Trio Boccherini – Hungarian String Trios (2024) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Trio Boccherini – Hungarian String Trios (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:24 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS

This recording brings together four Hungarian composers who, each in their own way, contributed to the development of a new national musical style at the beginning of the twentieth century. They managed to write music that was respected internationally and that both nurtured them and raised the general standard of music in Hungary. Although Leo Weiner’s (the ‘Hungarian Mendelssohn’), and Erno Dohnanyi’s string trios were composed during their student years, both works have become significant milestones in the restricted repertoire for this instrumental combination. Elegant and sometimes reminiscent of Brahms, they also feature subtle touches of local folklore. Zoltan Kodaly, along with Bela Bartok one of the most important Hungarian musicians of the century, composed little chamber music but his Intermezzo, also an early work, is reminiscent of the folk music that the composer had begun to collect for his ethnomusicological research. The least familiar and youngest of the composers represented here, Laszlo Weiner, suffered a tragic fate. His Serenade, composed while he was studying with Kodaly, reveals the exceptional talent of a composer whose oeuvre is too small. Less ‘Magyar’ than the other works presented here, his Serenade is reminiscent of the intense and concentrated atmosphere of Viennese ‘modernist’ works.It was probably his 91 string quartets, his 110 quintets with two cellos, his 12 quintets with two violas, 3 quintets for double bass and 6 string sextets composed from 1771 to 1795 that earned Boccherini his place in history. But the musician also experimented with other combinations, including twelve quintets with piano and no fewer than 42 string trios. It is these trios, much-overlooked by today’s musicians and music lovers, which are brought together by the La Retirata ensemble, who use instruments and styles of play as they were in Boccherini’s day. Specifically, the record covers two of the Op 35, written in 1781 and published the following year. In those days, Boccherini was a composer in the employ of the Infante Luis de Borbón, whom he had followed to a sort of retreat twenty-five leagues from Madrid (the Infante was having an affair with a lady of the lower nobility, which was impermissible at the Spanish court); he would stay there until 1785 when, one after the other, both the composer’s wife and then the Infante died, whereupon he returned to Madrid.

The maturity of these works bears witness to the great instrumental art that Boccherini had developed over decades, his inexhaustible melodic inspiration, his harmonic daring and the inexpressible charm of his language, which defies classification. We note that the cello, far from being confined to bass parts, is often given a semi-concertante role, accompanied by two violins: a bravura piece of writing that demonstrates beyond all doubt that the composer was one of the greatest cellists of his time. The La Retirata ensemble, rather than restricting itself to standard versions (too often full of errors, approximations and inappropriate editorial additions), has preferred here to base itself on the oldest manuscripts available: an excellent initiative.

Tracklist:

01. Trio Boccherini – Weiner: String Trio in G Minor, Op. 6: I. Allegro con brio (06:17)
02. Trio Boccherini – Weiner: String Trio in G Minor, Op. 6: II. Vivace (04:05)
03. Trio Boccherini – Weiner: String Trio in G Minor, Op. 6: III. Andantino (09:21)
04. Trio Boccherini – Weiner: String Trio in G Minor, Op. 6: IV. Allegro con fuoco (06:02)
05. Trio Boccherini – Weiner: Serenade: I. Andante – Allegro (05:14)
06. Trio Boccherini – Weiner: Serenade: II. Adagio (05:17)
07. Trio Boccherini – Weiner: Serenade: III. Allegro (03:47)
08. Trio Boccherini – Kodály: Intermezzo (05:08)
09. Trio Boccherini – Dohnányi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10: I. Marcia (02:03)
10. Trio Boccherini – Dohnányi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10: II. Romanza (03:25)
11. Trio Boccherini – Dohnányi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10: III. Scherzo (04:11)
12. Trio Boccherini – Dohnányi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10: IV. Tema con variazioni (06:07)
13. Trio Boccherini – Dohnányi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10: V. Rondo (Finale) (04:21)

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