Intimate Letters (Janacek & Martinu)

Intimate Letters (Janacek & Martinu)

Intimate Letters (Janacek & Martinu)
List Price: $16.98
Our Price: $1.95
You Save: $15.03 (89%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.53 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album


(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Brand: EMERSON STRING QUART
Conductor: Emerson String Quartet
Composer: Leos Janacek
Composer: Bohulav Martinu
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-05-19
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
  1. I. Adagio Con moto
  2. II. Con moto
  3. III. Con moto Vivace Andante Tempo I
  4. IV. Con moto Adagio Maestoso
  5. I. Poco allegro
  6. II. Poco andante
  7. III. Allegro
  8. I. Andante Con moto Allegro
  9. II. Adagio Vivace Andante Presto Allegro Vivo Adagio
  10. III. Moderato Adagio Allegro
  11. IV. Allegro Andante Con moto Adagio Tempo I

Music reviews of Intimate Letters (Janacek & Martinu)

Music Review: Fierce Passion Needs Ferocious Playing
Rating: 5 Stars

Leos Janacek (1854-1928) wrote two string quartets, both in the last decade of his life, both reportedly energized by his unreciprocated passion for a much younger woman. Oddly I'm reminded of the great 14th C composer Guillaume Machaut, whose final masterpieces of poetry and music were inspired by the passionate flirtations of a younger woman. Thankfully, neither composer had access to Viagra! All their genius flowed into their music.

Even without words, Janacek's two quartets throb with fierce passion and sexual longing. All the critiques and program notes I've ever read about the two quartets, including those with this recording by the Emerson Quartet, elaborate on the composer's personal circumstances and expatiate on the 'programmatic' qualities of the music. Well, dear readers, it is easier and livelier to write about jealousy (the theme of the Tolstoy story for which 'The Kreutzer Sonata' quartet is named) or obsession (Intimate Letters) than about shifting keys, fluctuations of tempo, and elusive thematic development! There IS a narrative quality to the structures of these two quartets, and an ineluctable sense that the composer was striving to express in music the kind of emotional turmoil usually expressed in words. Don't forget that Janacek was above all an opera composer, accustomed to the explicitness of words and drama. These quartets are in fact his 'largest' creations of pure instrumental music. If they seem to "speak" -- and they do -- it's clearly because Janacek heard every note as a word on a stage of sound.

That's the magnificence of this performance by the Emerson Quartet, that they emote the notes like outbursts of language. They stop short of nothing to convey the passionate rhetoric of the musical phrases -- nothing, that is, that's available on the strings of their instruments. They are never satisfied with simple romantic sonority. Not a single phrase is merely 'played.' Every timbre is chosen to be expressive. You'll hear a lot of ferocious bowing, a lot of snarly bridge tones, a lot of chuff and scrape. Above all, the Emersons are fearless about taking chances with tempi, with dynamics, with attacks, with edgy tuning of chords. Others have treated Janacek as essentially a 19th C composer who lived well in the 20th C; the Emersons play him as a 20th C composer who was born decades before his time.

Of course it all comes down to technical proficiency and assurance. The Emerson Quartet has performed these quartets in concert frequently and over many years. They've become intimate with the Intimate Letters and the intimate notes. I suspect that they've hesitated to commit their interpretations to recording until they were utterly confident in the results. They're a passionate bunch, the only major quartet that regularly performs standing rather than sitting. Their 'musica reservata' attitude has paid off in a recording of exquisite detail and impeccable ensemble. This is a career-crowning CD, the best they've ever done.
More Intimate Letters (Janacek & Martinu) free music reviews:
1

Description of Intimate Letters (Janacek & Martinu)

When the Emerson String Quartet releases an album, one s expectation of excellence isn t met it s exceeded. The Emersons exploration of Czech chamber music on this new recording further burnishes a lustrous reputation. The Emersons perform at a superior level of intensity, integrity, energy, and commitment demonstrated since its formation in 1976. It now brings these qualities to the first two of Janácek s String Quartets and 3 Madrigals for violin and viola by Martinu. Intimate Letters (Quartet no. 2) is based on Janácek s letters to his muse, Kamila Stösslová. We are the fortunate beneficiaries of Janácek s unrequited passion! This passionate piece also plays a key role in the Daniel-Day Lewis film, The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Classical CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Classical CDs
Winterscapes ImageWinterscapes
by London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebee ImageThe Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebee
by Dini Petty
Children's Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops: $13.98
Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr ImageClassical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr
Release date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $24.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos)) ImageTchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))
by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] ImageJose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]
Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops: $9.99
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] ImageTchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.89
Price in other shops: $29.95
Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] ImageRambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Winter Music: Composing the North ImageWinter Music: Composing the North
by John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.23
Price in other shops: $25.95
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImagePuccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops: $29.95
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImageVerdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Similar CDs
Mozart / Brahms: Clarinet Quintets ImageMozart / Brahms: Clarinet Quintets
Release date: 1999-05-11; Music CD
Best price: $9.53
Price in other shops: $16.98
Beethoven: the String Quartets ImageEmerson String Quartet - Beethoven: the String Quartets
Release date: 2010-10-19; Music CD
Best price: $24.25
Price in other shops: $39.98
Schubert: The Late String Quartets ImageSchubert: The Late String Quartets
Release date: 2004-06-15; Music CD
Best price: $17.13
Price in other shops: $23.98
Shostakovich: The String Quartets ImageShostakovich: The String Quartets
EMERSON STRING QUART; Release date: 2006-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $22.33
Price in other shops: $39.98
Debussy, Ravel: Streichquartette ImageDebussy, Ravel: Streichquartette
DEBUSSY/RAVEL; Release date: 1995-09-19; Music CD
Best price: $6.50
Price in other shops: $9.98
American Originals - Ives & Barber: String Quartets ImageEmerson String Quartet - American Originals - Ives & Barber: String Quartets
Release date: 1993-01-19; Music CD
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops: $16.98
Mozart: String Quartets K. 465 Dissonance / K. 458 The Hunt / K. 421 ImageMozart: String Quartets K. 465 Dissonance / K. 458 The Hunt / K. 421
Release date: 2005-11-08; Music CD
Best price: $6.58
Price in other shops: $9.98
Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 21 - 23 ('Prussian'), K. 575, 589, 590 ImageMozart: String Quartets Nos. 21 - 23 ('Prussian'), K. 575, 589, 590
Release date: 2011-10-18; Music CD
Best price: $8.56
Price in other shops: $11.96
Intimate Voices ImageIntimate Voices
Release date: 2006-04-11; Music CD
Best price: $9.09
Price in other shops: $16.98
Old World - New World ImageEmerson String Quartet - Old World - New World
Release date: 2010-04-13; Music CD
Best price: $21.61
Price in other shops: $35.98
Books | DVD Video | VHS Video | Health and Personal Care | Digital Cameras and Photo | Kitchen and Housewares | Tools and Hardware | Sports Equipment | Dresses shirts shoes apparel pants
Copyright © 2004-2007 music-hills.com
Google
 
Web music-hills.com
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles