Robert Fürstenthal: Chamber Music, Volume One
When Germany invaded Austria in 1938, Robert Fürstenthal, born in 1920, took the path of many Viennese Jews and fled to the United States, where he made his living as an accountant; the fact that he had written music in his youth was soon forgotten. Reconnection, after 35 years, with the woman who had been his first love rekindled both that flame and his urge to compose, and from then on songs and chamber music flowed from his pen, preserving the spirit of fin-de-siècle Vienna under the Californian sun – ‘When I compose, I am back in Vienna’, he explained. He died in November 2016, aged 96, knowing that his lyrical, eloquent music was at last attracting the attention of both musicians and microphones.
The Rossetti Ensemble
Malcolm Messiter (oboe)
Christopher O’Neal (oboe)
Sara Trickey (violin)
Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola)
Timothy Lowe (cello)
John Lenehan (piano)
Listen To This Recording:
-
Sonata for Two Oboes and Piano in D minor, Op. 56
- I Allegro moderato
- II Lento
- III Scherzando
- IV Intermezzo: Cantabile
- V Rondo: Allegretto
- I Allegro moderato
- II Andante
- III Scherzando
- IV Grave
- I Lento Allegretto
- II Scherzando
- III Lento
- IV Vivace
- I Allegro con fuoco
- II Lento
- III Scherzando
- IV Andante con variazioni
- I Moderato, ma con spirito
- II Cantabile
- III Andante Allegro ma non troppo
Cello Sonata in F minor, Op. 58
Viola Sonata in D minor, Op. 57
Violin Sonata in B minor, Op. 43
Piano Trio, Op. 65
FIRST RECORDINGS
MusicWeb International :
‘The members of the Rossetti Ensemble are all well-known and expert performers and never seek to inflate the music beyond its natural constraints. Fürstenthal’s biography and music, well related in the extensive booklet note – there are essays by his wife, Michael Haas, and William Melton – amplify the value of this well-produced disc.’
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International