String Quartet Opus 145, Sonata For Strings

Amsterdam Sinfonietta; Artistic leader Candida Thompson

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartets opus 135 in F major (1826); Sir William Walton: Sonata for Strings (1971/73)

Amsterdam Sinfonietta concentrates on the scintiallating presentation of sensitively chosen programs, based on the emotional power of the stringed instruments. The core of Amsterdam Sinfonietta is an esemble of 23 string players which performs chamber works and, more especially, compositions scored for string orchestra. The programming extends from the entire baroque repertoire upto contemporary works. The ensemble is led by Candida Thompson, who was appointed artistic director in 2003. In the first ten years, Amsterdam Sinfonietta was led by conductor Lev Markiz, followed by Peter Oundjian in 1998. Sir William Walton's Sonata for Strings is a piece that the Amsterdam Sinfonietta has performed with great success both at home and abroad. For this reason we felt that a recording of this work was an obvious choice. It is a powerful composition which gives a string orchestra the opportunity to display all of its discipline, virtuosity, and tone-colour. We chose Beethoven's string quartet op.135 as a companion piece for this recording because of our admiration for the greatness of this final string quartet. During the recording sessions, attention was devoted not only to the dynamic levels in the score but an effort was also made to give different colours to the various motives. The Amsterdam Sinfoietta strives for the greatest possible expression in this way. Our choice for the combination of these two works is due more to the differences in their musical language than to their similarities. (from the liner notes by Willem de Bordes). CD of the Month, Gramophone (March 2006)

Price: $24.98

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