Romanticism in full bloom, these string sextets by Tsjaikovski (1890) and Korngold (1916). Souvenir de Florence by this Russian master recalls the impressions that the then fifty-year-old Tsjaikovski gained during his stay in Italy in the spring of 1890. Korngold, the son of Dr. Julius Korngold (1860-1945) who is remembered as the eminent Viennese music publicist and protégé of the greatly feared critic Eduard Hanslick, was only nineteen when he completed his string sextet (he had started work on it in 1914 as a seventeen-year-old). But although the piece originated as an adolescent creation, the typical Korngold style with its graceful melodies and restless polychromaticism is already unmistakably present throughout. Self-assured, convinced of his own abilities, that is how the work sounds in all its glory, from the hand of a still very young composer of whom it was said that after Mozart he was the greatest prodigy and who could already boast international prestige.
The performances by the London Nash Ensemble are rock solid. The beautifully crafted solos are a true delight to the ear, and the striking timbral colors move the listener's heart just as much as the discourse carried by glowing passion and warm lyricism of these six outstanding musicians. Andrew Keener was responsible for the recording, and then you know what to expect: a sonic experience of the first order.