Rossini: Sonatas for Strings Nos. 1-3 - Hoffmeister: Double Bass Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 Minna Pensola, Antti Tikkanen, Tuomas Lehto & Niek de Groot

• Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868): Sonata for Strings No. 1 in G Major:
• 1 Sonata for Strings No. 1 in G Major: I. Moderato 05:07
• 2 Sonata for Strings No. 1 in G Major: II. Andante 03:52
• 3 Sonata for Strings No. 1 in G Major: III. Allegro 02:28
• Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754-1812): Double Bass Quartet No. 1 in D Major:
• 4 Double Bass Quartet No. 1 in D Major: I. Allegro moderato 06:21
• 5 Double Bass Quartet No. 1 in D Major: II. Adagio 04:06
• 6 Double Bass Quartet No. 1 in D Major: III. Rondeau 03:11
• Gioachino Rossini: Sonata for Strings No. 2 in A Major:
• 7 Sonata for Strings No. 2 in A Major: I. Allegro 07:11
• 8 Sonata for Strings No. 2 in A Major: II. Andante 02:33
• 9 Sonata for Strings No. 2 in A Major: III. Allegro 02:04
• Franz Anton Hoffmeister: Double Bass Quartet No. 2 in D Major:
• 10 Double Bass Quartet No. 2 in D Major: I. Allegro moderato 05:47
• 11 Double Bass Quartet No. 2 in D Major: II. Menuetto - Trio 03:37
• 12 Double Bass Quartet No. 2 in D Major: III. Andante 03:14
• 13 Double Bass Quartet No. 2 in D Major: IV. Rondo 04:34
• Gioachino Rossini: Sonata for Strings No. 3 in C Major:
• 14 Sonata for Strings No. 3 in C Major: I. Allegro 06:08
• 15 Sonata for Strings No. 3 in C Major: II. Andante 04:02
• 16 Sonata for Strings No. 3 in C Major: III. Moderato 02:30
• Total Runtime 01:06:45

Info for Rossini: Sonatas for Strings Nos. 1-3 - Hoffmeister: Double Bass Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

The works gathered here hail from two different sets of string quartets: the four so-called Solo Quartets by Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Gioachino Rossini’s six String Sonatas (or Sonate a quattro). Both sets differ from the ‘normal’ configuration in that they allow a double bass to take part, albeit in different ways. Rossini, who composed his sonatas at the age of 12 (!), left out the viola and gave the double bass a more or less conventional bass role – albeit with occasional virtuosic outbursts. The sonatas were first published in an arrangement for traditional string quartet and are often heard performed by string orchestras.

In Vienna, where he was active as a composer and music publisher, Hoffmeister (1754-1812) chose a different solution than Rossini and gave his double bass player a leading role in the ensemble, letting it replace the first violin. It was no coincidence that this happened in Vienna – considering the amount of solo works for the double bass composed there, the standard of playing must have been exceptional. On the present recording, it is the Dutch player Niek de Groot who takes up Hoffmeister’s challenge in the company of a Finnish trio consisting of Minna Pensola, Antti Tikkanen and Tuomas Lehto. Niek de Groot has also edited the score of the first of the Hoffmeister quartets, which is here recorded for the first time.

Minna Pensola, violin
Antti Tikkanen, violin, viola
Tuomas Lehto, cello
Niek de Groot, double bass

Minna Pensola
performes extensively as a chamber musician and soloist collaborating with conductors such as Sakari Oramo, Olari Elts, Eva Ollikainen and John Storgårds.

She is a founding member of the most internationally successful Finnish string quartet Meta4 which is the first prize winner of the Dimitri Shostakovich String Quartet Competition (Moscow 2004) and the Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition (Vienna 2007). Meta4 performs regularly in key music capitals and concert halls around the world.

Minna Pensola is a co-founder of The Punavuori Chamber Music Society, and runs a club for classical music in her home town Helsinki since 2008. She teaches violin at the Sibelius Academy and has also acted as an artistic director of the Sysmä Summer Sounds Festival in Finland during years 2006-2012.

Pensola has studied at the Sibelius Academy, Musikhochschule Zürich and European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) and enjoyed valuable guidance of Kaija Saarikettu, Ana Chumachenko, Hatto Beyrle and Josef Rissin.

Minna Pensola plays the Carlo Bergonzi violin (1732) kindly on loan from Signe ja Ane Gyllenberg Foundation.

In her free time she looks and cleans after her two small daughters who’s impeccable logic keeps her in constant marvelling.

Booklet for Rossini: Sonatas for Strings Nos. 1-3 - Hoffmeister: Double Bass Quartets Nos. 1 & 2