Parker Quartet – Kurtág: Six moments musicaux; Officium breve / Dvořák: String Quintet, Op. 97 (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Parker Quartet – Kurtág: Six moments musicaux; Officium breve / Dvořák: String Quintet, Op. 97 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:27 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © ECM New Series

On their ECM New series debut, the Boston-based Parker Quartet, hailed by the Washington Post for “exceptional virtuosity and imaginative interpretation,” play music of György Kurtág and are joined by violist Kim Kashkashian, one of the quarter’s early mentors, to play Dvořák. In this powerful programme of contrasts, Dvořák’s outgoing String Quintet No. 3, composed in America in 1893, is framed by two of Kurtág’s concentrated, meticulously-shaped works – the Six Moments musicaux (2005) and the Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky (1988/89). Throughout, the Parker Quartet’s feeling for colour and texture is in evidence. The quartet’s insights into Kurtág’s soundworld have been developed through extensive work with the Hungarian composer. The album was recorded at Zürich’s Radio DRS Studio.

At first glance, the pairing of the two composers chosen by the Parker Quartet and violist Kim Kashkashian for their recording on ECM New Series may appear unusual. However, György Kurtág and Antonín Dvořák have more in common than a fleeting glimpse at their oeuvre – an extremely narrow, concentrated catalogue of works in the one case and a multifaceted life’s work that lavishly encompasses all musical genres in the other – would suggest.

There is no question that György Kurtág and Antonín Dvořák are creators of eminent chamber music works. Dvořák wrote thirty-one works in this field (not counting the two serenades and some lost pieces), the most generously represented genre being the string quartet with fourteen works, in addition to the three quintets, one sextet, two tercets and others, all intended for pure string ensembles. Even greater still is the proportion of chamber music works in Kurtág’s oeuvre, although his orchestral works were often written for smaller ensembles and reduced instrumentations. Ultimately, the intimate, austere quality of chamber music is more in keeping with Kurtág’s artistic nature, who thinks less in terms of large formats, but rather developed his own unique style with sound material reduced to microscopic cells.

Tracklist:

1-01. Parker Quartet – 1. Invocatio [un fragment] (01:30)
1-02. Parker Quartet – 2. Footfalls … mintha valaki jönne … (02:46)
1-03. Parker Quartet – 3. Capriccio (01:32)
1-04. Parker Quartet – 4. In memorian Gyoergy Sebeok (03:35)
1-05. Parker Quartet – 5. … rappel des oiseaux … [étude pour les harmoniques] (02:31)
1-06. Parker Quartet – 6. Les adieux [in Janáčeks Manier] (02:48)
1-07. Parker Quartet – 1. Allegro non tanto (09:30)
1-08. Parker Quartet – 2. Scherzo, Allegro vivace (05:58)
1-09. Parker Quartet – 3. Larghetto (10:05)
1-10. Parker Quartet – 4. Finale, Allegro giusto (08:34)
1-11. Parker Quartet – 1. Largo (00:25)
1-12. Parker Quartet – 2. Più andante (00:44)
1-13. Parker Quartet – 3. Sostenuto, quasi giusto (00:40)
1-14. Parker Quartet – 4. Grave, molto sostenuto (00:32)
1-15. Parker Quartet – 5. (Fantasie über die Harmonien des Webern-Kanons) Presto (00:42)
1-16. Parker Quartet – 6. (Canon a 4) Molto agitato (00:20)
1-17. Parker Quartet – 7. Canon a 2 (frei, nach Op. 31/VI von Webern) Sehr fliessend (00:39)
1-18. Parker Quartet – 8. Lento (00:38)
1-19. Parker Quartet – 9. Largo (00:56)
1-20. Parker Quartet – 10. [Webern: Kanon a 4 (Op. 31/VI)] (02:21)
1-21. Parker Quartet – 11. Sostenuto (02:39)
1-22. Parker Quartet – 12. Sostenuto, quasi giusto (00:41)
1-23. Parker Quartet – 13. Sostenuto, con slancio (01:06)
1-24. Parker Quartet – 14. Disperato, vivo (00:48)
1-25. Parker Quartet – 15. Arioso interrotto (di Endre Szervánszky) Larghetto (01:14)

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