Revived Masterpieces

World premiere recordings of some relevant Russian chamber works composed at the turn of the 20th Century. Georgy Catoire is an under-rated composer, much appreciated in the musical circles of pre-revolutionary Russia. Idiomatic performances by experienced and passionate, older and younger generation prominent Russian musicians.

Georgy Catoire did not have a high opinion of his own First String Quartet, so he destroyed it, sparing only one part, the Andante. On the last page of the manuscript of this movement, Tchaikovsky wrote a few words, and Catoire did not have the heart to destroy the autograph of the great composer. But it is known that after a while, Catoire reworked the quartet into a quintet, adding a part for a second cello. The manuscript of this quintet, along with the surviving Andante, was discovered several years ago. Thus, the recordings of this quintet and the remaining Andante (from his very first quartet) presented on this disc are the first performances of these early works of Catoire.

Catoire composed the Piano Trio Op.14 in the years 1899 to 1902. Stylistically, the Trio can be placed right in the middle of the compositional path of Catoire, which consciously ties in with the creation of this work to the already existing Russian chamber music literature. The 2 Poems Op. 34 are late works from Catoire and were composed in 1924-26. At the time Catoire, had experienced the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, the death of his beloved wife, the farewell to his son, who left Russia forever. The music acts like a free speech of the composer in an intimate circle, or even as a soliloquy - so restrained is the dynamics, so freely works the musical speech. In their brief form, the Poems Op. 34, discovered and published posthumously after the death of the composer, is one of the most perfect embodiments of Catoire's compositional style.