Brahms/Piatti: Twenty-One Hungarian Dances

Brahms/Piatti: Twenty-One Hungarian Dances
Catalog Number: J117

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ARTISTS
Nancy Green, CELLIST
Frederick Moyer, PIANIST

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REPERTOIRE

Brahms (arranged by Piatti): 21 Hungarian Dances
	No. 1 in G Minor: Allegro molto
	No. 2 in D Minor: Allegro non assai
	No. 3 in F: Allegretto
	No. 4 in D Minor: Poco sostenuto - Vivace
	No. 5 in F Minor: Allegro
	No. 6 in C: Vivace
	No. 7 in C: Allegretto
	No. 8 in A Minor: Presto
	No. 9 in D Minor: Allegro non troppo
	No. 10 in C: Presto
	No. 11 in D Minor: Poco andante
	No. 12 in D Minor: Presto
	No. 13 In D: Andantino grazioso
	No. 14 in D Minor: Un poco andante
	No. 15 in B Flat: Allegretto grazioso
	No. 16 in C Minor: Con moto - Presto
	No. 17 in E Minor: Andantino - Meno presto
	No. 18 in D: Molto vivace
	No. 19 in D Minor: Allegretto
	No. 20 in E Minor: Poco allegretto - Vivace
	No. 21 in D Minor: Vivace - Piu presto
Franz Schmidt: Three Fantasy Pieces
	No. 1 in G: Allegretto
	No. 2 in D: Allegretto con moto - Adagio
	No. 3 in D Minor: Allegro vivace

Piatti's compositions, predominantly for cello, enjoyed considerable popularity during his lifetime, and he also arranged music for the instrument; his versions of Brahms's Hungarian Dances were published in 1881. The arrangements do not disturb Brahms's structures or lines, yet Piatti brings an instinctive feeling for appropriate variations of colour by multiple-stopping as well as changes of register and texture. Some of the dances are transposed downwards, generating richer sonorities. Piatti makes no technical concessions, yet his virtuosic demands are always idiomatic and effective, as in the parallel thirds, sixths and octaves, triple- and quadruple-stopping, doubled unisons, harmonics, and the frequent high-register writing. Brahms's Dances are here presented in an attractive and compelling new guise.

“The performances are extraordinary. Nancy Green is in terrific form: her sure intonation, rhythmic nuance, and expressive shading put her in the elite of today's concert cellists.” FANFARE MAGAZINE

“Green throws herself into these pieces, making each dance a little rhapsody. She's not averse to free, even swooning, rubato that perfectly conveys the music's pseudo-gypsy character…performances that are by turn dramatic and lyrical, and always of great technical facility…She can really bite into the music, but she also relishes its openhearted lyricism…Green's performance is highly rewarding.” STRINGS MAGAZINE

“Nancy Green gives an elegant account, her richly mellow cello sound positively purring in the lower ranges, coupled with a sense of fiery urgency in the last fantasy…both performers display a real empathy for the Czardas and play with great panache.” CD REVIEW

“Green and Moyer demonstrate a genuine sympathy for these pieces that sounds wholly appropriate to Piatti's own sensitive arrangements. Virtuoso techniques, such as multiple stopping, harmonics and octave doubling, and dramatically conceived registral contrast vividly display this excellently matched duo's intuitive response to the music's mood swings . . . Green and Moyer luxuriate in the remarkable array of textural and subtly coloured effects created by Piatti's arrangements…Schmidt's Three Fantasy Pieces, in which Green's intellegent and perceptive phrasing of the cello's ornate melodic lines is deftly accompanied by Moyer, complete this unusual and highly rewarding programme.” GRAMOHPONE

“Staying close to Brahms's originals in outline, Piatti's arrangements (Brahms Hungarian Dances) are full of brilliance and brio, and it is surprising that they haven't been recorded before. Green and Moyer play them with great enthusiasm and technical virtuosity, reveling in the atmosphere of derring-do. These are fine readings, full of warmth…This is an enjoyable disc.” AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

“…Soloistic and showy…the agility Piatti called for is considerable by any standard…deeply expressive, Nancy Green is sensitive to the rhythmic nuances of this music and she plays with impact and intensity…this is really a very nice recording.” FANFARE MAGAZINE