Hoffmeister: Double Bass Quartets Nos. 2-4

The novelty of Franz Anton Hoffmeister�s double bass quartets lies in his substitution of that husky-voiced instrument for the first violin in a regular string quartet line-up. Seldom heard in such a prominent position the double bass reveals itself as a good humoured and surprisingly expressive vehicle for Hoffmeister�s amiably melodic writing. It also gives an especially haunting melancholic quality to Schubert�s much-loved Arpeggione Sonata, not merely in the beautiful Adagio but also in the more agile outer movements.

"Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754-1812) was a quite prolific classical composer whose music has only been intermittently recorded so far. It isn�t particularly serious in mood, but it is well worth exploring. Duka is a remarkable player with a lightness of touch that must have seemed even more remarkable in 1980 when these pieces were recorded.

�I would recommend this disc for the Hoffmeister alone." --American Record Guide, July 2011

Schubert: Arpeggione, Schwanengesang; Kalliwoda: Nocturnes

This Oehms Classics disc by violist Ashan Pillai, who is British by way of Sri Lanka, might seem to some as an example of left-field programming at its most extreme -- Schubert's beloved Arpeggione Sonata and five viola transcriptions of his familiar Schwanengesang combined with Six Nocturnes by totally unfamiliar Bohemian Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda. In reality, the combination of the two into the same program is not that far off the mark; Kalliwoda was one of the most distinguished of Schubert's contemporaries and far better known during his lifetime than Schubert in his.

Whereas Kalliwoda's numerous symphonies and overtures are among the most criminally overlooked major works of the early nineteenth centuries, these Six Nocturnes Op. 186 do not show them at his best. Not very nocturnal in mood, they aren't very serious as compositions and betray more than just a whiff of the salon with their bathetic longuers and pretensions toward silent movie-style drama.

Of the pieces here, the best are Pillai's own transcriptions of the Schwanengesang. His viola playing is full-throated and sufficiently vocal to project these lieder as instrumental pieces and not to do damage to Schubert through depriving him of his texts. On the other hand, there does seem to be a problem with pacing throughout the disc -- adagios are not very slow and allegrettos are presented as on the lukewarm side of fast. Michael Endres' accompaniments are crisp and dutiful; Pillai certainly has a tone on the viola that is warm, rich, and sometimes beauteous, but there seems to be little in this recording overall that lifts it out of the routine -- it is pleasant sounding, yet a little dull. --allmusic.com

Schoenberg: Verkl�rte Nacht, Op. 4; Schubert; String Quintet in C major, D956

�A disc to make the uninitiated fall in love with Schoenberg; a big-hearted performance...which manages to combine intense refinement with unabashed emotion...[The Schubert] receives another compelling performance, and the massive scale barely registers...Wonderful, rich recording too.� --The Arts Desk, 29th June 2013

�they play with a control that brings real dramatic immediacy to the pieces...all the players converse with a single voice - the herding calls of the third movement [of the Schubert], for instance, have their own distinct colour simply by virtue of the other-worldly accuracy of their tuning.� --Gramophone Magazine, August 2013

All-star line-ups can be problematic in chamber music, but the depth of drama and colour in the stinging, swooning timbres identified by the Dutch violinist Janine Jansen and her friends...makes this Verkl�rte Nacht impressive.� --The Independent, 20th April 2013 ****

�they bring silky skills and subtle touches to two great string pieces...The dapper phrasing and translucent textures are wonderfully calculated, but the emotions sound a little lightweight, and the Schubert needs a sense of profundity.� --The Times, 20th April 2013 ***

�There's no trace here of starry individualism, but instead a real feeling of collegiate responsibility in the way that all the players constantly listen to each other and shade their own contributions accordingly. But, for my taste at least, it's much too strongly flavoured� --The Guardian, 25th April 2013 ***

�They generate an intoxicating mix of heady passions in Schoenberg�s Verkl�rte Nacht, at the same time maintaining impressive clarity of texture and shaping what can seem a sprawling work. And in a fresh-sounding performance of Schubert�s late quintet, they bring a relish of its boldness as well as an ambiguous poignancy.� --Sunday Times, 12th May 2013


�The individual strands of the chamber version make the music even more claustrophobic than it need be, so that by the end of the half-hour the feeling that you are in the sauna is overwhelming. This team makes sure that you share their efforts to the full.� --BBC Music Magazine, August 2013 ***

Schubert: String Quartets Nos. 13 & 14

�The Doric Quartet play with passion, but there is relaxation, even wit, in both these works, and the Doric seem to be eager to stress the prevailing darkness at the expense of warmth and lyricism, which is so notable in the A minor Quartet. They play with notably little vibrato, so the impression of coolness is increased.� --BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 ****

�The Dorics have enormous flair for this kind of music, getting comfortably under the skin of music written by Schubert when he was about the same as their average age and displaying a similar degree of maturity and insight� --Gramophone Magazine, October 2012

�imaginative and exciting...The A minor�s opening shows the Doric�s alertness to the quintessentially Schubertian combination of nervous, obsessive rhythm and songlike melodic lines...The D minor is very fine, culminating in a tingling presto finale whose whispered, ghostly pianissimos make the sudden outbursts all the more ferocious.� --Sunday Times, 23rd September 2012

The Wigmore Hall Recital: Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, J.S. Bach

Over four decades since securing worldwide recognition as one of the finest musicians of her generation, Maria Jo�o Pires continues to transfix audiences with the immaculate integrity, eloquence and vitality of her art. With Pires partnered by Antonio Meneses, cellist with the Beaux Arts Trio and artist of great wisdom and imagination, this recital is clearly a red-letter event for chamber music connoisseurs. "[Meneses's] warmly eloquent understatement matched Pires's own, and grave us something close to perfection" --The Telegraph, Jan 2012

"Portuguese pianist Maria Jo�o Pires shared her recital with cellist Antonio Meneses, in a performance which brought a real sense of community, of intimately shared music-making." --The Times