First of all, violinist
Tasmin Little and pianist Piers Lane with Violin Sonatas by Richard
Strauss (1864-1949) and Ottorino
Respighi (1879-1936). Both composers
produced just one sonata each, but Respighi produced a set of Six Pieces (Sei pezzi) for violin and
piano, of which three are included here.
Strauss’ Sonata is an unashamedly romantic work, composed when he was
23, and had met Pauline de Ahna, who he later married. Right from the opening the central role of
the piano is clear, with a vocal, almost operatic violin part. Little produces a luscious, warm tone, with
full-bodied accompaniment from Lane. The
beautiful central Andante has singing lines, with delicate filigree
accompaniment, contrasting with the dark piano opening to the Finale, before
both players are unleashed, and let rip with swaggering abandon, reminiscent of
Don Juan. In the Respighi Sonata, the
violin is more forward – the piano part is still virtuosic, but more in
response to or underpinning the extremes of the violin. This work is also harmonically more unusual
than the Strauss. The slow movement is
introspective, with rhapsodic piano writing, building to a climax of torment
before subsiding into calm. The Finale
is a driven passacaglia, with great rhythmic propulsion, its 20 variations a
real tour de force for both players.
After a brief respite for slow, chorale-like middle variations comes a
singing, violin led variation. A dark,
pesante variation comes before the fast rhythmic drive returns, the piano
writing now reminiscent of Rachmaninov.
The Sei pezzi are much smaller in scale, with a real salon feel. Melodia has a sweet tune, with a hint
of something darker in its central section.
The Valse caressante has a shimmering piano opening, with a lilting,
romantic feel, and Little & Lane really dance here. The closing Serenata is suitably elegiac and
sensitive.
Now
for three works for viola and piano, from violist Christian Euler, with pianist
Paul Rivinius. They begin their disc
with the Sonata by Arthur Bliss (1891-1975).
They launch straight into a swirling, turbulent opening movement, both
instruments working hard together, with only brief calm moments of respite, yet
surprisingly the movement ends rather suddenly and quietly, ushering in the
dark central Andante. This opens with
mysterious viola pizzicato over dark piano chords, before the viola takes off
with an almost eastern melody, and the movement then grows in challenge, particularly
for the viola, using the uppermost registers of the instrument, before closing
with the strange pizzicato textures of the opening. The Furiant finale is a real stretch for both
players, and they carry it off with appropriate élan. The Sonata from Arnold Bax (1883-1953) has a slightly
sinister opening, with glassy piano chords beneath a modal, Celtic viola line. The slow Finale has thick, heavy piano
chords, and feels sombre and quite impressionistic, yet with a surprisingly
relaxed conclusion. Ralph Vaughan Williams
(1872-1958) composed his Suite originally for viola and small orchestra, but
also arranged the work for viola and piano, which is what we have here. The eight pieces form three thematic
groupings – Christmas (Prelude, Carol, Christmas Dance), Folk (Ballad, Moto
perpetuo) and Dance (Musette, Polka and Galop).
This is an enjoyable work, although I miss the greater variety of
textures the orchestral version offers.
All the works on this disc were dedicated to the celebrated violist Lionel
Tertis, who also premiered all three.
Overall, these are fine performances, with only the occasional
shrillness of tone in the upper registers of the viola.
The
prolific clarinetist Michael Collins has yet another disc out, this time of
Clarinet Concertos, with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, which he also
conducts. Yet this is not a
straightforward concerto set – we have the classic Mozart Concerto, coupled
with Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, composed for the great jazz clarinetist Benny
Goodman, but we also have a concerto work from Australian composer Elena
Kats-Chermin (b.1957), entitled ‘Ornmental Air’, and composed with Collins as
soloist in mind. Collins uses a basset
clarinet for the Mozart, and the Kats-Chernin piece was also written for this
deeper clarinet with an extended lower range.
Collins’ Mozart is incredibly smooth and silky, and his obvious
communication with the orchestra as soloist/conductor gives this modern
instruments performance an intimate chamber feel. The Copland which follows is also remarkably
tight given the absence of a separate conductor, and has great life and
perkiness. Collins plays the central
cadenza with ease – in fact it is this incredible ease which characterises the
disc as a whole, with the blend between soloist and orchestra intuitive
throughout. Kats-Chernin uses the same
orchestral forces as the Mozart, and was intended as a companion piece,
although beyond this there are few similarities. The rhythmic, 5/4 drive in the first movement
reminded me at times of John Adams, although it slightly runs out of steam
towards the end of the movement. This is
followed by a cadenza passage, leading to the second movement, with a bluesy
take on Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3. The
pace picks up again, and the energy returns for the final movement, driving
right to the finish. Overall, these are
not showy performances, but respectful and at all times sensitive to the diverse
musical styles, quite an achievement in this wide-ranging repertoire.
Pianist Steffen Schleiermacher’s new recording of the
Catalan composer Federico Mompou’s (1893-1987) cycle Música Callada is a real
find. The title loosely translates as
‘Silent Music’, and comes from a poem by the sixteenth century Spanish mystic,
San Juan de la Cruz. This collection of
28 short pieces, in four Books, was composed between 1959 and 1967, when the
rest of the classical world were engrossed in electronics and serialism. These delicate miniatures are a world away
from that, and seem to come from an earlier time, perhaps closest to Eric
Satie, with a touch of Ravel – not surprising since he studied in Paris in 1911
and was close to ‘Les Six’, the group of composers which included Poulenc,
Honegger and Milhaud. These miniatures
are almost all slow in tempo, yet Mompou somehow avoids monotony and the set builds
to create a beautiful dreamlike atmosphere.
Schleiermacher’s sensitivity and variety of tone maintained my interest
throughout. A great discovery.
(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, May 2013).
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