Double Play / Rachel Barton, Wendy Warner [Import]

Zoltan Kodaly (Composer), Bohuslav Martinu (Composer), Maurice Ravel (Composer), Erwin Schulhoff (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Zoltan Kodaly, Bohuslav Martinu, Maurice Ravel, Erwin Schulhoff
• Audio CD (October 1, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Cedille
• ASIN: B00001QEFJ
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #707,031 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I. Allegretto (2:43)

2. II. Adagio (4:13)

3. III. Poco allegro (3:05)Duo (1925) (17:52) - ERWIN SCHULHOFF

4. I. Moderato (5:47)

5. II. Zingaresca: Allegro giocoso (3:14)

6. III. Andantino (4:40)

7. IV. Moderato (4:00)Sonata (1922) (19:17) - MAURICE RAVEL

8. I. Allegro (4:51)

9. II. Tres vif (3:18)

10. III. Lent (5:24)

11. IV. Vif, avec entrain (5:33)Duo, Op. 7 (1914) (24:55) - ZOLTAN KODALY

12. I. Allegro serioso, non troppo (8:06)

13. II. Adagio (8:13)

14. III. Maestoso e largamente (8:28)TOTAL TIME (72:40)

Editorial Reviews

Rachel Barton returns for her fourth Cedille recording, along with fellow young virtuoso, childhood friend, and Rostropovich protégé Wendy Warner. The twentieth century has proved a golden age for big, virtuosic duos for violin and cello. Violinist Rachel Barton and cellist Wendy Warner, major-league soloists and lifelong friends, present these duos that give equal stature to both instruments. Martinu's Duo sustains high energy, especially in the Poco Allegro third movement, which features a wild refrain theme and bariolage (bowing involving rapid shifting between strings). Fellow Czech Erwin Schulhoff offers a persuasive merger of folk and contemporary elements, combining traditional Central European folk rhythms with modern string effects, such as left-hand pizzicatos and high harmonics. Ravel's large-scale sonata is so challenging that the violinist who gave the premiere chided the composer: "It must be fun writing such difficult stuff, but no one's going to play it except virtuosos." Ravel smiled: "Good! Then I shan't be assassinated by amateurs." Kodaly's Duo blends Hungarian folk materials with the formal structure of art music. Particularly striking is the Adagio's trio-like middle section in which the cello provides a bowed soprano melody and a plucked-bass accompaniment as the violin spins a counter-melody in the alto range Miss Barton and Miss Warner both grew up in the Chicago area, and studied at the Music Center of the North Shore (now Music Institute of Chicago) in Winnetka, IL, where they played in the same string quartet. The two played Brahms' Double Concerto in A minor in 1996 with the Chicago Youth Symphony in Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival, a performance which inspired the Chicago Tribune's Dan Tucker to write, "Barton, Warner are 2 of a kind: brilliant . . . This was a memorable concert; let us hope for more like it."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very pleasant listening, January 15, 2000

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Double Play / Rachel Barton, Wendy Warner (Audio CD)

Smaller labels like Cedille can take chances on issuing CDs like <Double Play> (CDR 90000 047). Here is a fine presentation of four duos for violin and cello (think of opera duets for soprano and contralto) that are seldom if ever heard in concerts or on other recordings. We have here Martinu's "Duo No. 2," Schulhoff's "Duo," Ravel's "Sonata," and Kodaly's "Duo, Op 7" played lovingly by Rachel Barton (v.) and Wendy Warner (c.). Composed respectively in 1958, 1925, 1922, and 1914, these works do not give us the lush melodies we get in (say) the duos for violin and viola of Mozart or comparable works by Dvorak. 20th century music tends to be more pioneering, more cerebral and therefore more challenging to the listener. And it is a good thing that the producers and artists have chosen for this offering four different national temperaments to be represented. Highly recommended for the rarity of the selections as much as for the playing.