Notes and Editorial Reviews
This entertaining disc features an eclectic mix of pieces both serious and humorous in celebration of the Kremerata Baltica's fifth anniversary. The best of them is Franz Waxman's hilarious "Auld lang syne" Variations, four movements in the style of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and "Shostakofiev" respectively. Joseph Ghys and François Servais team up to produce a typical 19th-century showpiece variation set, in this case on "God save the King" (a very popular tune for variations), the intention here being purely virtuosic rather than witty. Peter Heidrich's "Happy Birthday" Variations also mimics famous composers (with Haydn and Mozart being especially well differentiated), but the work concludes
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with a delightful series of "free" variations that let the composer's own fanciful imagination take center stage.
Teddy Bor's McMozart's eine kleine bricht Moonlicht nich Musik might be funny had P.D.Q. Bach not done the same thing on a much larger scale and with far more amusing results. Vato Kakhidze's strangely multi-cultural "Blitz" Fantasy adds melismatic vocal contributions to music that hovers somewhere between poignancy and Muzak. Three shorter pieces--Tchaikovsky's Elegy, Schnittke's Polka, and Ladislav Kupkovic's Souvenir--round out this enterprising collection. It goes without saying that the performances do full justice to the music, and also to Kremerata Baltica's avowed purpose of presenting programs that offer musical food for thought and occasional surprises in addition to more normal fare. Excellent sonics capture the festivities warmly and vividly. Clearly, a good time was had by all, though the notes take the entire project rather too seriously. [2/11/2003]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Variations on "Happy Birthday" for String Quartet by Peter Heidrich
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1994
Date of Recording: 06/1999
Venue: Reitschule, Grafenegg
Length: 11 Minutes 33 Secs.
2.
Variations on "Auld Lang Syne" by Franz Waxman
Performer:
Marta Sudraba (Cello),
Ula Ulijona (Viola),
Gidon Kremer (Violin),
Louis Lortie (Piano)
Conductor:
Gidon Kremer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1947; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin, Germany
Length: 12 Minutes 47 Secs.
3.
Elegy for Strings in G major by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Gidon Kremer (Violin)
Conductor:
Gidon Kremer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: Romantic
Written: 1884; Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin, Germany
Length: 6 Minutes 1 Secs.
4.
Esquisses: Polka by Alfred Schnittke
Performer:
Gidon Kremer (Violin)
Conductor:
Gidon Kremer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1985; Moscow
Date of Recording: 12/2001
Venue: Nalepastrasse Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 19 Secs.
Notes: Arranged: Sergei Dreznin
5.
Variations brillantes et concertantes on "God Save the King", Op. 38 by Adrien François Servais
Performer:
Gidon Kremer (Violin),
Marta Sudraba (Cello)
Conductor:
Gidon Kremer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: Romantic
Written: 19th Century; France
Date of Recording: 11/2001
Venue: State Philharmonic Hall, Ludwigshafen
Length: 10 Minutes 0 Secs.
Notes: This work was written in collaboration with Joseph Ghys.
6.
Blitz Fantasy by Vato Kakhidze
Performer:
Vato Kakhidze (Synthesizer),
Vato Kakhidze (Piano),
Lasma Muceniece (Voice),
Vato Kakhidze (Voice),
Gidon Kremer (Violin)
Conductor:
Gidon Kremer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1999; Georgian Republic
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin, Germany
Length: 14 Minutes 1 Secs.
7.
McMozart's Eine Kleine Bricht Moonlicht Nicht Musik by Edward Bor
Conductor:
Gidon Kremer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1981
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin, Germany
Length: 3 Minutes 21 Secs.
8.
Souvenir by Ladislav Kupkovic
Performer:
Gidon Kremer (Violin)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Kremerata Baltica
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1971
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin, Germany
Length: 5 Minutes 43 Secs.
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