Notes and Editorial Reviews
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
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The album, titled
Keepsake of Modern Age,
is all over the musical map, and may possibly appeal to more catholic tastes. Despite the disc’s title, and the fact that all of the pieces on it do indeed date from the 20th century, not all are “modern” in the sense that is usually attributed to that label. For example, the SACD opens with a Duo-Sonate for viola and cello by Otto Siegl (1896–1978). It’s a five-movement “neo-Baroquish” suite-like affair that contains some very lovely and expressive Romantic writing. The composer is even quoted as having said, “My music is not
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actually ‘modern’ as such, and will be just as valid in years to come.” Like the mute swan that only upon death “sang once and thus he sang no more,” Siegl seems not to have been heard from again. Very little is known of him, other than the fact that he was born in Graz, Austria, and served as the town orchestra’s concertmaster before he moved to Cologne where he taught at the conservatory and conducted the orchestra there from 1942 until the end of the war. I wasn’t able to find much information on Siegl beyond that which Christoph Schlüren’s booklet note offers. But what I did discover on my own was that Siegl wrote an opera, several oratorios, three symphonies, two concertos (one for piano and one for violin), several miscellaneous orchestral works, five string quartets, and a number of songs. Yet nothing of his output other than this duo for viola and cello is listed among current recordings. Artists and record company execs, are you paying attention? Here is fertile soil for tilling.
The other two unfamiliar composers here are Günter Raphael (1903–1960) and Siegmund Schul (1916–1944). Raphael had a bit more of a run. His First Symphony was premiered by Furtwängler in Leipzig in 1926, and one of his star pupils was Kurt Hessenberg. But being declared a half-Jew in Nazi Germany didn’t help his career. Nonetheless, Raphael managed to compose five symphonies, concertos for violin and organ, half a dozen string quartets, and a considerable volume of chamber music for various combinations of instruments. A handful of his works have been recorded.
Schul was not so lucky. Born in the Saxon town of Chemnitz, he moved to Prague, where he befriended composers Alois Haba and Viktor Ullmann. Schul’s output, however, is small, for in 1941 he was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he died three years later at the age of 28.
The remaining composers on the disc are of a familiarity that their bios needn’t be elaborated. Nor are any of the pieces chosen here—not even
Bukoliki
by Lutos?awski, a composer usually associated with the Polish avant-garde—of an uncompromisingly modernistic bent. Some, in fact, like Rebecca Clarke’s
Lullaby
and moments from Raphael’s Duo are infused with a great deal of Romantic passion, while Milhaud’s Sonatine and Schul’s
Chassidic Dances
are thoroughly charming and delightful.
Once again, Julia Adler rises to the occasion, turning out some of the most gorgeous viola playing to be had on disc, and every bit her match is cellist Thomas Ruge. The Neos disc [is] beautifully recorded, presenting the players in exceptionally crisp, clean sound. [This] release receives [a] strong recommendation."
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
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Works on This Recording
1.
Duo-Sonate for Viola and Cello, Op. 139 by Otto Siegl
Performer:
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola),
Thomas Ruge (Cello)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; Germany
2.
Lullaby and Grotesque by Rebecca Clarke
Performer:
Thomas Ruge (Cello),
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1916; USA
3.
Duet for Viola and Cello by Paul Hindemith
Performer:
Thomas Ruge (Cello),
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; Germany
4.
Duo for Viola and Cello, Op. 47: no 4 by Günter Raphael
Performer:
Thomas Ruge (Cello),
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; Germany
5.
Bukoliki by Witold Lutoslawski
Performer:
Thomas Ruge (Cello),
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1952; Poland
6.
Sonatina for Viola and Cello, Op. 378 by Darius Milhaud
Performer:
Thomas Ruge (Cello),
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1959; USA
7.
Chassidic Dances (2), Op. 15 by Zikmund Schul
Performer:
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola),
Thomas Ruge (Cello)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Germany
Notes: Composition written: Germany (1941 - 1942).
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