OTTO FREUDENTHAL (b.1934): Mandolin and Piano: Sudden Fire I-II, Salamander, Danza Viva, Siciliano, On the Beach, Allegro, Solo Mandolin: 3 Episodes, Solo Piano: Toccata, Maud van Thienen, Study, String Orchestra: Memory of Ashendon, In Highgate Cemetary.

Description: Freudenthal worked as Klemperer's assistant in the great conductor's later years, and especially in the two most extended works here, for string orchestra, Klemperer's influence can be clearly felt in the Mahlerian-early Schoenbergian idiom. The 15-minute Highgate bears some similarities in its angular, Bergian melodies to Klemperer's second symphony, which Freudenthal likely encountered when its composer recorded it in a late recording session for EMI. The piano pieces are more straightforwardly tonal, though similarly neo-romantic, the composer apparently preferring a hard-edged economy of texture in his piano writing. The works for mandolin are lighter but by no means superficial, making highly effective use of the instrument's ability to sustain expressive, continuous tremolo melodic lines of great eloquence and sensitivity. The mandolin's agility makes it a perfect foil to the piano in lively, light-textured dancing pieces, appealing and charming. Detlef Tewes (mandolin), Otto Freudenthal (piano), Musici di Praha; Jaroslav Wodnansky.