For his second volume of Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) works for solo piano, pianist Barry Douglas pairs the first set of Four
Impromptus, D899, with the Piano Sonata in A major, D959. The Sonata was
the second of a final three sonatas Schubert finished just weeks before his
death aged just 31, and the Impromptus come from the year before this. The four Impromptus come first on the disc,
and each have a different character, although they all share Schubert’s use of
rapid figuration to decorate his lyrical melodies. The first is perhaps the most dramatic, and
here Douglas’ use of rubato (pulling about of the rhythms from bar to bar) unsettles
the momentum. However, his light fluidity
in the second and the smooth melodic line over the rippling accompaniment in
the most well-known third are impressive, and the fourth’s delicately cascading
arperggios appear effortless. The
Sonata, like its companions from that final set, is a large scale,
four-movement work, coming in at over forty minutes. The opening movement has heft and energy,
full of invention, yet despite its relatively conventional structure, Schubert
pulls us up short with a surprisingly subdued conclusion. This sets us up nicely for the darkly lilting
slow movement that follows – but once again, just as we’re settling to this,
Schubert cuts things short and there follows an incredibly wild and turbulent
middle section, before the lilting boatsong returns, adorned to give added pathos. Douglas combines sensitivity in the outer
sections with virtuosic display in the middle, although both are somewhat
restrained, giving this a suitably introspective feel. The Scherzo that follows
wipes away the tears with a sprightly dance, and here Douglas gives us
much-needed brightness and lightness of touch.
For the finale, Schubert reworked a movement from an earlier sonata, but
its infectiously lyrical rondo theme proves a perfect fit here, with Schubert
supplying almost constantly flowing triplet rhythms throughout. At the end, Schubert brings proceedings to a
halt with brief fragments of the theme, followed by a brief rapid coda, and a
final hint of the opening chords from the first movement, and Douglas draws
this impressive second volume to a convincing conclusion.
Italian-born violinist Augustin Hadelich and Korean pianist Joyce Yang have been playing together since 2010, and clearly have
a strong musical partnership, on the evidence of this, their first recital recording
together. They begin with André Previn’s (b. 1929) Tango, Song and
Dance, a piece written for violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in 1997, before her
subsequent marriage to (and later divorce from) Previn in 2002. A sweet, central Song is bookended with a
crowd-pleasing Tango and a jazzy Dance, and Hadelich and Lang have great fun
with this. They follow this with Robert Schumann’s (1810-1856) Sonata No. 1,
Op.105, a turbulent and emotive work, and both players perform here with passion
and drive. Apparently when performing
live, they lead straight from the Schumann into the Tre Pezzi, Op.14e by György
Kurtág (b.1926), which come next on this disc, and provide a striking
contrast. The three short pieces are
pared down and very stark compared to the flurry of action and intensity of
Schumann’s finale, and of course in a completely different soundworld. Hadelich and Yang deliver these miniatures
with an almost claustrophobic intensity, such that the expansive outpouring of
the Sonata by César Franck (1822-1890) comes as a great relief. This is a very cleverly constructed
programme, and also demonstrates these performers’ extensive range. Their Franck is lush and full of depth, with Yang particularly excelling in the demands of the piano writing here, and
Hadelich produces a consistently warm and rich tone well suited to this highly
passionate work. Overall, these are
highly engaging performances in an imaginative and intelligent recital
programme – highly recommended.
Bass-baritone Gerald Finley
is joined by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner for ‘In the Stream of Life’,
a disc of songs by Jean Sibelius
(1865-1957). Most were orchestrated relatively recently, partly prompted by
the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2015. The title of the disc comes from Einojuhani Rautavaara’s (1928-2016) orchestrated
set of seven of Sibelius’ songs, and the theme of water runs throughout most of
the songs on the recording. Finley
himself requested the arrangements from Rautavaara, and is clearly very much at
home here. He sings with precision and
great dramatic communication, yet his rich voice also brings a moving
melancholy to songs such as På veranden vid havet (On the
Veranda by the Sea), one of the few here orchestrated by Sibelius himself. In Rautavaara’s set, the orchestration
captures Sibelius’ spirit, with watery strings in the folksy tale Älven och snigeln (The River and the
Snail), and the mysterious, otherworldy and homoerotic Näcken (The Water Spirit). One
of the composer’s few originally composed orchestral songs, Koskenlaskijan mosiamet (The
Rapids-rider’s Brides) is another watery tale, with Finley again convincingly
communicating another fateful love being overpowered by nature. In addition, Gardner commands attention with
a taut reading of Sibelius’ wonderfully impressionistic sea-picture, The Oceanides, and we are also treated
to Sibelius’ beautifully orchestrated tone poem, Pohjola’s Daughter, drawing on one of his favourite inspirations in
a tale from the epic Kalevala. A short
but pleasing Romance for string
orchestra is the other orchestral piece on offer here. Gardner elicits great depth of tone combined
with subtle agility from the Bergen players, making this a striking recording
all round.
(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, May 2017)
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