Information
Composer: Alexander Borodin
- Piano Quintet in C minor
- Cello Sonata in B minor
- String Quartet No. 2 in D major
Piers Lane, piano
Goldner String Quartet
Dene Olding, violin
Dimity Hall, violin
Irina Morozova, viola
Julian Smiles, cello
Date: 2017
Label: Hyperion
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The comparative novelties here are Borodin’s Piano Quintet in C minor and his Cello Sonata in B minor – comparative, that is, in relation to the Second String Quartet, widely popular and widely recorded. However, neither the Quintet nor the Sonata is by any means unknown on disc. The Quintet featured compellingly on ‘Martha Argerich and Friends: Live from the Lugano Festival 2014’ with Alexander Mogilevsky as pianist (Warner, 8/15); the Cello Sonata was included alongside works by Rachmaninov and Shostakovich on a terrific 2011 disc from Alexander Chaushian and Yevgeny Sudbin (BIS, 8/11).
In fact, this new CD of the Piano Quintet, Cello Sonata and Second Quartet from the Goldner Quartet and Piers Lane replicates exactly the programme of a 2011 PraΩák Quartet release with Michal Ka√ka as soloist in the Cello Sonata and Jaromir Klepá∂ as pianist, well reviewed in Gramophone at the time (Praga Digitals, 9/11). However, newcomers intrigued by Borodin’s forays into chamber music will derive considerable satisfaction from the way that the Goldners and Piers Lane pinpoint the characteristics of the Quintet, an early, pre-First Symphony work but one that, for all its occasional nods to Mendelssohn, has the distinct imprint of folk-tinged melody that was to be one of Borodin’s mainstays.
The Cello Sonata, which has survived only in an incomplete set of parts and is known today in the reconstructed version by Mikhail Goldstein, again shows the direction in which Borodin’s melodic thinking was going: in the central movement particularly Julian Smiles and Piers Lane capture its warm romantic glow. That applies, too, to the Nocturne of the Second Quartet, a work of maturity and one that the Goldners interpret with a winning lyrical touch, well-projected energy and an instinctive feel for the musical language.
-- Geoffrey Norris
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Alexander Borodin (12 November 1833 – 27 February 1887) was a Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian-Russian extraction. A member of "The Five," a group of composers dedicated to creating a distinctly Russian style of music, Borodin is known best for his symphonies, string quartets, In the Steppes of Central Asia and his opera Prince Igor. Although Borodin was a highly talented composer, he worked as a chemist for most of his life, being particularly noted for his work on aldehydes. His music, rich in folk melodies and emotional depth, has endured as a key part of the Russian classical tradition.
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Piers Lane (born 8 January 1958) is an Australian classical pianist. Born in London and grew up in Brisbane, he graduated with a Medal of Excellence from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where his teacher was Nancy Weir. Lane first came to prominence at the inaugural Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977, at which he was named Best Australian Pianist. Since 2007, he is the artistic director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music held annually in Townsville. Lane has an extensive discography on the Hyperion label and has also recorded for EMI, Decca, BMG, Lyrita and Unicorn-Khanchana.
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The Goldner String Quartet is an Australian string quartet formed in 1995 in honour of Richard Goldner, the founder of Musica Viva Australia. The quartet consists of Dene Olding, Dimity Hall, Irina Morozova and Julian Smiles, who all are members of the Australia Ensemble. The Goldners have played throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well in the UK, USA, Korea, Finland, France and Italy, and with artists such as Boris Berman, Ian Munro, Piers Lane, Daniel Adni, Malcolm Bilson, Brett Dean and Slava Grigoryan. In August 2023 the Goldner String Quartet announced that the 2024 season would be its last.
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