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Ettore Causa – Romantic Transcriptions for Viola
and Piano Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Valse sentimentale, Op. 51 No. 6 (arr. Alan Arnold) [1:46] Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Scherzo, Op. Posth. [5:01] Enrique GRANADOS (1867-1916)
Spanish Dance No. 2 (Orientale) (arr. Milton Katims) [2:34] Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Etude, Op. 25 No. 7 (arr. Alexander Glazunov / Ettore Causa)
[4:30] Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Allegro appassionato, Op. 43 (arr. Ettore Causa) [3:32] Alexander SCRIABIN (1872-1915)
Prélude, Op. 9 No. 1 (arr. Wadim Borisovsky) [2:00] Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Dance of the Knights (arr. Wadim Borisovsky) [5:25] Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Romance (arr. Milton Katims) [2:04] Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Daisies, Op. 38 No. 3 (arr. Jascha Heifetz / Ettore Causa)
[2:23] Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Lerchengesang, Op. 70 No. 2 (arr. Ettore Causa) [2:32]
Hungarian Dance No. 1 (arr. Watson Forbes) [2:56] Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Abendlied, Op. 85 No. 12 (arr. Ettore Causa) [2:28] Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Chanson triste, Op. 40 No. 2 (arr. Johann Palaschko) [2:43] Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924)
Les Berceaux, Op. 23 No. 1 (arr. Ettore Causa) [2:46] Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Hungarian Dance No. 3 (arr. Watson Forbes) [2:18] Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Etude, Op. 10 No. 6 (arr. Alexander Glazunov / Ettore Causa)
[3:22] Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Song Without Words, Op. 109 (arr. Milton Katims) [3:57] Eugéne YSAŸE (1858-1931)
Rêve d'enfant, Op. 14 (arr. Ettore Causa) [3:53]
Ettore Causa
(viola)
Ulrich Stærk (piano)
rec. Mantius Hall, Copenhagen, January 2005 CLAVES 50-2609 [57:23]
Winning prizes at the Tertis
International Viola Competition is generally a good indicator
of promise. Causa won the Schidlof and Barbirolli Prizes – one
for “the most beautiful sound”, a quality Tertis always keenly
stressed. Causa was born in Naples where he studied at the
Conservatory – subsequently with Lysy, Menuhin and Johannes
Eskar. A 1996 scholarship saw him working with Michael Tree
in New York. He has since been active as an orchestral and
chamber player and also as a soloist and he’s currently Professor
of Viola and Chamber Music at the Menuhin Academy in Switzerland.
Tonal
beauty is certainly on show in this selection of transcriptions
and given the Romantic qualifier we can be assured of some
sensitive and refulgent playing. His viola is a modern French
one as near 17 inches as makes no difference – so a little
larger than one with which many younger players would be
comfortable, though of course amongst older players Vadim
Borisovsky’s was over 17 ½ inches and Tertis, who was a very
small man, played a monstrous Montagnana of 17 1/8".
Some
of the transcriptions are by Borisovsky – though none is
by Tertis – and others by Causa himself. Other prominent
soloist-transcriber names include Katims and Forbes. Tchaikovsky’s Valse
sentimentale is beautifully phrased and the Glazunov-Causa
team takes the viola high in Saint-Saëns’s Allegro appassionato – note
how the violist maintains vibrance even in the highest positions.
Borisovsky’s work on the Prokofiev is tangy and idiomatic
whilst by contrast Causa’s Lerchengesang of Brahms
is intimate and delicate. Watson Forbes’s Brahms Hunagrian
Dance transcriptions are full of verve even if, to my
ears, Causa does something odd with the rhythm of No.1 [track
11]. The Third is much better. Ulrich Stærk plays
with sensitivity throughout.
With
warm recording values this is an enjoyable calling card for
a tonally highly accomplished musician. It might have added
to the job but a few biographical notes on the transcribers,
the works, and the work of viola transcription in general
would have been welcome.
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