Amsterdam Loeki Stardus Quartet – Nocturne (2009/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:04:53 minutes | 1,97 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Channel Classics Records
With the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet we can be sure of highly polished, stylish playing and a determination to push the expressive potential of the recorder consort as far as possible. Despite this, and even with the benefit of superior recorded sound, there’s a clear limit to what these instruments, with their characteristic sound and narrow dynamic range, can achieve.
In a romantically inclined work like the Jadin Nocturne the sound begins, after a time, to cloy, and one longs for the extra incisiveness of a bassoon or the expansive warmth of a clarinet (Jadin composed it for flute, clarinet, horn and bassoon). The most successful items are those which offer the possibility of a bright, birdlike sonority (JC Bach, Sammartini) or where the main interest is in the contrapuntal structure, as in the Handel Suite or the Mozart.
The latter is delightful: there may be a few places in the Adagio where it’s proved impossible to achieve a perfect balance but the Fugue shows a wonderful combination of clarity and energy. In the Sammartini, the Quartet produce such a fascinating, brilliant sonority that one is unlikely to miss the original string texture. The opening of the Locatelli is another matter, however; such soulful, sensuous music demands the presence of violins! The Pachelbel Canon is taken surprisingly slowly for a group that’s so stylistically aware, and some of the contrast provided by the changing figuration is lost.
As a whole, the disc can be recommended to recorder enthusiasts; for the rest of us, it may be better to sample rather than listen straight through.
Tracklist:
01-I. Allegro
02-II. Adagio Espressivo
03-III. Allegretto – Allegro molto
04-I. Allegro
05-II. Grazioso
06-I. Ouverture
07-II. Allemande
08-III. Courante
09-IV. Grave
10-V. Menuett
11-VI. Gigue
12-I. Largo
13-II. Allemanda allegro
14-III. Sarabande largo
15-IV. Giga allegro
16-I. Vivace
17-II. Andante
18-III. Allegro
19-Cnanon in C major
20-Adagio
21-Fugue
Download:
mqs.link_AmsterdamL0ekiStardusQuartetN0cturne2009201924192.part1.rar
mqs.link_AmsterdamL0ekiStardusQuartetN0cturne2009201924192.part2.rar
mqs.link_AmsterdamL0ekiStardusQuartetN0cturne2009201924192.part3.rar