Composer: Alban Berg
Orchestra: Leopoldinum Orchestra
Conductor: Ernst Kovacic
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0247
Release: 2014
Size: 267 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Piano Sonata, Op. 1
02. Menuet in D Minor
03. Adagio in F Major
04. Sarabande in F Major
05. Variations in D Major
06. Adagio in D Minor
07. Menuet in C Minor
08. Canon
3 Sätze aus der Lyrischen Suite
09. I. Allegretto giovale
10. II. Andante amoroso
11. III. Allegro misterioso
12. IV. Adagio appassionato
13. V. Presto delirando
14. VI. Largo desolato
These arrangements for string orchestra of works by Alban Berg take their cue from Berg himself: he arranged three of the six movements of the Lyric Suite for string orchestra; the Dutch composer Theo Verby arranged the other three.
The CD includes an arrangement of Berg’s Piano Sonata for strings by Wijnand van Kklaveren; the early works were arranged specially for this recording by Ernst Kovacic.
The arrangements chart his development as a composer, from prentice pieces composed under the tutelage of Arnold Schoenberg to the rich, mature style of one of his masterpieces, the Lyric Suite, written to express an impassioned and illicit love.
This release marks the end of Ernst Kovacic’s seven years as artistic director of the NRM Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra in Wrocław.
Their previous Toccata Classics album, of music by Ernst Krenek (TOCC0199), was received with universal enthusiasm, the reviewer for Fanfare writing: ‘This Toccata Classics CD is a model of fine production values. Magisterial performances and honest, well-balanced sound aid Krenek’s eloquent music […] It is an absolute must for Krenek fanciers’.