Espejo
Eliana Cuevas
Independent EC003
www.elianacuevas.com

In continuing her stellar trajectory as an award-winning songwriter and vocalist (2007 — Toronto Independent Music Award for World Music Artist of the Year, 2008 — nominated Canadian Folk Music Awards for Best World Music Solo, 2009 — National Jazz Award for Latin Jazz Artist of the Year), Eliana Cuevas spent the past three years creating this dynamic and soulful fourth CD release. Her partnership with producer/pianist Jeremy Ledbetter, along with a great line-up of Latin and jazz musicians including George Koller and Mark Kelso, makes for an eclectic mix of styles performed with artistry and heart.

The vocals are rich with new experience, the musical arrangements sophisticated and savvy. From the sultry blues/torch song Lamento to the quirky, playful and humourous El Tucusito with its traditional Venezuelan joropo rhythm performed at lightning speed, she and her collaborators move deftly through a great variety of moods and tempi. The first track Estrellita is most danceable — full of joy and exuberance — and the penultimate track, Melancolía, is the jewel in the crown, evoking a wistful yet deeply powerful longing in its portrayal of the hardships of immigration. All in all, a collection of songs fairly bursting with life and energy. I can’t wait for the live show.

Concert Note: Eliana Cuevas will launch Espejo at Lula Lounge on May 15.

In its june 1935 issue, the opinionated periodical Etude ranked Myra Hess among the twelve greatest pianists of all time and more recently she was included in the Philips omnibus edition, Great Pianists of the 20th Century. Julia Myra Hess was born in London in June 1890. At the age of seven she was the youngest person ever to receive a certificate from Trinity College. She next studied at the Guildhall School where she was awarded the coveted Gold Medal and then went on to the Royal Academy of Music where she studied with Tobias Matthay, with whom she had been awarded a three-year scholarship, and where she befriended fellow pupil Irene Scharrer. Hess made her debut, aged 17, playing the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with the 29-year-old, newly knighted Thomas Beecham conducting. She concertized extensively and in 1922 made her debut in the United States, instantly becoming a concertgoers’ favourite as she was in Europe.

Myra Hess – The complete solo and concerto studio recordings (Appian APR 7504, 5 CDs) presents her once-prized recordings to a new audience. Disc 1, the American Columbia recordings from 1928 to 1931, has 21 selections beginning with her celebrated transcription, Jesu, joy of man’s desiring, that became her signature piece. It was the first and also the last (in 1957) piece she recorded. These early performances are immediately captivating as the music appears to simply emerge, drawing the listener into a private, one-on-one appreciation of the composer. Lots of Bach, Schubert, Schumann and Debussy concluding with, surprisingly, Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance! Here are only some of the highlights of the four other discs: Disc 2 has the four English Columbias from 1933 and the HMVs from 1937–1949 including the 21st Mozart concerto conducted by Leslie Heward (1942). The HMVs from 1937–1949 continue on disc 3 with Schumann’s Carnaval (1938) and the Concerto in A Minor under Walter Goehr (1937), Franck’s Symphonic Variations under Basil Cameron (1941) and Howard Ferguson’s F Minor Sonata (1942). The HMVs from 1952 to 1957 on the last two discs include the Beethoven Sonatas Opp. 109 & 110 (1953), another Schumann A Minor Concerto with Rudolf Schwarz (1952) and his Symphonic Etudes Op.13 (1953). A final session took place on October 12, 1957 that included an inspired performance of Granados’ Maiden and the Nightingale, concluding as mentioned with her Jesu, joy of man’s desiring.

The generous liner notes are typical of Appian, being very readable with ample biographical material, recording dates and original matrix numbers, etc. The transcriptions are exemplary. This set is issued as a commemoration of the artistry of Myra Hess and while not every performance herein is equally praiseworthy, complete means complete; all 397 minutes! Those who revel in and look for the latest, fastest and loudest fingers around must look elsewhere.

