Complete Tranquillity
CD 1
Johann Christian BACH (1735-1782) Concerto in c minor for cello
and orchestra (Adagio molto espressivo) [7:04]
Count Unico Wilhelm van WASSENAER (1692-1766) (formerly attributed
to Pergolesi) Concerto armonico No. 3 in A (Largo, andante) [3:55]; Concerto
armonico No. 4 in f (Largo) [4:19]; Concerto armonico No. 1 in G (Grave,
staccato) [4:57]; Concerto armonico No. 5 in B flat (Largo, andante) [4:25];
Concerto armonico No. 4 in f (Adagio) [2:50]; Concerto armonico No. 2 in
G (Largo affetuoso) [4:35]
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741) Concerto in C for Recorder and
Orchestra, RV444 (Largo) [4:14]; Concerto in C for Oboe and Orchestra, RV449
(Largo) [2:44]; Concerto in A for Strings, RV158 (Largo) [3:24]; Concerto
in g for Two Cellos and Orchestra RV531 (Largo) [3:31]; Concerto in F for
Flute and Orchestra RV433 (Largo) [2:14]
Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Concerto in D for strings (Arioso)
[2:35]
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Concerto No. 2 in F for Piano
and Orchestra, Op. 102 (Andante) [6:01]
Luigi BOCCHERINI (1743-1805) Concerto in B-flat for Cello and
Orchestra, G482 (Adagio non troppo) [6:34]
CD 2
Giuseppi TARTINI (1692-1770) Concerto in D for Cello and Strings
(arr. Louis Delune) (Grave espressivo) [6:17]
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741) Concerto in F for Violin, Organ
and Strings RV542 (Adagio) [3:39]; Concerto in D for Two Violins, Cello and
Strings, RV565 (Largo e spiccato) [4:11]; Concerto in G for Two Violins,
Two Cellos and Strings, RV575 (Largo) [2:56]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Divertimento in B flat,
KV 137 (Andante) [4:09]; Church Sonata in F, KV224 [4:24]; Divertimento in
F, KV 138 (Andante) [5:56]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Minuet No. 3 in d, D89 [5:40]
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Variations on a Theme of Frank
Bridge, Op. 10 (Romance) [1:37]
Georg Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759) Concerto grosso in a, Op.
6, No. 3 (Larghetto affetuoso) [2:33]; Concerto grosso in e, Op. 6, No. 3
(Larghetto) [1:31]; Concerto grosso in B flat, Op. 6, No. 7 (Largo e piano)
[2:43]; Concerto grosso in c, Op. 6, No. 8 (Adagio) [1:27]; Concerto grosso
in b, Op. 6, No. 12 (Largo) [1:12]
Rodion Konstantinovich SHCHEDRIN (b. 1932) Carmen Suite (Second
Intermezzo) [1:59]
Josef SUK (1874-1935) Serenade in E-flat for Strings, Op. 6
(Andante con moto) [6:10]
Camille SAINT- SAËNS (1835-1921) Carnival of the Animals
(The Swan) [3:31]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Album for the Young (The
Old Nanny’s Tale) [2:54]
Franz Josef HAYDN (1732-1809) Divertimento in D for Cello and
Strings (arr. Gregor Piatigorski) (Adagio) [5:23]
CD 3
Antonin DVORAK (1841-1904) Serenade in E for Strings, Op. 22
(Moderato) [4:54]; Waltz No. 1 in A, Op. 54 [4:46]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Serenade in G for Strings
RV525 (Eine kleine Nachtmusik) (Romanze, Andante) [5:44]
Marc-Olivier DUPIN (b. 1954) Fantasia on Arias from La Traviata
(Allegretto, Andantino, Allegro Brillante) [11:22]
Franz Josef HAYDN (1732-1809) Twelve German Dances, H. IX:
12 [8:32]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Liebeslieder Waltzer, Op. 52 (Arranged
for strings by Friedrich Hermann) (No. 6, No. 1 and No. 9) [4:43]
Alexander Porfir’yevich BORODIN (1833-1887) String Quartet
No. 2 in D (Notturno, Andante) (arranged for String Orchestra by Lucas Drew)
[9:09]
Samuel BARBER (1910-1981) Adagio for Strings [10:17]
Yuli Turovsky (cello); Timothy Hutchins (sopranino recorder, flute); Theodore
Baskin (oboe); Alain Aubut (cello); Dmitri Shostakovich, Jr. (piano); Elenora
Turovsky (violin); Geneviève Soly (organ); Edvard Skerjanc (violin);
Christian Prèvost (violin); Lucia Hall (violin); Benoit Hurtuboise
(cello); David Owen Norris (piano); Gregory Shaverdian (piano); Alexander
Trostiansky (violin); Ensemble Repercussion; I musici de Montreal; Yuli Turovsky/Maxim
Shostakovich
rec. locations and dates not given.
