Thomas Demenga, Thomas Larcher, Teodoro Anzellotti - Bach, Chopin, Fauré: Chonguri (2006)

Chonguri is the name of the traditional long neck lute from Georgia which inspired Georgian composer and cellist Sulkhan Tsinzadze to write an atmospheric all-pizzicato piece. Its exotic plucked sound marks the eastern starting point of a journey that alights on many European places before finishing off with an equally evocative scene from New York composed by Demenga himself. The Swiss cellist revitalizes the 19th century practice of arranging diverse music for one's own instrument, thus adopting two Chopin Nocturnes and four Bach Chorales (in Demenga's own transcriptions) for this CD recital. Demenga's panorama of poetic miniatures, with Webern's two sets of Kleine Stücke at its centre, features a mix of popular and more abstract musical idioms, blending humour and nostalgia in an entertaining programme.