Enescu, Op. 7 & 29

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The two works by Romanian composer Georges Enescu featured on this recording—one from very early in the composer’s career (Octet for Strings), the other a mature creation (Quintet for Piano and Strings)—offer profound evidence of Enescu’s technical assurance and distinctive voice.

Description

The distinguished violinist Gidon Kremer leads members of his young chamber ensemble Kremerata Baltica in performances of the Octet for Strings, Op. 7, and Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 29, by Romanian composer Georges Enescu. This recording, their fifth release for the label, was released on May 21, 2002, following a recent Grammy Award for their 2001 release After Mozart

The two works featured on this recording—one from very early in the composer’s career, the other a mature creation—offer profound evidence of Enescu’s technical assurance and distinctive voice. Born in 1881 in Liveni, Romania, Enescu was a child prodigy who entered the Vienna Conservatory as a violinist at the age of seven. Graduating at age 10, he performed the music of Brahms under the composer’s direction and witnessed performances of Wagner’s music led by legendary conductor Hans Richter. Both composers would remain influential, lifelong passions. Enescu continued his studies under Massenet and Fauré at the Paris Conservatory, where his classmates included composer Maurice Ravel, pianist Alfred Cortot and violinist Jacques Thibaud. The first concert of his compositions took place in Paris in 1897.

Active as a composer throughout his life (though he only published 33 works), Enescu was best known in the United States as a virtuoso violin soloist, chamber musician and conductor (who was once considered as a successor to Toscanini in New York). He was also a leading pedagogue, counting Yehudi Menuhin and Dinu Lipatti among his most prominent pupils. Aside from his two popular Romanian Rhapsodies, however, Enescu’s compositions have suffered from neglect over the years since his death.

Written in 1900, Enescu’s Octet for Strings combines the chromatic richness prevalent in Vienna at the time with a refined sense of formal structure. After World War I, he was increasingly influenced by the folk music of his native Romania, the effect of which is subtly echoed in the Quintet for Piano and Strings of 1940, heard here in its first recording. In the hands of Kremer and his ensemble, both works are revealed to be masterful and distinctive pieces that deserve to be more widely known.

Kremerata Baltica—whom the Los Angeles Times calls, “extraordinary young players ... they animate everything their bows touch”—was founded by Gidon Kremer in 1996. An orchestra of young musicians from the three Baltic States, they first performed in Riga, Latvia in February 1997 and have gone on to tour throughout the world. Kremer had long sought to share his rich artistic experience with young musicians in his native Latvia and the Baltic region, and was prompted to form a more lasting relationship with the artists, as a way to give back to the community that fostered his own musical growth. Kremer, who acts as the group’s artistic director, said, in an interview for the New York Times, that it functions as “a musical democracy ... open-minded, self-critical, a continuation of my musical spirit.”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Helmut Mühle and Gidon Kremer
Edited by Gudrun Maurer

Octet, opus 7
Recorded June 2000 at Angelika-Kauffmann-Saal, Schwarzenberg, Austria
Engineer: Philipp Nedel
Assistant Engineer: Jörg Mohr
Production Coordinator: Matteo Tradardi

Quintet, opus 29
Recorded November 2001 at Probesaal der Philharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Engineer: Niels Müller
Assistant Engineer: Sibylle Strobel
Production Coordinator: Sonia Simmenauer

Design by Evan Gaffney
Cover photograph: Suspended Vine, Marly, France, 1995 by Michael Kenna/Maconochie Photography

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

79682

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
ns_album_artistid
66
ns_album_id
465
ns_album_releasedate
ns_genre_1
0
ns_genre_2
0
Album Status
Artist Name
Gidon Kremer
Kremerata Baltica
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Gidon Kremer, violin
with
Dzeraldas Bidva, violin
Ula Ulijona, viola
Marta Sudraba, cello
Andrius Zlabys, piano

Kremerata Baltica:
Gidon Kremer, solo violin and artistic director
Violin: Dzeraldas Bidva, Eva Bindere*, Migle Diksaitiene, Andrejs Golikovs, Inga Gylyte, Elo Ivask, Miroslava Kotorovych, Marija Nemanyte, Sandis Steinbergs, Andrei Valigura*, Sanita Zarina*
Viola: Janis Lielbardis*, Ula Ulijona*, Vidas Vekerotas, Zita Zemovica
Cello: Peteris Cirksis, Giedre Dirvanauskaite, Eriks Kirsfelds*, Marta Sudraba*
Bass: Danielis Rubinas

*Octet performers

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
Price
0.00
UPC
075597968224BUN
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597968262
  • 79682

News & Reviews

  • Congratulations to violinist Gidon Kremer, who has been named the 2016 Praemium Imperiale Laureate in Music. The award is presented by the Japan Art Association in Tokyo to honor artists who have contributed significantly to the development of international arts and culture. The 2016 laureates in other fields are Cindy Sherman, Annette Messager, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, and Martin Scorsese. Past music laureates include Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Leonard Bernstein. Each laureate receives 15 million yen ($146,000); a medal will be presented by Prince Hitachi in a ceremony held in Tokyo on October 18, 2016.

