A recording of mostly French viola music from the turn of the 20th century doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would have you camping out at Fnac. But if you don't, you'll be making a big mistake. A few big names -- Debussy, Ravel, Chausson -- are represented here, and they bring lovely moments from violist Lawrence Power, most especially in the rarely heard and very early Beau soir of Debussy. George Enescu's well-made Concertstück (1906), a masterpiece of controlled virtuosity, is also a cornerstone of the small ...
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A recording of mostly French viola music from the turn of the 20th century doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would have you camping out at Fnac. But if you don't, you'll be making a big mistake. A few big names -- Debussy, Ravel, Chausson -- are represented here, and they bring lovely moments from violist Lawrence Power, most especially in the rarely heard and very early Beau soir of Debussy. George Enescu's well-made Concertstück (1906), a masterpiece of controlled virtuosity, is also a cornerstone of the small viola-and-piano repertory. But the real value here lies in the works by lesser-known composers, several of which are recorded for the first time. For the most part they come from the world of the Paris Conservatoire, a whipping boy even for Debussy's followers, but he doubtless would have known some of these works. Consider the elegant Thème varié of the almost completely obscure Georges Hüe, a conductor at the premiere of The Rite of Spring in 1913. His variations have an almost...
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