FERENC SNÉTBERGER / KELLER QUARTETT - Hallgató
ECM New Series 351 9395
Ferenc Snétberger (guitar); Gyula Lázár double bass)
Keller Quartett:
András Keller (violin); Zsófia Környei (violin); Gábor Homoki (viola); László Fenyö (violoncello)
Recorded December 2018
This is a fascinating programme from Hungarian guitarist, Ferenc Snétberger and the Keller Quartet that draws together
jazz, improvisation and Snétberger's Sinti and Roma roots, along with works by Dimitri Shostakovich, John Dowland and Samuel Barber. As one might expect, the music is rich and diverse, with part of the concert given over to the collaboration between guitarist and the Keller Quartett, and the string quartet also steeping out as an ensemble to perform Shostakovich's 'String Quartet No.8 in C Minor' and 'Molto Adagio, Op.11' by Barber.
The concert opens with a composition by Snétberger, 'Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra - In Memory of My People'' and is arranged for guitar, and string quintet with bassist, Gyula Lázár, joining the Keller Quartett. Written by the guitarist in 1994, the version here is arranged by the composer and Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, and Snétberger's fascination with both jazz and classical idioms and the Sinti and Roma musical traditions is clearly in evidence in a three-part composition that culminates in the ebullient 'Tánc (Allegro furioso)'.
Dedicated to the victims of war, 'String Quartet No.8 in C Minor' is performed in an exemplary manner by the Keller Quartett with the arrangement bringing forth a sensitivity that makes the music so compelling. This same sense of connection with the music and the human spirit is felt in Barber's exquisite 'Adagio for Strings, Op.11' , but it is the return of the guitarist for two pieces by John Dowland that produces music of sheer beauty that is almost tangible. 'I Saw My Lady Weep' performed by Snétberger and the Quartett is wonderfully arranged, as is the gentle and subtle arrangement of 'Flow, my tears' for featuring guitar and the cello of László Fenyö.
Snétberger gets his composition 'Your Smile' to himself is a delightful, no thrills solo piece where any notion of virtuosic flamboyancy is sacrificed to deliver the melody in an engaging piece that serves as a perfect introduction for the closing 'Rhapsody I for Guitar and Orchestra', also composed by the guitarist. From the opening introduction from the solo guitar the strings enter to broaden the sound and add gravitas to a piece that Snétberger originally wrote for a film project about the Roma.
The concert covers a wide variety of music in a most comprehensive and enthralling manner we perhaps learn more about the guitarist as composer, instrumentalist and his musical culture than in his previous output for the label ina release that comes highly recommended.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM New Series 351 9395
Ferenc Snétberger (guitar); Gyula Lázár double bass)
Keller Quartett:
András Keller (violin); Zsófia Környei (violin); Gábor Homoki (viola); László Fenyö (violoncello)
Recorded December 2018
This is a fascinating programme from Hungarian guitarist, Ferenc Snétberger and the Keller Quartet that draws together
jazz, improvisation and Snétberger's Sinti and Roma roots, along with works by Dimitri Shostakovich, John Dowland and Samuel Barber. As one might expect, the music is rich and diverse, with part of the concert given over to the collaboration between guitarist and the Keller Quartett, and the string quartet also steeping out as an ensemble to perform Shostakovich's 'String Quartet No.8 in C Minor' and 'Molto Adagio, Op.11' by Barber.
The concert opens with a composition by Snétberger, 'Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra - In Memory of My People'' and is arranged for guitar, and string quintet with bassist, Gyula Lázár, joining the Keller Quartett. Written by the guitarist in 1994, the version here is arranged by the composer and Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, and Snétberger's fascination with both jazz and classical idioms and the Sinti and Roma musical traditions is clearly in evidence in a three-part composition that culminates in the ebullient 'Tánc (Allegro furioso)'.
Dedicated to the victims of war, 'String Quartet No.8 in C Minor' is performed in an exemplary manner by the Keller Quartett with the arrangement bringing forth a sensitivity that makes the music so compelling. This same sense of connection with the music and the human spirit is felt in Barber's exquisite 'Adagio for Strings, Op.11' , but it is the return of the guitarist for two pieces by John Dowland that produces music of sheer beauty that is almost tangible. 'I Saw My Lady Weep' performed by Snétberger and the Quartett is wonderfully arranged, as is the gentle and subtle arrangement of 'Flow, my tears' for featuring guitar and the cello of László Fenyö.
Snétberger gets his composition 'Your Smile' to himself is a delightful, no thrills solo piece where any notion of virtuosic flamboyancy is sacrificed to deliver the melody in an engaging piece that serves as a perfect introduction for the closing 'Rhapsody I for Guitar and Orchestra', also composed by the guitarist. From the opening introduction from the solo guitar the strings enter to broaden the sound and add gravitas to a piece that Snétberger originally wrote for a film project about the Roma.
The concert covers a wide variety of music in a most comprehensive and enthralling manner we perhaps learn more about the guitarist as composer, instrumentalist and his musical culture than in his previous output for the label ina release that comes highly recommended.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