  • The Royal Conservatory's Koerner Hall in Toronto has announced its 2014–15 concert season, the organization's sixth anniversary season, which will feature performances from several artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Jeremy Denk, Richard Goode, and Natalie Merchant, making their Koerner Hall debuts, and a return visit from Gidon Kremer. Tickets are on sale now.

Buy Now

  • About This Album

    The distinguished violinist Gidon Kremer leads members of his young chamber ensemble Kremerata Baltica in performances of the Octet for Strings, Op. 7, and Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 29, by Romanian composer Georges Enescu. This recording, their fifth release for the label, was released on May 21, 2002, following a recent Grammy Award for their 2001 release After Mozart

    The two works featured on this recording—one from very early in the composer’s career, the other a mature creation—offer profound evidence of Enescu’s technical assurance and distinctive voice. Born in 1881 in Liveni, Romania, Enescu was a child prodigy who entered the Vienna Conservatory as a violinist at the age of seven. Graduating at age 10, he performed the music of Brahms under the composer’s direction and witnessed performances of Wagner’s music led by legendary conductor Hans Richter. Both composers would remain influential, lifelong passions. Enescu continued his studies under Massenet and Fauré at the Paris Conservatory, where his classmates included composer Maurice Ravel, pianist Alfred Cortot and violinist Jacques Thibaud. The first concert of his compositions took place in Paris in 1897.

    Active as a composer throughout his life (though he only published 33 works), Enescu was best known in the United States as a virtuoso violin soloist, chamber musician and conductor (who was once considered as a successor to Toscanini in New York). He was also a leading pedagogue, counting Yehudi Menuhin and Dinu Lipatti among his most prominent pupils. Aside from his two popular Romanian Rhapsodies, however, Enescu’s compositions have suffered from neglect over the years since his death.

    Written in 1900, Enescu’s Octet for Strings combines the chromatic richness prevalent in Vienna at the time with a refined sense of formal structure. After World War I, he was increasingly influenced by the folk music of his native Romania, the effect of which is subtly echoed in the Quintet for Piano and Strings of 1940, heard here in its first recording. In the hands of Kremer and his ensemble, both works are revealed to be masterful and distinctive pieces that deserve to be more widely known.

    Kremerata Baltica—whom the Los Angeles Times calls, “extraordinary young players ... they animate everything their bows touch”—was founded by Gidon Kremer in 1996. An orchestra of young musicians from the three Baltic States, they first performed in Riga, Latvia in February 1997 and have gone on to tour throughout the world. Kremer had long sought to share his rich artistic experience with young musicians in his native Latvia and the Baltic region, and was prompted to form a more lasting relationship with the artists, as a way to give back to the community that fostered his own musical growth. Kremer, who acts as the group’s artistic director, said, in an interview for the New York Times, that it functions as “a musical democracy ... open-minded, self-critical, a continuation of my musical spirit.”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Gidon Kremer, violin
    with
    Dzeraldas Bidva, violin
    Ula Ulijona, viola
    Marta Sudraba, cello
    Andrius Zlabys, piano

    Kremerata Baltica:
    Gidon Kremer, solo violin and artistic director
    Violin: Dzeraldas Bidva, Eva Bindere*, Migle Diksaitiene, Andrejs Golikovs, Inga Gylyte, Elo Ivask, Miroslava Kotorovych, Marija Nemanyte, Sandis Steinbergs, Andrei Valigura*, Sanita Zarina*
    Viola: Janis Lielbardis*, Ula Ulijona*, Vidas Vekerotas, Zita Zemovica
    Cello: Peteris Cirksis, Giedre Dirvanauskaite, Eriks Kirsfelds*, Marta Sudraba*
    Bass: Danielis Rubinas

    *Octet performers

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Helmut Mühle and Gidon Kremer
    Edited by Gudrun Maurer

    Octet, opus 7
    Recorded June 2000 at Angelika-Kauffmann-Saal, Schwarzenberg, Austria
    Engineer: Philipp Nedel
    Assistant Engineer: Jörg Mohr
    Production Coordinator: Matteo Tradardi

    Quintet, opus 29
    Recorded November 2001 at Probesaal der Philharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Ludwigshafen, Germany
    Engineer: Niels Müller
    Assistant Engineer: Sibylle Strobel
    Production Coordinator: Sonia Simmenauer

    Design by Evan Gaffney
    Cover photograph: Suspended Vine, Marly, France, 1995 by Michael Kenna/Maconochie Photography

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

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