Various Composers - Treasures from the New World, Vol. 1 (Clélia Iruzun; Coull Quartet)

Information

• Amy Beach - Piano Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 67
• Henrique Oswald - Piano Quintet in C major, Op. 18
• Marlos Nobre - Poema XXI, Op. 94 No. 21
• Amy Beach - Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23

Clélia Iruzun, piano

Coull Quartet

    Roger Coull, violin

    Philip Gallaway, violin

    Jonathan Barritt, viola

    Nicholas Roberts, cello

Date: 2020

Label: SOMM Recordings

https://somm-recordings.com/recording/treasures-from-the-new-world/

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Review

‘Treasures from the United States and Brazil’ in truth for this warmly recorded and passionately played new disc. This is the fourth recording currently listed in the Presto Classical database of Amy Beach’s substantial, Brahmsian Piano Quintet (1907) and Clélia Iruzun’s performance with the Coull Quartet is beautifully paced, with more accentuated differences in tempo than with the main rivals by Ambache (a fine all-Beach programme) and Roscoe (coupled with works by Rebecca Clarke). While this makes it the slowest available, it is not unnaturally so and allows the music more room to breathe; ultimately, preferences will come down to couplings. The 1893 Romance has no fewer than eight competitors (how times have changed in the fortunes of this composer) but Iruzun and Coull need fear no comparisons.

Brazilian-born Henrique Oswald (1852-1931) is fairly well served on CD, largely for his smaller piano pieces, not least his most popular work, Il neige (of which there are several recordings, including two of transcriptions for guitar duet). The Piano Quintet (1895) is substantial, its four movements (the sparkling Scherzo placed second) more redolent of Schumann than Brahms, so makes a nice foil to the Beach. That said, its beautiful, rather nocturnal third movement, Molto adagio, is not just the heart of the quintet but the apex of the whole programme.

Marlos Nobre (b1939) may be more familiar as a name, although his discography is less extensive, restricted largely to anthologies. The best introduction to his music is a disc of piano music recorded by Iruzun for Lorelt. Poema XXI is one of a continuing series of arrangements by the composer of a lilting melody from his Concertante do Imaginário (1989; incidentally also recorded by Iruzun for Lorelt). It’s a delight, as is the disc as a whole.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

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Clelia Iruzun is a Brazilian pianist based in London. She was born in Rio de Janeiro and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 1988. Iruzun made her Wigmore Hall début in the same year and since then has performed all over Europe, the US, China and Brazil. She has appeared several times on radio and television, performing over 25 piano concertos, including some by Spanish and Latin American composers together with chamber music pieces. Iruzun has also premiered English music by Arnold Bax and York Bowen in Brazil. She has recorded several CDs and and has recently completed a master's degree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clelia_Iruzun

https://cleliairuzun.com/wp/

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The Coull Quartet is an English string quartet that was founded at the Royal Academy of Music, London in 1974 under the guidance of renowned quartet leader, Sidney Griller. The Quartet, which includes two of its founder members, has performed and broadcast extensively throughout the UK, and has made tours of Western Europe, the Americas, Australia, China, India and the Far East. Since the mid-1980s the Coull Quartet has made over 30 recordings featuring a wide selection of the repertoire from the complete Mendelssohn and Schubert quartets to 20th century and contemporary British chamber music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coull_Quartet

http://www.coullquartet.com/

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