Footnotes: by definition, not included is the 1927 Columbia recording of the Schubert Trio D898 with Jelly d’ Arányi and Felix Salmond or the 1935 d’ Arányi and Gaspar Cassadó Brahms Trio, Op.87 that Appian issued on APR7012. At the 1960 Edinburgh Festival she and Isaac Stern played sonatas by Brahms, Schubert, Ferguson and Beethoven that were recorded by the BBC and issued by Testament (SBT1458, 1 CD). There are a few other live performances to be found on Sony, BBC and Music and Arts CDs. Myra Hess died in London in 1965.

In audiophile circles, the reference recording of the Sibelius Symphony No.2 is usually the Sir John Barbirolli 1962 version for Readers Digest now on Testament. A new Barbirolli performance that sweeps the field has appeared on an ICA Classics release of a concert from February 7, 1969 with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra (ICAC5096, 2 CDs). The program opens with an elegant reading of Schubert’s Fourth Symphony followed by Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. The tenor for the Britten is Gerald English whose voice has a texture and timbre different from Peter Pears’ for whom the work was written. Although Decca recorded the definitive version of the work in 1944 with Britten conducting the Boyd Neel Orchestra with Pears and, who else but Dennis Brain as the horn soloist, this version from Cologne is absolutely gorgeous, beautifully nuanced and abetted by the virtuoso horn soloist, Hermann Baumann.

Barbirolli’s reading of the Sibelius is exceptional even by his own high standards. He may have thought, “I’m not holding back any longer ... it’s now or never.” Perhaps not, but it certainly sounds like it. From the confidently measured opening to the closing measures this is a mighty performance from one of the very best orchestras around. In the coda of the Finale Barbirolli unexpectedly broadens the tempo as if to hold back the inevitable. The effect is stunning, a real lump-in-the-throat experience. The recording of all three works is state of the art, crystal clear and dynamic with wide open tuttis. 

One of the less talked about Shostakovich works is the Symphony No.8 Op.65, written in 1943 during World War Two. Of one hour’s duration, on first hearing it may feel to be an enigmatic, sprawling work… the first movement alone lasts nearly 25 minutes. This impression should be dispelled by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky in a live performance from The Royal Festival Hall on October 30, 1983 (LPO 0069). Rozhdestvensky is intuitively in sync with the Shostakovich of the time and is perfectly suited and able to pass it on to the audience and to us, 30 years later. The performance, while rather straightforward, is flavoured with many empathetic moments, but the most arresting surprise is the very long fermata in the percussion a few bars from the end of the third movement. The effect is still chilling after many hearings. As the final movement closes I feared that there would be an outbreak of applause to shatter the tranquility but happily there is none. Perfect!

The White Spot
Way Out Northwest
Relative Pitch RPR 1006 (www.relativepitchrecords.com)

Perhaps it should be called a North American Free Improv Agreement or NAFIA. Every time experimental British saxophonist John Butcher plays in the northwestern part of this continent his trio is made up of two Vancouver-based players: bassist Torsten Müller and drummer Dylan van der Schyff. Listening to the nine pitch-perfect improvisations on this disc demonstrates why this configuration has been maintained since 2007.

The veteran bassist, who is perfectly capable of atonal string-stretching and scrubbed pulsations, is careful to maintain a connective pumping throughout. Liberated by that stance, the drummer has the freedom to make strategic moves involving everything from cymbal snaps and woodblock clipping, the better to complement Butcher’s narratives.

Probably the easiest entry point to the poised intensity from this balanced trio is Earlianum. With Müller’s accompaniment low-pitched and rhythmic, Butcher’s tenor sax exposition is so well-modulated it could be from Coleman Hawkins, until he opens up the piece with shaking vibrations and quivering multiphonics, which are shadowed by the drummer’s clicks and clatters. As the saxophonist’s part evolves to reed bites plus staccato split tones, van der Schyff introduces muscular ruffs and the bassist’s part is transformed from stentorian tremolo strokes to razor’s edge slices and stops.

