Prague Kaleidoscope
Martin BRUNNER (b.1983)
Quiet Talk [6:44]
Jan FREIDLIN (b.1944)
Prague Kaleidoscope [14:34]
Karel RŮŽIČKA (b.1940)
Bolero [5:59]
Lukáš HURNÍK (b.1967)
Conversations [12:10]
Ondřej KUKAL (b.1964)
Kytaroviolino, Op.41 [6:37]
Matej BENKO (b.1979)
Strangers [9:35]
Duo Teres (Lucia Fulka Kopsová (violin); Tomáš Honěk (guitar))
rec. September 2015, Sono Records, Czech Republic
ARCO DIVA UP0182 2131 [55:53]
Lucia Fulka Kopsová and Tomáš Honěk form a violin-and-guitar
duo and they regularly seek new music from Czech composers. They are known
as Duo Teres and have here corralled a sextet of works to construct a 56-minute
programme.
Martin Brunner’s Quiet Talk is cast in two parts, the first
romantic and lyrical – charming water’s edge kind of music, dappled
and liquid – whilst the second is faster with a syncopated dialogue
between the two instruments. It ends as it began - delightfully. The piece
that lends its name to the album was written by Jan Freidlin and consists
of five evocatively named movements. This is very approachable music, with
a quietly insistent funeral march rubbing shoulders with more pop-attuned
music, folk-like fiddling, and a firefly scherzo-like central piece called
Night Lanterns’ Dance. A coiling ballad infuses Old Street
Tune – not so far from John Williams – and there’s
a finale that certainly doesn’t spurn opportunities for sheer good-natured
fun, drawing on both instruments. Burnished Iberian music is the focus of
Karel Růžička’s Bolero, with a meditative central
section and a strong infusion of Piazzolla.
Lukáš Hurník’s Conversations is a cleverly intricate sequence
of five movements that sees dialogue or monologue, with one instrument leading
and then the other. Each of these movements is deftly characterised so that
Doubts implies the halting, somewhat distracted nature of the writing
and Confrontation and Résumé shows a gradual thawing toward an affecting
amoroso. Rhythmic zest is the mark of Ondřej Kukal’s compact Kytaroviolino
which approaches - but doesn’t quite embrace - jazzy territory. Its
vibrancy however remains a lasting pleasure. Finally, there is the three-part
Strangers by Matej Benko. Flamenco is enshrined here as well as a
spot of soft-rocking with light jazz to cross-pollinate.
Each of the composers has written a paragraph or so in the booklet that explains
or suggests their motivation for writing these commissioned pieces. Kukal’s
is the shortest at thirty-five words. By far the most disarming is Benko’s
contribution, which starts by admitting that ‘I do not consider myself
a composer, rather a player with certain authorship potential.’
These largely light-hearted, genial, zesty works suit the violin-and-guitar
medium well. They bring deft sonority and lyrical warmth.
Jonathan Woolf
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