American Viola Works.American Viola Works. Cathy Basrak Cathy Basrak (b. 1977) is one of the most prominent young violists today. She was a winner of several important viola competitions such as the Primrose Competition, Irving M. Klein Competition, and others. , viola; William Koehler and Robert Koenig, piano. Cedille Records Cedille Records is the independent record label of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation — a foundation dedicated to preserving Chicago’s rich musical heritage by documenting the work of its finest musicians, ensembles, and composers. 900000 053. What do George Rochberg George Rochberg, (July 5, 1918, Paterson, New Jersey – May 29, 2005, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Life Rochberg attended the Mannes College of Music, where one of his teachers was George Szell. , Frederick Jacobi Frederick Jacobi (born May 4,1891 in San Francisco, California; died October 24, 1952 in New York City of heart failure) was a prolific American composer, whose works include symphonies, concerti, chamber music, works for solo piano and for solo organ, lieder, and one opera. , Alan Shulman, Quincy Porter, and Lowell Liebermann have in common? Well, besides their being almost unheard-of names for most people outside the classical music field, they're all twentieth-century composers and they all wrote works for the viola. On this disc, Rochberg is represented by his Sonata for Viola and Piano (1979); Jacobi by his Fantasy for Viola and Piano (1941); Shulman for his Theme and Variations (1940); Porter for his Speed Etude e·tude n. Music 1. A piece composed for the development of a specific point of technique. 2. A composition featuring a point of technique but performed because of its artistic merit. (1948); and Liebermann for his Sonata for Viola and Piano (1984). I was much impressed by the playing of the young Ms. Basrak, very fluid, very full, very animated. She has a subtlety of tone that is quite fetching. It helps, of course, that she is playing pieces that spotlight long, sweeping phrases and numerous grand gestures. Probably the only drawback of the program, however, is that the selected compositions all have a sameness about them to probably anyone but a viola aficionado A Spanish word that means fan, devotee, enthusiast, etc. There are loyal aficionados of every subject in the computer field. . This doesn't make them at all bad, indeed, they are lovely, but it does keep a listener guessing as to when one work has concluded and the next has begun. On the positive side, unlike so many modern works, these things are mostly Romantic in nature, personal, especially virtuosic in the case of the brief Speed Etude, and uplifting. You may not be inspired by the disc, but you can't help being moved by it on occasion. The performances are supported by Cedille's usual fine sonics, the viola particularly well rendered, although I thought the piano accompaniments sounded rather too wide behind Ms. Basrak's instrument. |
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