Alfred Schnittke: Musica Nostaligica Leonard Elschenbroich & Petr Limonov

• Alfred Schnittke (1934 - 1998): Sonata No. 1:
• 1 I. largo 03:57
• 2 II. Presto 05:42
• 3 III. Largo 12:24
• Suite in the Old Style:
• 4 I. Pastorale 03:49
• 5 II. Ballett 02:14
• 6 III. Menuett 03:49
• 7 IV. Fuge 02:21
• 8 V. Pantomime 04:11
• 9 Madrigal in Memoriam Oleg Kagan 11:19
• 10 Musical Nostalgica 03:56
• Leonard Elschenbroich (1985):
• 11 Shards of Alfred Schnittke 05:27
• Total Runtime 59:09

Info for Alfred Schnittke: Musica Nostaligica

For those wanting to explore the chamber music of 20th-century master, Alfred Schinttke, this CD is the perfect place to start. The disc ends with a highly personal musical memorial to Schnittke by Leonard Elschenbroich as both composer and performer, who has had since his early years a deep interest in both the man and music: arguably the greatest Russian composer since Shostakovich.

"Whilst the musics on this recording are formally very contrasting - neo-baroque stylisations vs. atonal modernism – it is the sentiment of Nostalgia that binds them all together. In the Russian sense of the word, compared to its use in English, Nostalgia is a feeling more painful, more severe, regarded with respectful fear. A dangerous disease, a tragic psychological endemic" (Leonard Elschenbroich)

„The playing is introspective and intense, with plenty moody self-reflection in the dark ebbs and whispered nostalgia of the First Cello Sonata. The Suite in the Old Style is Schnittke s reworking of his film music from the excellently named Sport, Sport, Sport and Adventures of a Dentist; here, Elschenbroich s seriousness misses the caustic wit in the music, but he makes up for it with a cello sound that gleams. Petr Limonov provides immaculately chiselled piano counterparts throughout.“ (Kate Molleson The Guardian)

German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, who is playing Brahms with the NSO tonight, here gives an account of his deep immersion in the music of Alfred Schnittke. Elschenbroich and pianist Petr Limonov respond as vividly to the bleak and musically disembodied in Schnittke as he does to the composer s sometimes super-naive-sounding adoption of bygone styles. The biggest, and most impressive achievement is the First Cello Sonata of 1978. The Suite in the Old Style is done with velvet gloves, and the high contrasts of Madrigal: In memoriam Oleg Kagan and Musica nostalgica match those of Elschenbroich s own Shards of Schnittke, which he wrote in 2008 when he was in his early 20s. --Michael Dervan Irish Times, 11th January 2017

Leonard Elschenbroich, cello
Petr Limonov, piano

Leonard Elschenbroich
Described by the New York Times as “a musician of great technical prowess, intellectual curiosity and expressive depth”, Leonard Elschenbroich has established himself as one of the most charismatic cellists of his generation. His many awards include the Leonard Bernstein Award, Förderpreis Deutschlandfunk, Eugene Istomin Prize, and Borletti Buitoni Trust Award. In 2012 he was accepted onto the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme and was named as Artist-in-Residence of Deutschlandfunk for the 2014-15 season. He has also been Artist-in-Residence at the Philharmonic Society Bremen since 2013.

Elschenbroich has worked with a number of eminent conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Mark Elder, Charles Dutoit, Manfred Honeck, Kirill Karabits, Dmitri Kitajenko, Andrew Litton, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Vasily Sinasiky, and Edo De Waart.

As soloist he has performed with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Dresden Staatskapelle, Swedish Radio Symphony, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Minnesota Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has made five appearances at the BBC Proms.

As a recitalist, Elschenbroich has appeared at the Wigmore Hall, Auditorium du Louvre, Concertgebouw, Frick Collection, Ravinia Festival in Chicago and the Lucerne, Gstaad, Rheingau, Mecklenburg Vorpommern and Schleswig Holstein Festivals. Regular chamber music partners include Nicola Benedetti and Alexei Grynyuk with whom he has performed at the BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, Usher Hall and at the Hong Kong and Istanbul International Festivals.

A committed performer of contemporary music, Elschenbroich has commissioned several new works from composers including Mark-Anthony Turnage, Luca Lombardi, Arlene Sierra and Suzanne Farrin. In May 2017, he will give the world premiere of Mark Simpson’s first Cello Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Juanjo Mena.

Elschenbroich’s debut CD for Onyx Classics of Sonatas by Rachmaninov and Shostakovich was released in 2013 and received 5-star reviews from The Telegraph, Guardian as well as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. His second disc was released in 2014 and featured Kabalevsky’s Cello Concerto No 2 with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton. Future releases on Onyx include works by Schnittke and concertos by Saint-Saens and Dutilleux with the BBC Scottish Symphony.

In 2012 he became Artistic Mentor of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bolivia, the country’s first national orchestra which he co-founded. His commitment to the orchestra sees him return to Bolivia on a regular basis to perform with the orchestra as well as leading educational projects in the area. Other highlights in South America have included appearances with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Belo Horizonte Orchestra and Medellin Philharmonic as well as recitals in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Lima and Sao Paulo.

Highlights of the 2016/17 season include debut appearances with the Bergen Philharmonic/Gardner, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Asbury and the NDR Hanover/Poschner, as well as a 17-date tour of Germany with the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra. He returns to the BBC Philharmonic , RTE National Symphony Orchestra and joins the BBC National Orchestra of Wales on tour. Recital engagements take him to Korea, Japan, New York and Miami. He takes part in the Britten Weekend in Aldeburgh working in conjunction with dance company Dance East and performing works by Bach, Britten, Tavener and Lutoslawski.

Born in 1985 in Frankfurt, Elschenbroich received a scholarship, aged ten, to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. He later studied with Frans Helmerson at the Cologne Music Academy. He plays a cello made by Matteo Goffriller “Leonard Rose” (Venice, 1693), on private loan.

Booklet for Alfred Schnittke: Musica Nostaligica