Background Image Background Image Background Image
background image

SIG 058
StarStarStarStarStar Rating
Log in to be the first to review this disc
Background Image Background Image Background Image
background image
Signum Logo
SIG 058

Kats-Chemin: Ragtime & Blue

Released Date:
01 Jun 2007

Originally recorded in 2007
Artists:

Sarah Nicolls

piano

Nicola Sweeney

violin

Venue:

Henry Wood Hall, London

Jan 2005

Producer:

Martin Cotton



Engineer:

Mike Cox


Limo Hearn

Floating Earth

Record Label
Signum

Genre:

Piano


Violin

Total Time - 70:12
background image
SELECT YOUR MUSIC FORMAT FROM THE OPTIONS BELOW*
mp3question marklosslessoff  
*when you purchase a lossless format, we include the MP3 free of charge
Please Note: On Mp3 format an unavoidable click may be heard on segue track breaks, to avoid this issue please select lossless
 
DOWNLOADS
Buttonbooklet
   
Select Complete Single Disc for
 

ELENA KATS-CHERNIN

1 

Alexander Rag

 2:59
2 

Green Leaf Prelude

 2:22
3 

Russian Rag

 4:04
4 

Get Well Rag

 3:42
5 

Blue Rose

 3:16
6 

Eliza's Aria

 3:20
7 

Backstage Rag

 3:52
8 

Birthday Rag

 1:47
9 

Brothers

 1:19
10 

Peggy's Minute Rag

 1:14
11 

Reflections

 2:22
12 

Cocktail Rag

 2:14
13 

Butterflying

 4:25
14 

Sunday Rag

 4:53
15 

Nostalgic Piece

 2:56
16 

Bucharian Melody

 2:45
17 

Revolving Doors

 1:41
18 

Suburban Rag

 3:56
19 

Sapphire Rag

 3:45
20 

Tranquil Interlude

 2:04
21 

Mute Princess

 3:21
22 

Slicked Back Tango

 1:57
23 

Removalist Rag

 3:08
24 

Melancholic Piece

 2:50


Signum Classics are proud to release Elena Kats-Chernin debut disc on Signum Classics, Ragtime & Blue

This production was made in conjunction with Boosey & Hawkes, Music Publishers Ltd.

Elena Kats-Chernin is a composer who defies categorisation and is probably best summed up as a force of nature. Her prodigious imagination has produced a vast body of work, unparalleled in range, drawing from all the musical traditions of the past and present. A virtuosic pianist and improviser, her compositions flow from her like a fountain.

This CD is drawn from the small works she often writes for her own enjoyment - a cornucopia of rags, blues and heart-melting melodies. These small vessels of fine feelings offer an intimate view into the composer’s heart.

"What a talented and versatile composer Kats-Chernin is.

As Christopher Latham explains in his informative liner notes, Kats-Chernin began writing small miniatures in the mid-1990s to relax from the demands of composing her serious, large-scale works. Almost half of Ragtime & Blue consists of rags and Kats-Chernin shows a complete understanding of the style. Imbued with trademark syncopations, her rags are largely melancholy and wistful in mood, although Cocktail Rag, written for the winemaking Lehmann family, has a jaunty, charming Palm Court Orchestra feel to it.

Esewhere, the focus shifts between reflective, energetic and exotic. Five of the numbers are taken from Kats-Chernin’s award-wining ballet score Wild Swans, with the memorable Butterflying evoking a child’s world of dreams with haunting intensity.

Violinist Nicola Sweeney and pianist Sarah Nicolls are sensitive and persuasive performers, capturing the character and atmosphere of each piece.

Nicolls also shows that she is an accomplished interpreter of ragtime. A delightful and enjoyable disc."

Murray Black
 

Limelight Magazine - July 2005

"Russian born Australian composer Elena Kats Chernin’s salon pieces project her overriding concern for expressive communication. Sarah Nicolls and Nicola Sweeney’s performances reveal the mix of open emotion and irony in Kats-Chernin’s miniatures for violin and piano. The album’s rags share common ground with the music of Shostakovich’s famous jazz suites, Classic FM has taken to this album, with presenter Natalie Wheen devoting considerable air time to its contents."
 

Music Week - 16 July 2005

"When big-time composers take time off to enjoy themselves you’d reckon the music should be pretty good fun. And it certainly is with Elena Kats-Chernin, one of Australia’s leading names. Heart-meltingly beautiful and haunting little pieces, often with a personal story as their inspiration, just pour from her prodigious imagination in Ragtime & Blue."

Natalie Wheen
 

Classic FM Magazine

".... Ragtime and Blue the work of composer Elena Kats-Chernin with Sarah Nicholls piano and Nicola Sweeny – violin. Signum Records UK. Elena Kats-Chernin was a child in Uzbekistan and has risen to become one of Australia’s busiest composers, writing for orchestral and chamber music, choral works operas, theatre, film and dance scores as well as pieces for the opening ceremonies of Sydney 2000 Olympics and the 2003 Rugby Cup. She aims undoubtedly for beauty in her compositions and seeks an addictive quality as in something you can listen to again and again and not tire of. This quality is delivered in spades in this recording. Please go treat yourself."

Rodney Jensen

 

Cityscape - June 2006

"The Uzbekistan-born Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin must be one of Helmut Lachenmann’s least conventional composition pupils. On the basis of this disc, and other recent scores, she has abandoned his modernist aesthetic in favour of greater stylistic diversity. The disc also shows that rags and other pieces in popular style form a small, but significant facet of her extensive output.

As with many jazz compilations, this disc is probably best appreciated a little at a time, though variety is achieved by sharing the performances between two pianists and a violinist. Some of the items are distinctly original, and it is worth noting that at least one was written for a cocktail party. A glass of wine, or a "swift half" would make ideal companions for this music."

John Warnaby

CD News



No User Reviews Found.