DUO
VIRTUOSO
Works for Violin & Cello by
Beethoven, Boccherini,
Halvorsen-Handel,
Haydn, Kodaly & Mozart
ELARIS DUO
Larisa Elisha,
violin & Steven Elisha, cello
$14.95 ~ MS1236
"This
is a warmly played program... [They play the Kodaly] with great freedom."
D.
Moore, American Record Guide ~ July / August 2009
"Larisa
and Steven Elisha ask for a lot of respect by calling their disc 'Duo Virtuoso',
but they begin earning it from the first bar of the first item: Their
commitment, authority, grace and buoyant energy are evident throughout...their
programme.
'Duo Virtuoso' is
shown to be a perfectly appropriate title for the disc; I'll turn it around,
too, and call the performers a virtuoso duo. Highly recommended."
Malcolm Tattersall, Music & Vision ~
June 2009
"Larisa
and Steven Elisha give impressive performances of works for violin and cello,
with the major work Kodaly’s Duo, Op.7. This sprawling, 26-minute work is
difficult to shape convincingly; technically adept, these performers try
valiantly. Duets by Beethoven, Haydn, Boccherini, arrangements of Mozart’s Duo
K.423 and the Handel/Halvorsen Passacaglia are impressively played."
Turok's
Choice ~ Issue No.208, March 2009
"[The
Kodaly is] very well and idiomatically played. * * * "
BBC
Music ~ January 2009
"The
reverberant recorded sound balances the violin and cello almost ideally,
capturing just the right amount of detail. The repertoire, well chosen and well
ordered, the capable engineering, and , above all, the striking performances -
all might convince you you're not in Kansas anymore. But you are. Very strongly
recommended."
Fanfare ~
2008
"Duo
Virtuosi is the title of an impressive debut album by the husband-wife duo of
Steven and Larissa Elisha. Performing on cello and violin, respectively, they
are known as the Elaris Duo. Together, they explore an amazing range of styles,
colors and textures in music by great composers over three centuries. The
selections heard on this disc may be thought of as grand-scale works in which
the sonorities often make it hard to believe they are played by just two string
instruments.
The
Duo in G major, K423 by Mozart, for instance, has more the feeling of a string
serenade in its distinctively rich and expressive sounds, its exchanges between
the instruments, and the lovely lyric quality of its Adagio. At one point in the
opening movement, we even have a graceful little canon between the two voices,
although Mozart wears his learning lightly. There follow a Sonata in D major by
Boccherini, suffused with the courtly charm one associates with this composer,
and a Duo in the same key by Haydn that is so harmonically rich we might think
we were listening to a string quartet instead of a duo.
Next,
Beethoven’s Duo in C major, woO 27, originally written for clarinet and
bassoon, sounds very idiomatically like string music in this adaptation. The
playful skirmish between the two instruments in the finale, a typical Beethoven
rondo, is preceded by more passionately expressive music in the preceding slow
movement. Next, Handel’s Passacaglia from Harpsichord Suite No. 7 is given an
astonishingly virtuosic performance by the Eishas, in the 19th
century adaptation by Johan Halvorsen. With its runs, arpeggios, double-stops,
spiccato and ricochet bowings, this work is as brilliant sounding as it is
profound in its many moods. (Like another famous variation-form, the Canon in D
by Johan Pachelbel, this Passacaglia is always popping up in fresh new guises.)
The
program concludes in a very satisfying way with Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7
by 20th century Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodály. If the Handel sounds as if it
might have been performed by a whole ensemble instead of just two players, the
Kodály gives us the impression we might be hearing a concerto for string
orchestra. An abundance of melodies – expressive, dreamlike, or soaring –
compete for our attention with freely handled rhythms and a wide palette of tone
colors. This is music of real soul and deep feeling. The animated Presto that
concludes the work calls for, and gets, the utmost in virtuosity from both
players."
Atlanta Audio Society ~ October 2008
"Their
performances of the Brahms double concerto for violin and cello was revelatory…the
Elaris Duo presented a unanimity of phrasing and tonal projection that was
stunning in its conception and execution. The synchronicity of the unison
passages alone was a marvel" -
Topeka Capital-Journal
*
* *
In
this recording, the Elaris Duo traces the history and development of the
violin-cello duo genre from early works of Boccherini and Haydn, reaching an
instrumental and compositional zenith in the monumental Kodaly Op.7 Duo. Varied
in its content, this program of original compositions for violin and cello, and
adaptations/transcriptions of duos performed in alternative instrumental
versions, reflect a wide range of styles and display virtuosity with a wonderful
versatility of instrumental colors. The intriguing dialogue between these two
solo voices express a true collaboration offering an exciting give–and–take
of thematic counterpoint with varying harmonic textures, ultimately capturing
the magic and quintessence of chamber music.
*
* *
Larisa
and Steven Elisha are
each internationally acclaimed artists who have distinguished themselves around
the world as soloists, chamber musicians and teachers. Together they are the
incomparable Elaris Duo whose electrifying performances and consummate artistry
have delighted audiences from the moment their association began. Recipients of
the prestigious 2008 Governor’s Arts Award in the category of Artist, the
Elaris Duo have been awarded a Chamber Music America Residency Grant for
2005-2006, "Musicians of the Year 2003" by the Kansas
Federation of Music Clubs and selected for the Kansas Artists on Tour
Program roster. In March, 2008, the duo appeared as featured soloists with the
Taiwan National Arts Orchestra in the famed National Hall and in January, 2007
presented a performance at the Hawaii International Conference for Arts and
Humanities.
