| We just received the news that the Ma'alot
Quintet, a woodwind quintet from Germany, has been named a
recipient of the prestigious 2006 Echo Klassik prize for its Dvorak
recording on the MDG label Other artists on our roster who
have won Echo prizes in past years are Tapestry (2005), Leipzig
String Quartet (1999, 2000, 2003), and Stefan Hussong,
accordion (1999) .
July 4, 2006. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- The Vienna Piano Trio had its debut at the Frick Collection on July 13, 2006. This is what Mr. Kozinn of The New York Times writes about that performance:
The Vienna Piano
Trio Shows No Sign of a Midlife Crisis
July 17, 2006
Although the Vienna Piano Trio has been performing since 1988, and only its cellist has changed, it still has a youthful look. More important, it plays with the energy of a college ensemble just discovering the power and passion built into the big repertory works, but with the polish of long acquaintance. That is an accomplishment. Many veteran chamber groups either slide into an easy perfection of finely honed surfaces and comfortable familiarity, losing their sense of excitement, or begin to phone in their performances, preserving the veneer, if they're lucky, long after the spirit has evaporated. It was evident in its concert at the Frick Collection on Thursday evening that this ensemble is in no danger of a middle-age slump. Within the first few bars of Mozart's Trio in B flat (K. 502), the players established the style that would carry them through the concert, given some variation in weight for the move from Classical to Romantic repertory. Stefan Mendl 's piano lines were crisply articulated when Mozart put them in the spotlight, and nuanced in accompanying sections. Wolfgang Redik, the violinist, and Matthias Gredler, the cellist, produced a closely matched tone much of the time, but were particularly striking when they went their separate ways, not least because of the verve and earthy brashness Mr. Redik brought to punctuating figures and ending chords. Interpretively the group was full of surprises. The Larghetto of the Mozart was couched in a peculiar blend of soulfulness and courtly grace, qualities that might normally tug at each other but here sounded like natural partners. In Schumann's "Fantasiestücke" (Op. 88), the coloration was dark and the accenting slightly outsize, as if to magnify Schumann's eccentricities. Yet there were also touches of his quirky humor and, in the "Duett" movement, both drama and haunting beauty. The trio devoted the second half of the program to an electrifying performance of Schubert's Trio in E flat. As in the Mozart and Schumann works, the musicians used contradictory expectations as a kind of mining tool. Tempos, for example, were brisk, and phrasing tended toward aggressiveness, qualities that could easily have plowed over Schubert's uncommonly rich melodies. But instead, the same clarity that illuminated the Mozart put Schubert''s melodies in high relief, just as the hint of grittiness in Mr. Redik's playing gave the performance a breathing, organic quality. Allan Kozinn
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