CHANDOS CHAN 10565(3) [3 CDs: 64:32 + 73:05 + 60:03]
Cellist Yuli Turovsky founded I musici de Montreal in 1983. Since that time
he has turned the fifteen member chamber orchestra into the Canadian version
of Britain’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, racking up more than
forty recordings and presenting more than one hundred concerts each season
throughout the world. In this collection of sedate slow movements, the orchestra
has compiled more than three hours of down-tempo excerpts sure to be a hit
in doctors’ offices all over the globe.
There is a great deal in these discs to enjoy. In particular, Turovsky’s
amber-toned cello playing, featured in a number of concerto movements is
worth the price of admission. There is quite a lot of Baroque music, some
of it adapted for modern forces by various skilled arrangers. I musici de
Montreal is a modern instrument band, and although they perform with great
sensitivity and taste, there is a good deal more vibrato in the string playing
than is allowed by the period folk. Frankly, this richness of sound is rather
refreshing to these ears and I am reminded of the great body of recordings
made by Sir Neville Marriner and the ASMF, Jean-François Paillard
and his chamber orchestra, and the Italian ensemble, also known as I musici.
Other fine solos are delivered by Timothy Hutchins, particularly in the gorgeous
Largo from Vivaldi’s Concerto in C for Sopranino recorder. Theodore
Baskin also turns in some luscious playing in another Vivaldi work, this
one an Oboe concerto, also in C. We get a goodly chunk of van Wassenaer’s Concerti
armonico, works that for years were attributed to Italian boy genius
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, whose brilliant reputation led to all kinds
of misleading publications after his tragic death at the tender age of twenty-six.
These are lovely concertos, brimming with melody and rich harmonic suspensions,
and the slow movements presented here are lovingly phrased.
Disc two is an interesting hodgepodge of old and new(er) music with items
from the baroque sharing the stage with classical period, romantic and even
a piece or two by more or less contemporary composers. Each selection, however
is geared toward the theme of tranquillity, and after a couple of hours of
straight listening, I found myself going a bit numb from all the pretty slowness.
With many of the excerpts coming in at under two minutes, I found that I
barely had time to enjoy the music before it was over. Perhaps fewer works
of somewhat more substantial length would have been a bit more engaging,
but then again, that is a rather minor quibble.
Other highlights include a beautiful rendition of the Andante from Josef
Suk’s E-flat serenade for strings. Suk is a composer that deserves
to be heard more often in the concert hall, and this lovely excerpt is proof
of that assertion. Borodin’s gorgeous Notturno from his second string
quartet, here arranged by Lucas Drew for string orchestra receives a fine
reading as does Samuel Barber’s ubiquitous Adagio, in a performance
that spares us the gushy hyper-emotionalism of Leonard Bernstein’s
lugubrious old recording.
Serious music buffs will likely thumb their noses at this compilation as
it’s obviously designed to appeal to the “pretty music” set.
But, for a long evening of peace and quiet, an elegant dinner party or a
romantic encounter with one’s significant other, this attractively
packaged set contains a lifetime’s worth of mood music, performed by
a superb ensemble in top form. One can hope, however that the buyer will
be inspired to explore the complete works from which these excerpts are taken.
Slow and pretty is all fine and good, but the composers put forth complete
sets of ideas in the works represented, and they are deserving of a full
hearing.
Kevin Sutton
I musici de Montreal gives us more than three hours of slow, pretty music
here, certain to complement any fine dinner party or romantic night by the
fire. … see Full Review