Last
year, I had the great fortune to perform Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in the
Brighton Festival with Brighton Festival Chorus. It was evident then that conductor Edward Gardner has expert command of Edward
Elgar’s (1857-1934) music, so I was
very much looking forward to his new recording of Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. An added
bonus is Elgar’s often overlooked Introduction
and Allegro for string quartet and string orchestra, a piece I remember
fondly from youth orchestra days (a very long time ago!), and on this disc, the
BBC Symphony Orchestra are joined by
the Doric String Quartet. Like many others before him, Elgar waited a
long time before composing his first symphony, perhaps feeling the weight of
expectation, and the great symphonists that had gone before. Yet when it
finally came, in his 50th year, it proved to be a huge success, described by Hans Richter as
'the greatest symphony of modern times', and it was performed nearly one
hundred times in the first year alone. The orchestration is rich and
lavish, yet Elgar uses great contrasts in texture too. The opening noble
theme sets us off perhaps expecting Elgar in Pomp and Circumstance mode,
but the restless Allegro shocks the listener out of any nostalgic pomp very
quickly. Gardner takes a balanced approach here, not allowing the noble opening
to get bogged down, and giving the Allegro the right degree of turbulent energy,
eliciting some particularly bright brass playing from the BBCSO players. The second movement is also turbulent, and
here again Gardner injects drive and energy. The beautiful Adagio that
follows without a break, and masterfully transforms the theme from the previous
movement, prompted a standing ovation at the first performance, and here it is
given a particularly touching reading. The
final movement has incredibly full string textures, with the string sections
subdivided several times, and the triumphant return of the opening noble theme
with a blaze of trumpets gives a rousing finish. Gardner keeps his powder dry, and holds the
tension, so that when we finally arrive at the triumphant conclusion it has the
powerful impact that Elgar surely intended.
In the Introduction and Allegro, Elgar plays with the contrast between
the intimate forces of the string quartet and the larger, richer sounds of the
full strings. Gardner points out the
detail in Elgar’s writing, with incisive playing from the Doric String Quartet,
and precise ensemble from the full strings, particularly in the Allegro’s angular
fugal writing. This is a taut reading of
the work, emphasising detail over emotional impact, perhaps, but highly
engaging nonetheless, leaving me wanting more Elgar from Gardner very soon.
Last year I reviewed a couple of discs of Alex McCartney playing lute music. Now he has released a recording performing on
the lute’s very big brother, the wonderful theorbo. Often used as part of an accompanying ‘basso
continuo’ section, it’s great to hear it placed centre-stage as a solo
instrument. Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger (c.1580-1651) was a virtuoso lute and
theorbo performer, as well as composer, and McCartney has recorded here a
selection of pieces from his 3rd and 4th books of works
for the latter instrument. They consist
of predominantly Toccatas and Preludes, the former (which translates
as ‘Touched’) giving the title to McCartney’s CD. The Preludes are brief, barely a minute each,
and the Toccatas are also slight. But they
nevertheless contain some fascinating and downright quirky harmonies and
unexpected clashes. With the rich, deep
tones of the theorbo, and some rippling and cascading runs, deftly articulated
here by McCartney, this is a delightful programme. There are one or two more substantial
movements, such as a Gagliarda, with
wonderful falling chains of clashing suspensions, and a pleasing Passacaglia, but two of the shorter
movements stuck out for me – the bell-like ‘Capona’,
and the Spanish inflections of ‘Canarios’,
for which McCartney managed a tastefully subtle dying repeat at the end. Another enjoyable disc – notably recorded and
produced by McCartney himself on his on micro record label, Veterum Musica – and a great chance to hear the theorbo up
close.
Violinist
Tasmin Little and pianist Piers Lane have been performing
together for many years, and they follow on from highly successful recordings
of Schubert, Strauss and two discs of British violin sonatas with their new
disc. They combine several works by
Polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) with César Franck’s (1822-1890) highly dramatic and romantic Sonata, with Gabriel Fauré’s (1845-1924) Romance thrown in for good measure. Franck’s Sonata
has a deceptively delicate opening, and Lane and Little are particularly
sensitive to this intimate start. The turbulent Allegro that comes next is
given great passion, followed by the emotionally operatic third movement, with
touchingly sweet tones from Little especially.
In the spring-like canon that opens the finale, Little matches Lane’s
delicate touch, and they follow this movement’s trajectory into the light, with
a bright, summery flourish to finish. We
move into late summer/autumn with Fauré’s nostalgic Romance, which allows Little the freedom to demonstrate her singing
tone in its delicate lyricism. Szymanowski’s
Sonata has comparable passion to
Franck’s, and it follows a similar cyclical structure. It is full of youthful exuberance, yet he can
do intimate simplicity too, as demonstrated in the gentle, almost prayerful
piano opening to the second movement, contrasted with a playful central section
with jaunty pizzicato from the violin, and the finale has an infectious driving
energy. Szymanowski’s Romance is also passionate, although
the temperature drops for an intimate central section with wandering harmonies,
before the passion returns for its conclusion.
The Notturno e Tarantella
that ends the disc comes from just 11 years after the Sonata, yet we’re into new
territory here, with the mysterious, glassy rumblings and dramatic outbursts of
the Notturno followed by a highly virtuosic, wild and swirling Tarantella to
finish, with Little adopting a suitably harsher sound to add bite to their
expert reading. Another strong set of
performances to add to Little & Lane’s already substantial portfolio of
recordings together.
(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, June 2017)
No comments:
Post a Comment