PENTATONE is delighted to announce that one of the most celebrated cellists of her generation, American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, is releasing a new album with the label. This album pairs masterworks of the First and Second Viennese Schools two Haydn concertos with Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and marks the first collaboration of her new multi-season role as Artistic Partner of Norway’s celebrated Trondheim Soloists.
The Telegraph
“Weilerstein is truly a phenomenon. (…) Weilerstein’s technique was so rock-solid and her tone so magisterial they sounded epic.”
VIENNA REVISITED
Alisa Weilerstein , Trondheim Soloists
Transfigured Night brings together two outstanding composers associated with Vienna: Joseph Haydn and Arnold Schoenberg. The former is often seen as the oldest representative of the “First Viennese School”, whereas the latter founded the “Second Viennese School”, using the classicism of his predecessors to explore new, atonal musical paths into the twentieth century. By combining Haydn’s two cello concertos (in C-major and D-major) and Schoenberg’s symphonic poem Verklärte Nacht – in the 1943 edition for string orchestra – this album sheds a new, fascinating light on both Viennese masters. The connection between the stylistically contrasting pieces on this album is further enhanced by the inspired playing of American cellist Alisa Weilerstein and the Trondheim Soloists. For Weilerstein, this album is not only a fascinating exploration of the rich Viennese musical heritage, but just as much a confrontation with the dark history of a city her grandparents had to flee in 1938.
“Schoenenberg fled Vienna in 1934, four years before my grandparents escaped. So, as a young artist, nowehere in my imagination was the possibility of duality and contradiction made more manifest than in the history of that city” – Alisa Weilerstein
Relevant Touring Dates (performing Haydn/Schönberg with Trondheim Soloists)
2 September – Vara Konserthus, Vara, Sweden
4 September – Queens Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark
This album will be released as 1 Super Audio -CD and in digital formats for streaming and high-resolution downloads. (Article number: PTC 5186717) DIGITAL WORLDWIDE RELEASE DATE 24 AUGUST 2018Audio Resolution for digital files: DSD, 96k/24 PCM)
Photo by Marco Borggreve