Classical Music: Tchaikovsky & Korngold String Sextets

Tchaikovsky & Korngold String Sextets

Tchaikovsky String Sextet in D minor 'Souvenir de Florence' Op 7; Korngold String Sextet in D major Op 10;

Stephanie Gonley, Jonathan Stone violin
Lars Anders Tomter, Rachel Roberts viola
Adrian Brendel, Gemma Rosefield cello

The Nash Ensemble
Hyperion CDA68406
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/


The arresting start of the Tchaikovsky Sextet lets the listener know what they are in for: drama, energetic, crisp rhythmic playing, precision, and elegantly phrased lines.

All performed with class by the Nash Ensemble, and exciting animation rather like the bubbles in a glass of champagne fizzing away, each one dancing and intermingling as they rise to the top. 

If Sherlock Holmes, a keen violinist, were listening, he would not need his trademark magnifying glass. The detail of both Tchaikovsky and Korngold is vivid and electrifying.

In performing the string sextets of Tchaikovsky and Korngold, the Nash Ensemble has revealed an uncommon pairing, but one that works and shows off Romantic ardour. Separated by little more than twenty-five years, both masterpieces nevertheless come from opposite ends of their composers' lives—the Korngold is an astonishing achievement for a seventeen-year-old, even for such a prodigiously gifted wunderkind, while Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence, a late work, caused its composer considerably more trouble than the gloriously life-affirming results would suggest.

The interaction between the standard sextet combination of two violins, two violas, and two cellos is irresistibly charismatic. The intricacies of both scores are produced with acumination, enabling the harmonic language to be savoured.

The resonance in the Tchaikovsky is beautifully judged, and the adagio cantabile movement has an enchanting and refined duet played between Stephanie Gonley on violin and Adrian Brendel on cello. Equally, the stunning adagio in the Korngold has a powerful intensity, and the final is full of tremendous textures.

The Nash Ensemble communicates with intelligence, passion, and panache.