Tigran Mansurian: Quasi Parlando

This is a symmetrically planned disc. At its heart are the 2011 Romance for violin (Patricia Kopatchinskaja) and strings and 2012 Quasi parlando for cello (Anja Lechner) and strings, played by the musicians to whom they are dedicated. They are full of echoes, of religious chant, Armenian folk music, all blended into a free-flowing, often long-stepping melodic style. They are framed by the Double Concerto of 1978 and the Second Violin Concerto of 2006, subtitled Four Serious Songs, the reference being to the late biblical settings of Brahms. The style in the two works ranges from a kind of primal intensity to the most private of intercessions. The soloists and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta under Candida Thompson handle everything as to the manner born. url.ie/kh67