CD ECM Records Kim Kashkashian, Robert Levin: Asturiana - Songs From Spain And Argentina

2007

Kim Kashkashian - viola
Robert Levin - pian

Manuel De Falla, Enrique Granados, Carlos Guastavino, Alberto Ginastera, Carlos Lopez Buchardo

Highly attractive combining of folk-influenced pieces by composers from Spain –(Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Xavier Montsalvatge) and Argentina (Alberto Ginastera, Carlos Gustavino), by the long-established duo of Kim Kashkashian and Robert Levin, whose last ECM disc, with the Brahms viola sonatas, won the Edison Award in 1999. Kashkashian has described the viola as the most ‘vocal’ of the string instruments, the one closest to the human voice. She seems indeed a singer as she makes of these different compositions an organic unity - an impression heightened by the dramaturgy of the production.

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No higher compliment could be paid to Kashkashian’s playing of Spanish songs – art songs, but ones very close to their folk-song roots – than that it almost sounds as if she is singing. Or, rather, that the tone of her viola occasionally takes on the overtones of a human voice. … Throughout, Levin’s accompanying is unfailingly sensitive. His deep intellectual investment allows him to go as deep into the music as Kashkashian does.
Marc Geelhoed, Time Out Chicago

Kashkashian phrases as if she were a great vocalist, evoking as much with a whisper as she does with a passionate outburst; her intonation is impeccable, her tone 360 degrees of expressiveness. And Levin’s playing has never been more dramatic, as he shadows Kashkashian like a lifelong dance partner. One of the year’s most irresistible releases, this should be as attractive to neophytes as it is to aficionados.
Bradley Bambarger, The Star-Ledger

On this new disc, she and Levin have collected folk-derived pieces by Spanish and Argentinean composers which emphasise the singing, lyrical qualities of the viola. … The performances deceive the ear into thinking these idiomatic arrangements are instrumental originals. … This excellently recorded recital makes a very pleasant way to while away an hour or so.
Guy Rickards, Gramophone