Mari & Hakon Samuelsen – James Horner: Pas de Deux (2015) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Pas de Deux is the first classical work from Academy Award-winning composer James Horner (Titanic, Avatar). The Concerto for Violin and Cello was commissioned and performed by the brother and sister duo of Mari (violin) and Hakon (cello) Samuelsen with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko. The album is completed with works by Pärt, Sollima and Einaudi that pair with Horner’s post-minimalist soundscape.

Pas de Deux is not a James Horner score for an unknown film but a freestanding composition, being billed as his first foray into classical music since the 1980s. Leaving aside the question of whether film scores qualify as classical music, it seems pretty clear that those who like Horner in general will like this work. Here and elsewhere, he does one thing well – lush romanticism – and does it very, very well. His economy of gesture, which makes one wonder why neutral arpeggios are having such an emotional impact, is fully in evidence here, and the configuration of forces, with lots to do for the two soloists, produces film score-like textures. The Norwegian violin-and-cello duo of Mari and Håkon Samuelson commissioned Pas de Deux, and though it is being promoted as the first major double concerto for violin and cello since Brahms, Horner himself has described the piece as a composition for violin and cello with orchestral accompaniment rather than as a true concerto. For all that, Pas de Deux does not really resemble Horner’s film scores musically. It has elements that suggests what might have happened had Vaughan Williams somehow lived long enough to become enamored of minimalism, and it shows that Horner has been keenly aware of contemporary crossover directions. The work is performed here by the Samuelsens and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko, the forces that premiered the work in 2014, and it’s safe to say that their work reflects the composer’s intentions. The album is filled out with works by Arvo Pärt (the protean Fratres), Giovanni Sollima, and Ludovico Einaudi, whose Divenire also features the violin-cello combination. Horner can hold his own with any of them, and listeners who imagine sun-drenched meadows while listening to Pas de Deux will have a very good time with it.

Tracklist:
1Mari Samuelsen, Håkon Samuelsen, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko – [James Horner: Pas de Deux #01] Pas de Deux, double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (2014): Part I
Mari Samuelsen, Håkon Samuelsen, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko – [James Horner: Pas de Deux #02] Pas de Deux, double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (2014): Part II
Mari Samuelsen, Håkon Samuelsen, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko – [James Horner: Pas de Deux #03] Pas de Deux, double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (2014): Part III
Mari Samuelsen, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Clark Rundell – [James Horner: Pas de Deux #04] Fratres, for violin, string orchestra and percussion (1977)
Alisa Weilerstein, Håkon Samuelsen, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Clark Rundell – [James Horner: Pas de Deux #05] Violoncelles, Vibrez!, for two cellos and string orchestra (1993)
Mari Samuelsen, Håkon Samuelsen, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Clark Rundell – [James Horner: Pas de Deux #06] Divenire, for violin, cello, strings and two harps (2002)
Mari Samuelsen, Håkon Samuelsen, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko – [James Horner: Pas de Deux #07] Arabesque from Pas de Deux

Musicians:
Mari Samuelsen – violin (1-4, 6,7)
Håkon Samuelsen – cello (1-3, 5-7)
Alisa Weilerstein – cello (5)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko – conductor (1-3, 7)
Clark Rundell – conductor (4-6)

Download:

mqs.link_MariHaknSamuelsenJamesHrner.PasdeDeux2015HDTracks2496.part1.rar
mqs.link_MariHaknSamuelsenJamesHrner.PasdeDeux2015HDTracks2496.part2.rar

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