This interaction is emphasized throughout the disc. No matter how many triple-stopping bass runs, drumstick-on-cymbals shrills or strident reed-shattering banshee wails are heard, skilful equilibrium allows the tunes to impress as they flow chromatically. Comparison of NAFIA with NAFTA makes it clear that cooperation involving disparate musicians easily trumps any tripartite agreement dreamed up by politicians

Dompierre – 24 Préludes
Alain Lefèvre
Analekta AN 2 9292-3

Canadian composer François Dompierre has had an eclectic career to say the least. Born in Ottawa in 1943, he studied music at the University of Ottawa and the Conservatoire de Montréal in addition to his private lessons with Claude Champagne, Clermont Pépin and Gilles Tremblay. Since then, his career has taken him on several paths, including those of conductor, composer, CD producer and travel writer. His own compositions demonstrate a myriad of genres – soundtracks for more than 60 films, a full-scale opera and upwards of 30 concert works.

Dompierre’s 24 Préludes were inspired by longtime family friend “Bob” whose keyboard dexterity and interest in boogie-woogie were a source of great fascination to the young François. Hence, it was with Bob in mind that Dompierre created this enticing collection of miniatures, engagingly performed here by Alain Lefèvre on a two-disc Analekta recording.

The set opens with a prelude aptly titled Frénétique which features a rollicking boogie-woogie style bass, very much à la 1940s. From here, many of the preludes pay homage to a particular dance or pop style, one for each of the major and minor keys of the tonal system, and all as diverse as the set of 24 preludes by Frédéric Chopin. For example, the eighth, titled Déterminé (Tango) is a rhythmic and bombastic interpretation of the famous Argentinean dance form, while No.12, Immobile (Cool) lies at the other end of the spectrum, minimal and introspective. Lefèvre demonstrates a real feeling for the music, capturing the mood of each piece with great panache. Many of them contain complex cross rhythms, syncopations and chromatic harmonies, elements best addressed by only the most musically adept of pianists.

In all, the disc is an appealing case of “new wine in old bottles” with composer and performer perfectly complementing each other. Bob would surely have approved!

Rihm, Wolfgang – Oedipus
Schmidt; Pell; Dooley; Carlson; Murray; Golden; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Christoff Prick
ArtHaus Musik 101 667

Oedipus Rex, the tragedy by Sophocles, seems a perfect subject for an opera: prophecy, patricide, incest, suicide, self-blinding – it is all here. This well-known story receives a special treatment from the composer and librettist, Wolfgang Rihm. He was fascinated by post-structuralism and Derrida, so simply following the Greek play would not do. Additional texts came from the interpretation of the Oedipal myth by Nietzsche and Heiner Müller. The resulting “musical theatre” (Rihm initially refused the "opera" label) was created in collaboration with Götz Friedrich, who was the been the artistic director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1981 to 2000. Aside from deconstructionism, Rihm favoured incorporating the classical humanities, a trait he shared with Friedrich. It is more of a meditation on the human condition and human frailty represented in the Oedipal urges in all of us, as interpreted by Freud, than a straight retelling of the myth. To add to the originality of the work, it is scored for the most part exclusively for wind instruments, with two violins making a guest appearance when Oedipus gouges his eyes out. Rihm, who is as innovative as he is prolific, shows the influence of both Luigi Nono and Karlheinz Stockhausen, with whom he studied in the 1970s. Deserving of special mention is Andreas Schmidt (himself a student of Fischer-Dieskau and Schwartzkopf) and the offstage Greek chorus of 16 individual singers from the Deutsche Oper ensemble (rather than chorus members). 

It is hard to believe that this DVD is a recording of an event that took place 26 years ago. The music sounds fresh and contemporary, and the staging is sumptuous and reminiscent (or prescient) of Robert Lepage's recent work. Some of the principals, like Andreas Schmidt (Oedipus), have advanced their careers to become regulars at, among others, the Bayreuth Festival. Others have passed away (the elegant baritone-turned-tenor, William Pell [Kreon]), or continued in relative obscurity, despite an extensive performance schedule (Emily Golden [Jokasta]).

Wagner - Die Walküre  
Anja Kampe; Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape; Nina Stemme; Mariinsky Orchestra; Valery Gergiev
Mariinsky MAR0527

This year marks Wagner’s 200th birthday and the festivities and celebrations are well under way. During the last decade with many opera houses generating innovative new concepts for Der Ring des Nibelungen the cycle has come to new life and become justly or unjustly Wagner’s most popular work. With a wealth of video releases available today, it is refreshing to concentrate on what’s most important, the music performed by a great conductor trying his hands on it for the first time.

