Of all the composers born in Switzerland who reached maturity just after the turn of the 20th century, there was no greater maverick than Ernest Bloch. He spent the greater part of his life in the USA, becoming a US citizen finally in 1924. His oeuvre is primarily comprised of instrumental music, and makes him all the more difficult to pigeon-hole because he unites such contrasting styles as Impressionism, Expressionism, the neo-Baroque and the neo-Classical.

Chiara Enderle was born in 1992 into a Zurich family of musicians. She received inspiration from working with world-renown teachers. Within the 2016-2017 season, she will perform concertos with the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra in France and Germany. Matthias Enderle plays first violin in the Zurich Carmina Quartet, with performances in the world's most important concert halls.

Hiroko Sakagami is a pianist who has given concerts in many cities throughout Europe, North America and Japan. Her repertoire generally focuses on piano works of the Classical and Romantic periods.

REVIEWS:

Chiara Enderle plays the suites with tremendous facility and confidence, not to mention a very fine instinct for Bloch’s style.

The Three Nocturnes of 1924 present a sensual, hedonistic side to Bloch’s musical personality that is occasionally present in his smaller works. The first is airy and ethereal, with ponticello tremolo effects in the violin, low, undulating bass ostinatos in the piano, and a fair amount of whole-tone material. The second is idyllic, warm, and simple in its melodic content. The third is rhythmic, driving, and unrestrainedly celebratory, though it ends quietly.

The pieces on this disc have all been recorded before, though it has been some time since a new recording of the cello suites has been released. [This one] would have a very welcome place in the library of a Bloch fan or a cello enthusiast.

-- Fanfare