Viola Dolorosa

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Seabourne’s expressive and accessible score chimes well with Britten’s lyrical works, and the rich tonal palette of Hamann’s playing is beautifully showcased in the work’s demanding viola line. — BBC Music Magazine, December 2015, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 21st Aug 2015
Catalogue No: SH137
Label: Sheva Collection
Length: 58 minutes

Seabourne: Pietá

Work length36:58

$8.00

$10.35

Georg Hamann, Akari Komiya

I. Berceuse

Track length6:30

$1.00

$1.30

II. Enigmas

Track length6:33

$1.00

$1.30

III. Elegy

Track length4:55

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Seven Roads

Track length11:21

$3.00

$3.85

V. Reminiscence

Track length7:39

$2.00

$2.60

Britten: Elegy for Strings

Work length6:13

$1.00

$1.30

Georg Hamann

Britten: Lachrymae for viola & piano, Op. 48

Work length15:01

$4.00

$5.15

Georg Hamann, Akari Komiya

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This beautiful CD pairs an important work by the living composer Peter Seabourne with two by Benjamin Britten. Seabourne's Pietà, like many of his works, takes inspiration from the other arts: in this case the statues of Michelangelo, and in particular the haunting face of Nicodemus in the Firenze Pietà. On the death of the composer’s parents it offered a suitable stimulus for a piece in their memory. This large scale, five movement work takes one on a powerful journey, from a melancholy "rocking to sleep", though doubting questions, a song of mourning, and a violent protest. It eventually reaches a kind of resolution, with a poignant "Good Night" (quoting Janacek) laying the music to rest. The two Britten pieces span his lifetime. The childhood Elegy, reconstructed after the composer's death, and the much later Lachrymae based round a set of variations on a lute song of John Dowland; both intense works. Georg Hamann, the widely respected Viennese professor, along with rising star Akari Komiya, give here extraordinary performances of immense emotional power. This disc is a true journey of the soul!

Reviews

December 2015

Seabourne’s expressive and accessible score chimes well with Britten’s lyrical works, and the rich tonal palette of Hamann’s playing is beautifully showcased in the work’s demanding viola line.

December 2015

In [Elegy], Georg Hamann [gives] an eloquent reading. The opening of Lachrymae is taken hypnotically slowly…after forcefully characterising the various variations, the duo goes on to achieve a movingly beautiful close…at 37 minutes, Peter Seabourne’s Michelangelo-inspired Pietà is a monumental addition to the repertoire…Hamann – to whom the piece is dedicated – and Komiya make an excellent case for this player-friendly, beautifully written composition.

Ballet Magazine December 2015

Seabourne's expressive and accessible score chimes well with Britten's lyrical works, and the rich tonal palette of Hamann's playing is beautifully showcased in the work's demanding viola line

The Classical Reviewer November 2015

[Pietà] is a powerful, emotional work that casts a real spell over the listener. Georg Hamann and Akari Komiya put their heart and soul into the music providing the most passionate and eloquent of performances…these players are really first class and are well recorded. There are excellent booklet notes.

Viola Dolorosa

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