Cantate e tranquillo kun je vertalen als rustig zingend. De titel verwijst naar het derde deel van het zestiende en laatste strijkkwartet van Beethoven. Door het langzame ritme levert dit prachtige verstilde muziek op. András Keller en ECM producer Manfred Eicher hebben aan de hand van dit deel een prachtig programma samengesteld met muziek die in deze context past. Het album bevat oude en nieuwe opnamen van Bach, Ligeti, Kurtág, Schnittke en Knaifel. Dit levert prachtige momenten op zoals het pianokwintet van Schnittke met Alexei Lubimov achter de piano. De twee stukjes uit Die Kunst der fuge van Bach klinkt het schrijkkwartet als ware het viola da gamba’s. Het Hongaarse Keller Quartett heeft vele werken van Kurtág in première gebracht. Muziek dat heel goed past in dit concept, dat wordt besloten met een tweede opname van Beethovens laatste strijkkwartet derde deel Lento assai, cantate e tranquillo.
Cantante e tranquillo
Bach, J S:
The Art of Fugue, BWV1080: Contrapunctus I
The Art of Fugue, BWV1080: Contrapunctus XIV
Beethoven:
String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 - Lento Assai
String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130 - Cavatina
String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 - Lento Assai
Knaifel:
Air Clean and Unseen, stanzas with Tyutchev, for piano & string quartet: An Autumn Evening
Kurtág:
Aus der Ferne V for string quartet
Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánsky, Op. 28: Larghetto
Hommage à J.S.B.
Signs, Games and Messages for String Trio: Ligatura Y
Ligatura - Message to Frances-Marie Op. 31b
Flowers We Are - for Miyako
Ligeti:
String Quartet No. 2: Allegro con delicatezza - stets sehr mild
Schnittke:
Piano Quintet, Op. 108: Moderato pastorale
András Keller, Zsófia Környei (violin), Zoltán Gál (viola), Judit Szabó (cello), János Pilz (violin - 3,5,6,7,8), Ottó Kertész (cello - 3,7), Alexei Lubimov (piano - track 5)
Keller Quartett
‘Cantante e tranquillo’ is an exquisite album of slow movements mostly written for string quartet which takes its title from Beethoven’s marking for the lento of his final Quartet, Op 135, two performances of which bookend the disc. In between comes music by Bach, Ligeti, Kurtág, Schnittke, Knaifel - plus more Beethoven.
Producer Manfred Eicher explains the genesis of the recording: “In conversation with András Keller [leader of the quartet] we envisioned a musical programme based entirely on slow movements. Together we began reviewing the recordings we had made over the last 20 years, juxtaposing works of different historical eras, uncovering correspondences between composers of the past and the present.
“As a contextual frame for the project we decided to record the slow movements of Beethoven’s op.130 and op.135, added new recordings of Kurtág and integrated newer and older interpretations of Alexander Knaifel, Ligeti and Bach to the album. This personal selection of remarkable music documents the ensemble’s growth, always approaching the work with both integrity and imagination, rooted in the gesture of listening.”
And Wolfgang Sandner concludes his liner note: “A wistful charm imbues this entire recording of pieces which, though not written together, seem to have been predestined for each other. The sounds are self-evident and self-explanatory. We hear them as music, as beautiful music, as great music.”
The Keller Quartett was founded in 1987 in Budapest at the Liszt Conservatory of Music, where its members studied with Sandór Devich, András Mihály and György Kurtág. All three of these distinguished professors were mentors, and Kurtág continues to compose music for them. Besides the composers on this album, members of the quartet have also been heard on ECM recordings of Bartók, Shostakovich and Barber.
