Andrés Isasi - String Quartets, Vol. 3 (Isasi Quartet)

Information

Composer: Andrés Isasi

• String Quartet No. 1 in G Major, Op. 11
• String Quartet No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 32
• Violin Sonata in F Minor, Op. 25

Isasi Quartet

    Anna Bohigas, violin

    Enekoitz Martinez, violin

    Karsten Dobers, viola

    Teresa Valente, cello

&

Marta Zabaleta, piano

Date: 2015

Label: Naxos

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Review

This constitutes the third and final disc Naxos have dedicated to the string quartets of Basque composer, Andrés Isasi. Indeed Naxos have served this composer well, this being the fourth CD of his music, which is more than all the other record companies together have managed. The Naxos recording of the Symphony No. 2 was reviewed here and here. The earliest Isasi disc the site has surveyed forms volume 4 of Claves' 'Basque Music Collection'.

I remember being somewhat disappointed by the music offered on the first release in the String Quartet series (8.472463), so much so that I still have not got Volume 2 (8.572464) and after repeated listening to this disc, it will be a while longer before I decide to invest in it. The problem for me is one of musical language; I like my Spanish composers to offer music with a Spanish soul, whereas here we get music clearly influenced by his musical education in Berlin, where his teachers included Engelbert Humperdinck. The music of the quartets, which has been edited by the violist, Karsten Dobers, is more central European than Iberian. The notes talk of the initial influences of Grieg and Dvořák on the development of his style, if so it was early Dvořák rather than his later masterpieces. This is pleasant music which is Germanic in flavour with excerpts which sound almost English. The music harks back to the early romanticism of the mid-nineteenth century, I especially enjoyed the slow second movement of the Fifth Quartet. If there is any Basque influences here they are masked by the heavy cloak of the great Austro-German tradition.

The Violin Sonata, which is the latest work on this disc, at least sounds as if it was composed in the twentieth century. It is here that the Basque influence comes through, though with tinges of late-romanticism in the guise of Richard Strauss. This is my favourite work on the two discs that I own, which is saying something as I am a string quartet nut. The national influences come from Basque melodies and songs which Isasi has developed into his own unique style. The piano writing has a particularly Spanish feel. This is echoed in the violin, which has some particularly Spanish virtuosic phrasing. I could almost say that this work alone is worth the investment in this disc.

The Isasi Quartet has a warmth which accentuates the romanticism of the music, with their first violin, Anna Bohigas, being joined for a spirited and enjoyable performance of the Sonata by the pianist, Marta Zabaleta. Both quartets and the Sonata have been recorded well by the engineers, while the brief notes are very helpful and informative.

— Stuart Sillitoe

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Andrés Isasi (29 October 1890 – 6 April 1940) was a Spanish composer. Born in Bilbao, he moved to Berlin in 1909 to study with Karl Kämpf and Humperdinck, developing skill in large-scale musical forms, especially the symphonic poem. His works, which found more appreciation in Hungary and Germany than in Spain, shows strong Basque influences and solid academic training. Isasi composed two symphonies, several orchestral suites and symphonic poems, a Piano Concerto, chamber works including eight string quartets, and many songs. He died of a heart condition in 1940 at his home in Algorta.

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Founded in 2009, the Isasi Quartet focuses on composers who lived at stylistic crossroads, reflecting the ensemble's own multicultural identity. They first recorded the string quartets of Andrés Isasi, whose music blends German symphonism with Mediterranean lyricism. They later turned to the works of Henri Marteau, marked by French expressiveness and German structural clarity. The quartet's recordings, released on Naxos and CPO, have been featured on major European radio stations. The group performs widely at European festivals, earning particular acclaim for a 2015 concert at Bilbao's Philharmonic Society.

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