Composer: Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst
Performer: Sherban Lupu, Ian Hobson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0163
Release: 2012
Size: 423 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Introduction et Variations Brillantes, Op. 6
01. Introduction: Moderato
02. Theme: Moderato
03. Variation 1: Risoluto
04. Variation 2
05. Variation 3
06. Variation 4
07. Molto adagio
08. Allegretto moderato
09. Finale: Lostesso temo
Elegie, Op. 10, ‘Elegie sur la mort d’un objet cheri’ (version for violin and piano)
10. Introduction by Louis Spohr
11. Elegie
Introduction, Variations et finale sur un Valse de Strauss, Op. 26
12. Introduzione: Moderato maestoso
13. Tema
14. Variation 1: Meno vivo
15. Variation 2
16. Variation 3: Brillante ma moderato
17. Variation 4: Andantino pastorale
18. Finale
Pensees Fugitives
19. No. 7. Reverie: Quasi allegretto
20. No. 8. Un Caprice: Allegro assai
21. No. 9. Inquietude: Adagio
22. No. 10. Priere pendant l’orage: Allegro non troppo
23. No. 11. Intermezzo: Allegro poco agitato
24. No. 12. Theme original de H. W. Ernst: Allegretto
25. No. 12. Variation: Moderato
26. No. 12. Presto capriccioso: Presto
Souvenirs de l’opera La Juive
27. Adagio
28. Allegro
Airs hongrois varies, Op. 22
29. Introduction: Molto moderato
30. Thema I
31. Variazione: Molto moderato
32. Piu mosso
33. Thema II: Andante con molt’ espressione
34. Molto piu mosso, quasi del doppia
35. Cadenza by Arthur Hartmann
36. Thema III: Allegretto moderato, con molto spirito
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1812–65) was one of the leading musicians of his day, a friend of Berlioz, Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn, and for Joseph Joachim ‘the greatest violinist I ever heard’.
But the popular encore pieces by which Ernst is remembered today represent only a fraction of his output: this third CD – in a series of seven presenting all his compositions for the first time – shows the full range of his creativity and charm.
The Élégie sur la mort d’un objet chéri is written in his most moving and melancholy vein, and the Airs hongrois variés push the virtuoso violin to its absolute limits.
Between these extremes lie the lyricism of the Pensées fugitives, the inventiveness of his treatment of two Halévy operas and the high spirits of his fantasy on a Strauss waltz.
The first two volumes in this series have been received with glowing critical approval: Vol. 1 earned an ‘Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and in Fanfare Robert Maxham praised Vol. 2 for its ‘exceptional notes by Mark Rowe [and…] stunning performances of works both familiar and unfamiliar by violinist Sherban Lupu and pianist Ian Hobson’.