Gramophone Editor's Choice - December 2020

Kremerata Baltica, Gidon Kremer, Mario Brunello

Ferré: Muss es sein? Es muss sein!
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
Sollima: Note Sconte
Sollima: Note Sconte (First Version for String Orchestra)
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131

Gidon Kremer and Mario Brunello pay tribute to Beethoven by presenting two of his most famous quartets in a version for string orchestra played by Kremerata Baltica. The ensemble's founder Gidon Kremer directs op.131 from the violin, while Mario Brunello conducts op.135 and adds two contemporary pieces, one by Léo Ferré, the revolutionary, anarchic, inspired singer-songwriter and great lover of Beethoven : Muss es sein? Es muss sein! We perform this hymn to free music in a version arranged by Valter Sivilotti for cello, strings and percussion with Ferré's original voice. (...) Note sconte means hidden notes in Venetian dialect. Franco Rossi, the legendary cellist of the Quartetto italiano, always invited his students, including me, to look for and give importance to the note sconte in the scores of string quartets. I asked Giovanni Sollima to write a piece in memory of Franco Rossi, of his great passion for Beethoven and his note sconte , comments Mario Brunello. These two works form a bridge between Beethoven and our times, giving the expression Searching for Ludwig a concrete reality in sound , concludes Gidon Kremer.

"Unlike Leonard Bernstein’s famous recording of these same two late Beethoven quartets with the strings of the Vienna Philharmonic –
titanic, emotionally acute interpretations indelibly stamped with that conductor’s imprint – the Kremerata Baltica act more as an augmented quartet, retaining a sense of intimacy that’s still very much in the realm of chamber music...Not to be missed." - Gramophone Magazine, December 2020