major late Romantic chamber release, with unidiomatic church sound among the very few weaknesses. This album hit classical best-seller charts in early 2024. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/01/2024
Label:	Hyperion
UPC:	0034571284064
Rank:	6437

Tracks

1. String Sextet in D minor 'Souvenir de Florence', Op. 70~Allegro con spirito
2. String Sextet in D minor 'Souvenir de Florence', Op. 70~Adagio cantabile e con moto
3. String Sextet in D minor 'Souvenir de Florence', Op. 70~Allegretto moderato
4. String Sextet in D minor 'Souvenir de Florence', Op. 70~Allegro vivace
5. String Sextet in D major, Op. 10~Moderato - Allegro
6. String Sextet in D major, Op. 10~Adagio
7. String Sextet in D major, Op. 10~Intermezzo: Moderato, con grazia
8. String Sextet in D major, Op. 10~Finale: Presto

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Nash Ensemble   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Stephanie Gonley   Violin
Rachel Roberts   Viola
Lars Anders Tomter   Viola
Gemma Rosefield   Cello
Adrian Brendel   Cello
Jonathan Stone   Violin

Technical Credits

Plinio Nomellini   Cover Illustration
Todd Harris   Booklet Editor
Oscar Torres   Engineer,Recording
Viola Scheffel   Liner Note Translation
Andrew Keener   Producer,Recording Producer
Simon Perry   Producer,Executive Producer
Amelia Freedman   Liner Notes
Marie-Stella Paris   Liner Note Translation
Ben Winters   Liner Notes
Erich Wolfgang Korngold   Composer
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky   Composer