World Premiere Recordings in Pure DSD!
The album Celebrating Women! is a collection of previously unrecorded string trios by female composers from the late 19th and first half of the 20th century performed by The Hague String Trio. The trio features Justyna Briefjes (Violin), Julia Dinerstein (Viola) and Miriam Kirby (Cello). This album from Cobra Records follows their 2019 release After The Darkness that is also available from NativeDSD.
With Celebrating Women! The Hague String Trio aims to celebrate the discovery of these string trios as well as promote and shine a light on female composers who, in the past, have so often been overlooked. The album presents a wonderful quartet of four women composers, each with their own personal musical voice Refreshing and intriguing and all four with fascinating biographies, diverse cultural backgrounds, coming from four different countries and no less than three different continents.
The main work of the album is the impressive, romantic string trio by the English composer Dame Ethel Smyth, whose name and work is gradually gaining greater recognition. Her string trio, composed during her studies in Leipzig, is perhaps the only large scale string trio composed by a woman in the 19th century.
In addition to this magnificent trio, The Hague String Trio presents a lyrical string trio by the Australian Miriam Hyde composed during her studies at the Royal College of Music in London; a suite of five sparkling miniatures by the Dutch composer and violinist Emmy Frensel Wegener, and a glorious fugue by the African American composer Irene Britton Smith, a composer and schoolteacher from Chicago.
This is a Pure DSD release, recorded in DSD 256 (Stereo, Binaural, 5 Channel Surround Sound). The music stayed within the DSD domain throughout the recording, mastering, delivery, and upload processes.
The Hague String Trio
Justyna Briefjes – Violin
Julia Dinerstein – Viola
Miriam Kirby – Cello
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 00:59:50
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | COBRA0083 |
| Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, FLAC 192 kHz, FLAC 96 kHz |
| Channels | 2ch Stereo, 2ch Binaural, 5 Channel Surround Sound, 2ch Stereo & 2ch Binaural, 2ch Stereo & 5ch Surround, 2ch Stereo & 5ch Surround & 2ch Binaural |
| Artists | |
| Composers | |
| Genres | |
| Cables | Acoustic Revive microphone cables and interlinks |
| Microphones | Brüel & Kjaer 4003, Neumann modified by Rens Heijnis |
| Instruments | |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Producer | Tom Peeters |
| Recording Engineer | Tom Peeters |
| Recording Location | Westvest90 in Schiedam, The Netherlands on April 14, 15 & 16 April, 2021 |
| Release Date | October 1, 2021 |
Press reviews
de Gelderlander
Aan het hoofd van het programma staat het zangerige String Trio (1932) van de Australische Miriam Hyde..The Hague String Trio geniet hoorbaar van de romantische samenklanken en stopt de nodige expressie in de vertolking. Op de diepgang van het derde deel volgt de vrolijkheid van de finale: een echte springdans…De Suite van Frensel Wegener uit 1925 klinkt moderner zonder in extremen te vervallen…De aanpak van de musici is oor strelend en perfect getimed. Het geeft dit divertimentoachtige vijfdelige werk een betoverend en zeker ook sprankelend karakter….Dame Ethel Smyths krachtige muzikale persoonlijkheid is een kolfje naar de hand van The Hague String Trio. De dames tekenen voor een gloedvol betoog waarin je al snel vergeet dat de stijl van Brahms voor Smyth het uitgangspunt vormde. Het resultaat: een volstrekt eigen geluid waarvan je al snel veel meer wilt horen.
Opus Klassiek
Het programma wordt afgesloten met een heuse fuga van Irene Britton Smith, gecomponeerd in 1938. Het heeft weliswaar de kenmerken van een oefenstuk, maar het grote vakmanschap dat eruit spreekt is net zo indrukwekkend als de muzikale spanningsbogen die zij erin heeft gelegd. Het neemt niet meer dan zo’n vijf minuten in beslag, maar door de gecondenseerde schrijfstijl valt dat nauwelijks op…Opnametechnicus Tom Peeters heeft dit eminente spel opnieuw bijzonder fraai vastgelegd… Een bijzonder album met een welsprekend titel: Celebrating Women!
The program ends with a real fugue by Irene Britton Smith, composed in 1938. It may have the characteristics of a practice piece, but the great craftsmanship that it expresses is just as impressive as the musical tension she has placed in it. It takes no more than five minutes to complete, but the condensed writing style makes that barely noticeable…Recording engineer Tom Peeters has once again captured this eminent musicianship very beautifully… A very special album with an eloquent title: Celebrating Women!
Pizzicato
The Hague String Trio hat nach ihrer CD mit verfolgten jüdischen Komponisten lässt nunmehr eine entspanntere Seite anklingeln. Doch wiederum gelingt es ihnen, sich die Stimmen der vorgestellten Komponistinnen zu Eigen zu machen und deren Musik die ebenso seriösen wie beschwingten der Stücke auszuloten und in trauter technischer Harmonie des Ensembles zu präsentieren. Wiederum heben sie in ihrer eingespielten Besetzung Unbekanntes, aber Hörenswertes an die Ohren und bereichern damit den Katalog.
After their CD of persecuted Jewish composers, The Hague String Trio now turns to a more relaxed music. But again they succeed in making the voices of the featured female composers their own, exploring the music of the pieces, which are as serious as they are upbeat, and presenting them in the ensemble’s trusting technical harmony. Again, in their recorded instrumentation, they lift unknown, but worth hearing works, and thus enrich the catalog.
MusicFrames
Het The Hague String Trio speelt deze vier wereldpremières met grote zeggingskracht. De uitvoeringen zijn een exposé van spelplezier, expressie en doorleefde empathie die met liefde en zorg wordt gebracht. Met Celebrating Women brengen ze niet alleen fantastische muziek, maar brengen ze ook een ode aan de vrouw: de moeder, de poëet, de strijder, de muzikante en natuurlijk: de componiste!
The The Hague String Trio plays these four world premieres with great expressiveness. The performances are an exposé of fun, expression and lively empathy, performed with love and care. With Celebrating Women they not only recorded fantastic music, but they also pay tribute to the woman: the mother, the poet, the fighter, the musician and of course: the composer!
Positive Feedback
Each of the works presented is stylistically distinct while reflecting a common post-Romanticism characteristic of their time, the last of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth. Yet each work reflects the strong and independent musical personality of its composer…The Hague String Trio members deliver what they do so well: expressive, cohesive interpretations performed with great ensemble and sympathy. Filled with lively energy and a clear love and care for presenting these works for the first time, these performances are a gift…Recording engineer Tom Peeters has once again captured these moments with The Hague String Trio very beautifully. There is a natural simplicity and transparency to Tom’s work as he focuses on recording in natural acoustic environments and getting the microphone placement correct at the outset to capture the live sound in that space.
Contemporary Classical
The Hague String Trio performs all four compositions to the highest possible standard. Every note is crisp and pure, not one entry is missed – the alert way in which the three musicians respond to each other and their overwhelming enthusiasm for the music irrevocably drag one along. The recording technique is also excellent. Hyde, Frensel-Wegener, Smyth and Britton-Smith could not have wished for better ambassadors.
MusicWeb International, November 2021
Justyna Briefjes (violin), Julia Dinerstein (viola) and Miriam Kirby (cello) are, of course, professionals to their fingertips, as they show in their performance of Emmy Frensel Wegener’s Suite…Her Suite is a pithy divertimento-like affair irradiated with a real sense of Gallic-styled wit…This is a genial, jovial piece offering plenty of fun…The performances are excellent and they’ve been well recorded. Good notes too…They are all apparently world premiere recordings which is another feather in Cobra’s cap.
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