MOZART BEETHOVEN VIOLIN AND CELLO DUETS wins GLOBAL MUSIC SILVER MEDAL

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

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In the case of the repertory for violin and violoncello duos the pickings are, sad to say, slim. Save for a lone Ravel here and a Scarlatti there, most of the music that is available comes from the rarified world of 19th century salon ditties. So it is all the more laudable that two young players of these instruments, Carmine Miranda and Boris Abramov, decided to collaborate on a CD of duos for violin and cello with most satisfying results. It was also fortuitous that the enterprising folks at Navona Records (www.navonarecords.com) agreed to produce this GLOBAL MUSIC SILVER MEDAL award-winning album.

The parts originally written for viola in the two Mozart duos that open the CD are here played with a mellow singing tone by cellist Carmine Miranda. Violinist Boris Abramov undertakes the playing of the melody in all three movements of the G Major Duo, K. 423 and the Bb Major Duo, KV 424, conversationally sharing the musical dialogue with Miranda’s cello in a manner that makes for chamber music of the first order. Miranda is not a subservient accompanist but a collegial partner who provides a solid harmonic and contrapuntal riposte to Abramov’s violin.

The three Beethoven duos, originally conceived for two wind instruments – possibly bassoon and clarinet – are strongly classical in their formal sonata structure yet Romantic in their expansive melodic sweep. Except for the Bb major duo that carries only two movements, the other two: the C major and F major are typically early Beethoven, with opening Allegros, a middle cantabile movement, and an agile closing rondo that provides the prima voce with plenty of bravura filigree. There, again, Miranda and Abramov partner each other with refined elegance and unified musical ideas.

The CD is insightfully annotated by Miranda and lovingly produced by Navona Records’ Bob Lord. It makes for a fine addition to the library of any lover of chamber music.

The album is slated for release in November.

Rafael de Acha         www.Rafael’sMusicNotes.com           All About the Arts

MOZART BEETHOVEN VIOLIN AND CELLO DUETS
CARMINE MIRANDA, CELLO AND BORIS ABRAMOV, VIOLIN
NAVONA RECORDS http://www.parmarecordings.com
W.A. MOZART
DUO FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO IN G MAJOR, KV. 423
DUO FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO IN Bb MAJOR, KV. 424
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
DUO FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO IN C MAJOR
DUO FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO IN F MAJOR
DUO FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO IN Bb MAJOR

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”