Composer: Béla Bartók, Antonín Dvořák, Alexey Shor, William Turner Walton
Performer: David Aaron Carpenter, Sean Carpenter, Kristina Blaumane
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Kazushi Ono, Vladimir Jurowski, David Parry
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 9029569769
Release: 2018
Size: 2.74 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Adagio, ma non troppo
03. III. Finale – Allegro moderato
Bartók: Viola Concerto, BB 128, Sz. 120
04. I. Moderato (Arr. Serly)
05. II. Adagio religioso (Arr. Serly)
06. III. Allegro vivace (Arr. Serly)
Shor: Seascapes
07. I. Abandoned Lighthouse
08. II. Lonely Sail
09. III. Gathering Storm
10. IV. Summer Hail
Walton: Viola Concerto
11. I. Andante comodo
12. II. Vivo, e molto preciso
13. III. Allegro moderato
14. Shor: Lullaby for Mark
15. Shor: Natalie’s Waltz
Shor: The Well Tempered Chanson
16. I. Murka Metamorphoses
17. II. Trans-Siberian Waltz
18. III. 7.40 Samba
19. IV. Baroken Love
20. V. Last Penny
21. VI. Odessa Walk
22. VII. Buenos Aires Bonbons
23. VIII. Chicken Tarantella
24. IX. Nostalgic Waltz
25. X. Buggy Bossa Nova
26. XI. Semi-Cannonical Great Feud
27. XII. Lament
28. XIII. Murka Variations
The Motherland evoked in the title is that of the four composers presented here, even though most of their exiles were voluntary. Dvořák moved to New York for a few years, tempted by the possibilities offered by the post of Director of the New York Conservatory, while Walton chose to live on the island of Ischia, near Naples, for reasons of personal enjoyment, sun, and freedom. As for the Ukrainian Alexey Shor, he lives in New York, of his own volition. Only Bartók, in fact, wound up in New York as an exile fleeing the Second World War; and his Viola Concerto, commissioned by William Primrose, was incomplete at the time of the composer’s death. The rough drafts and sketches were brought together into this concerto, which remains a “work in progress”, as the first reconstitution (or rather, constitution) by Tibor Serly in 1949 was followed by many revisions, including by Bartók’s own son, 50 years later! This recording is of the first version, by Serly. For Dvořák, viola player David Aaron Carpenter offers his own reading of the Cello Concerto. And finally, the pieces by Shor fit into a tonal, neo-romantic, melodic tradition, resolutely ignoring anything that happened after 1900, a choice which is respected these days, but a few decades ago would have seen this material pigeon-holed as “easy listening”.
For his second Warner Classics album, David Aaron Carpenter – “a star violist” in the words of the Los Angeles Times – brings together concertos by Dvořák, Bartók, Walton and a dance cycle by contemporary composer Alexey Shor. Carpenter identifies a connecting theme of “a longing for the homeland … a reverence for native musical folk tunes and language.” He is accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under three distinguished conductors: Kazushi Ono, Vladimir Jurowski and David Parry.