Many Levels
Chamber music by
Mozart and Smetana -
heard by
HOWARD SMITH'... judged to perfection ...'
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Neither fish nor fowl; a 2008 release of 1990 recordings featuring a little known ensemble in two 'unlikely musical bedfellows', both works liberally represented in existing catalogues. For those who may be wondering, Hölderlin Quartett is from Reutlingen, a city in southern Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany.
Smetana's extraordinary first String Quartet is the most purely autobiographical chamber opus of the nineteenth century; distinguished for its remarkable amalgam of bleak, pained expression, heartfelt romance and lively Bohemian idioms.
The score is shot through with the ominous revelations of Smetana's progressive deafness which by 1874 was almost complete. Following an abrupt introductory chord, the viola brings a despairing opening statement which sets the scene for the entire work...
Copyright © 11 January 2011
Howard Smith,
Masterton, New Zealand
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