Rhapsodie Roumaine

Apap, Gilles; Ensemble Raro; Ketler, Diana

Rhapsodie Roumaine is a musical canvas for the imagination. This recording features two emblematic works by the Romanian Grandmaster George Enescu. The Romanian Rhapsody No.1 is presented in a new Piano Quartet arrangement by Thomas Wally, commissioned by the Ensemble Raro. The enigmatic violinist Gilles Apap together with the pianist Diana Ketler perform arguably Enescu’s greatest masterpiece, the Third Sonata for Violin and Piano "dans le caractère populaire roumain“, a work of extreme beauty and intensity. Béla Bartók’s ever popular Six Romanian Dances for Violin and Piano and a selection from his Violin Duos, performed here on two violas, capture the unique and compelling spirit of the Romanian traditional folk music. Enescu’s recently rediscovered Nocturne Ville d’Avrayen for Piano Quartet is a souvenir of the composer’s lifelong friendship with his student, the great Yehudy Menuhin. The violinists Gilles Apap and Alexander Sitkovetsky, the violists Razvan Popovici and Christian Nas, the cellist Bernhard Naoki Hedenborg and the pianist Diana Ketler transport the listener to the multi-layered world of the Romanian musical landscape, where joy and melancholy are inseparable and heaven is to be found both under the feet and over the head.

Price: $27.98