United Strings of Europe: Tchaikovsky

The Strad Issue: April 2023

Description: Tchaikovskian favourites rendered fresh through pliant performances

Musicians: United Strings of Europe/Julian Azkoul (violin)

Works: Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings; Souvenir de Florence; Andante cantabile

Catalogue number: BIS 2569

The United Strings of Europe’s third album for BIS couples two Tchaikovsky favourites in performances that radiate bonhomie and intensity. Whereas Neville Marriner’s classic accounts with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (the Souvenir especially) have a cathartic surge, articulating Tchaikovsky’s refulgent textures with lashings of downward pressure, Julian Azkoul, directing from the violin, provides a more overtly affectionate overview, with plenty of exquisite legato shadings.

In the Serenade, the beauty of sound is reminiscent of Karajan’s 1980s digital remake with the Berlin Philharmonic (DG), although there the resemblance ends, as the United Strings are both emotionally more flexible and lither in sonority. Azkoul also reminds us that Tchaikovsky borrowed the term ‘serenade’ from Mozart, and accordingly ensures that the music’s insouciant swaying and nimble dancing are imbued with sunshine.

This is also Azkoul’s starting point for the Souvenir de Florence. He enlivens and illuminates the minor-key darkness of the outer movements with a deftness that encapsulates the music’s chamber-scale origins. More serioso than overtly tragic, the music’s Florentine origins can be sensed more readily here than usual. Azkoul’s skilful arrangements of the famous Andante cantabile and At Bedtime (originally for mixed a cappella chorus) provide perfect makeweights.

JULIAN HAYLOCK

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Teaching

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

This year’s calendar celebrates the top instruments played by members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, Australian String Quartet and some of the country’s greatest soloists.