Colin Matthews: Violin Concerto

[Leila Josefowicz has] unlocked a sensuous outpouring from Matthews, a concerto of lithe purpose and natural flow…the fearless Josefowicz brings her unique improvisatory energy, finding exuberant... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2016, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 24th Jun 2016
Catalogue No: NMCD227
Label: NMC
Length: 66 minutes

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Matthews, C: Violin Concerto

Work length20:06

$5.00

$6.00

Leila Josefowicz (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Oliver Knussen
Recorded: 28 July 2010
Recording Venue: Live Recording, BBC Radio 3, United Kingdom

Track length10:37

$3.00

$3.60

II.

Track length9:29

$2.00

$2.40

Matthews, C: Cortège

Work length18:46

$4.00

$4.80

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 19 December 1998

Matthews, C: Cello Concerto No. 2

Work length27:08

$6.00

$7.20

Anssi Karttunen (cello)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Rumon Gamba
Recorded: 17 October 2002

I. Declamation: Sostenuto

Track length4:40

$1.00

$1.20

II. Song without text: Molto sostenuto

Track length4:00

$1.00

$1.20

III. Scherzo: Allegro energico

Track length4:40

$1.00

$1.20

IV. Song without text: Sostenuto

Track length4:09

$1.00

$1.20

V. Resolution: Sostenuto - Vigoroso

Track length9:39

$2.00

$2.40

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To celebrate Colin Matthews' 70th birthday we release this new album featuring a star-studded line-up of artists, including conductors Riccardo Chailly, Oliver Knussen, Rumon Gamba, and soloists Leila Josefowicz (violin) and Anssi Karttunen (cello).

Over four decades Colin's output of over 130 works has ranged from solo piano music through five string quartets and many ensemble and orchestral works. This album showcases three of his large-scale orchestral pieces; the dark, Mahlerian Cortège (1988) being the earliest work recorded here. Matthews’ Violin Concerto (2009) was composed for Leila Josefowicz and Colin says it “emerged naturally from her musical personality, style and technique”. Matthews’ Cello Concerto No.2 (1996) was composed for Mstislav Rostropovich, who gave its first performance with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis at the Barbican, London, on 17 September 1996.

Three great works, then, to celebrate the three score and ten of a remarkable musical polymath.

Reviews

July 2016

[Leila Josefowicz has] unlocked a sensuous outpouring from Matthews, a concerto of lithe purpose and natural flow…the fearless Josefowicz brings her unique improvisatory energy, finding exuberant equals in Oliver Knussen and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

CD Review

Lyrically rewarding and memorably orchestrated with the textures constantly shifting.

the Violin Concerto (2009) and the Cello Concerto No.2 (1996) - inhabit a world half way between Berg and Britten, where nervy, restless detail in the background gives way to a core of expressive lyricism.

August 2016

Josefowicz is superb – radiant and pointed – in the concerto written for her. Cortège is colossal; and Karttunen dexterously finds his way through the Second Cello Concerto.

29th May 2016

[Cortège's] dark, drum-beating, funereal character has, paradoxically perhaps, a more direct appeal than the Violin Concerto (2009), given by the brilliant Leila Josefowicz...The large-scale Cello Concerto No 2 (1996), written for Rostropovich, finds a fine exponent in Anssi Karttunen

23rd June 2016

Josefowicz, for whom Matthews tailored [the Concerto], soars high above the orchestra as if on a thermal...[Cortège is] sombre but driven – monumental, yes, but one somehow feels inside the monument rather than gazing on it.

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