Sarah Beth Briggs – The Austrian Connection: Haydn; Mozart; Schubert; Gál (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Sarah Beth Briggs – The Austrian Connection: Haydn; Mozart; Schubert; Gál (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:17 minutes | 1,28 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Avie Records

SUMMARY On The Austrian Connection, pianist Sarah Beth Briggs traces an arc through three decades of compositional tradition from Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert through to Hans Gl. ABOUT THE RELEASE Much lauded for her interpretations of Hans Gls concerto and chamber music works, Sarah Beth Briggs presents the composers beguiling Three Preludes alongside well-loved works by three of his greatest Austrian forebears Haydn, Mozart and Schubert. Following meticulous examination of the original scores, Briggs sensitively translates the authentic character of each work to the resources of a modern piano with revelatory results.

The “Austrian Connection” concept of this release by pianist Sarah Beth Briggs doesn’t entirely work. Haydn’s arrangement of his variations on “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser” (originally from the String Quartet Op. 76, No. 3, “Emperor”) certainly fills the bill, as does his Piano Sonata in C major, Hob. 16/50, but the Mozart Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 310, tends more toward the Sturm und Drang style, of German origin, and composer Hans Gál spent only a few years in Vienna before Nazism forced him to flee; the three preludes offered here were composed in Scotland. Briggs hopes to link this composer, whom she has championed, to the Viennese tradition, and indeed there is something Haydn-like about these pieces. The Gál and the Haydn sonata and variations get the strongest, liveliest performances here; the Mozart’s main first-movement theme is too pounded-out, and the Viennese dance rhythms in the Schubert Piano Sonata in A major, D. 664, are not brought out, which one would think would be done in a program of this kind. The music of Gál has been on the rise, and the Preludes, Op. 65, have been recorded a few times but are far from common, and nobody has tried to do with them what Briggs has done. The album is therefore recommended, especially to those with interest in this composer.

Tracklist:
1. Sarah Beth Briggs – Variations on the Hymn “Gott erhalte” (Arr. for Piano) (07:27)
2. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: I. Allegro (06:34)
3. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: II. Adagio (06:20)
4. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: III. Allegro molto (02:46)
5. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310: I. Allegro maestoso (05:57)
6. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310: II. Andante cantabile con espressione (11:08)
7. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310: III. Presto (03:19)
8. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 664: I. Allegro moderato (08:09)
9. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 664: II. Andante (05:14)
10. Sarah Beth Briggs – Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 664: III. Allegro (07:53)
11. Sarah Beth Briggs – Three Preludes, Op. 65: I. Vivacissimo (02:39)
12. Sarah Beth Briggs – Three Preludes, Op. 65: II. Lento e tranquillo (04:35)
13. Sarah Beth Briggs – Three Preludes, Op. 65: III. Presto grazioso e con Presto grazioso e con anima (02:10)

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