Customer Reviews

Surinach: Doppio Concertino/Flamenco Cyclothymia/Concerto For String Orchestra/Piano Quartet

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The music of Carlos Surinach has been something of a discovery for me; this is music with rhythmic drive and a strong melodic profile, dynamic, vigorous and often even intoxicating. Influences from Stravinsky, Villa-Lobos and Bartok abound, but his voice, with his very personal take on rhythmic and melodic influences from folk music, is entirely his own. Even his titles are often in some strange way appealingly suggestive (on the present disc only the Flamenco Cyclothemia falls in that category, though).

The flamenco does, in fact, seem to have been a recurring influence. Both this and his very typical rhythmic aggressiveness and passionate melodic features are present in the Doppio Concertino for violin, piano and chamber group (woodwind, brass and percussion), and the performances are quite fine, rhythmically precise and texturally clear, if perhaps a little too cautious. The soloists (Chorberg and Zinger) play well, though, as they also do in the Flamenco Cyclothemia for violin and piano - perhaps the most immediately appealing and aggressively Bartokian work on the disc. The Concerto for strings, at turns lively and serious, is a reworking of an earlier string quartet and receives a committed performance, again the textures are clear and the warmth and colors are nicely brought forth, but again I lack that last touch of white-hot intensity this music needs (and which the Louisville orchestra gives to some early Surinach scores on a First Edition disc - surely the place to start exploring this fascinating composer). The piano quartet is an early work, moving from the serious and "academic" with skilfull handling of counterpoint, to the more dramatic and unapologetically folksy and intensely furious and wild. Zinger's piano part is very well handled, and the string trio backing him provides a generally well-coordinated and colorful foil.

So, this is a very recommendable disc with very interesting music in fine performances. I do, however, consistently miss that last touch of fire that would have made the music truly exhilarating. The sound quality is very fine and well balanced. In the end, this disc is thoroughly recommended in any case. Don't miss this excellent music.