Chamber Music (Super Audio) [CD]

Tracker - Outside of his native Estonia, Eduard Tubin's music is hardly known; at most, one of his eleven symphonies occasionally finds its way onto a program list. To mark the 120th anniversary of his birth, pianist Kärt Ruubel is initiating a revival and, together with friends, tracing Tubin's life as a chamber musician, which is clearly marked by the dramatic upheavals of the 20th century.

Emotional outburst - A true revelation on this Super Audio CD, rich in discoveries, is the Piano Quartet, an early work from Tubin's student days. Late Romantic exuberance breaks through in this one-movement work, clearly influenced by the sounds of Bruckner or the Nordic tonal language of Jean Sibelius.

A chance find - Tubin fled from the Red Army to Sweden in 1944, and his music was later banned in Soviet Estonia for many years. He left behind a number of manuscripts that were only discovered long after his death, including the two piano pieces that Ruubel makes available here for the first time.

Pillar Saint - Tubin's status as an Estonian national composer also lies in the Viola Sonata, which Ruubel plays together with the South African violist Xandi van Dijk - a work that has more than earned its place in the viola repertoire. A worthwhile rediscovery that will leave you wanting more, not least because of the top-class interpretations.