Although I presume Gergiev has performed the entire cycle in St. Petersburg, I am only aware of this CD set of Die Walküre, the second drama or the First Day of the Ring, as having been recorded. No matter, because it is the most engaging, most immediately appealing, most melodic and heartbreaking drama of the four. Act I is almost a complete opera in itself. Starting with a raging storm and emerging from utter darkness, the very depth of human misery with desperate cries for help, it turns very gradually into faint glimmerings of hope, then a ray of light followed by the burst into spring, and by this time Gergiev whips his orchestra into waves and waves of such ecstasy that one is reminded of the miracles Furtwängler used to produce. Act II is the turning point of the Ring saga. Although it is very long and could get tedious with its lengthy dialogues and monologues Gergiev never lets the tension sag. The ominous, frightening minutes prior to the crucial fight is so ridden with anxiety that an electric charge can be felt in the air. What follows in Act III is a rousing Ride of the Walkyries in sonic splendour and a most heartrending Wotan’s Farewell sung by probably today’s greatest, most intelligent and powerful Wotan, René Pape.

Further glories of this set are Swedish soprano, Nina Stemme’s wonderful Brunnhilde, Jonas Kaufmann’s strong yet vulnerable and tender Siegmund and his sister/bride Sieglinde, beautifully portrayed and sung by the accomplished Wagnerian soprano Anja Kampe. The superlative cast includes the awesome basso profundo, Mikhail Petrenko, who creates vociferous terror as Hunding.

Schubert – Erlkönig
Matthias Goerne; Andreas Haefliger
Harmonia Mundi HMC 902141

Six hundred and thirty-four is the total number of solo lieder written by Franz Schubert, and Matthias Goerne has the ambition to record them all! This is the seventh disc in the series (each with a different piano accompanist) and Goerne is into some wonderful territory. Erlkönig is of course the setting of a poem by Goethe and Schubert’s first song masterpiece. The composer himself designated it as his Opus No.1. What remains a mystery is the studious indifference that Goethe seems to have shown to this brilliant song. When initially sent the setting by one of the young Schubert’s patrons, he returned it some months later — without a word of a comment. Later on, Schubert himself sent to the author beautifully bound scores for this and other Goethe poems, but never received a reply. Finally, after Schubert’s death, Erlkönig was performed for Goethe publically — and the only comment from the venerated poet was: “It reminds me of something I have heard before.”

No matter what Goethe thought, the song is a masterpiece — on this recording accompanied by other works, such as Die Forelle and Im Abendrot. Goerne has a beautiful baritone, perfectly suited to the lieder repertoire and of course a perfect command of the language. Many international singers, despite language coaching, get tripped up by the dense texture of Schubert’s settings. The thoughtful interpretation, combined with some truly inspired accompaniment, in this instance by Andreas Haefliger, make this Schubert edition an exciting endeavour. At least this reviewer will be looking up volumes one through six in record stores.

Sentirete Una Canzonetta
Harmonious Blacksmith;
directors Joseph Gascho, Justin Godoy
www.harmoniousblacksmith.com

Improvisations characterize this anthology, and they are both vocal and instrumental. Harmonious Blacksmith draws on the improvisations found in the instrumental instruction books of mid-16th century Italy. Ah Hong (soprano) brings an intense quality to Sentirete Una Canzonetta by Tarquinio Merula; the more rustic Se l’aura spira tutta vezzosa draws on Hong’s vocal expertise in tandem with Justin Godoy’s recorder playing — the latter well in keeping with the demands imposed on the baroque recorder by any of that era’s greatest composers. This mastery is again reflected in Giovanni Battista Fontana’s Sonata 3, with its hints of baroque country-dance movements.

In solo instrumental terms, Joseph Gascho’s inspired harpsichord playing interprets the virtuoso quality of Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Toccata 1 (Libro 2). Godoy’s recorder playing in Ricercar is up to the demands of the music by Jacob van Eyck. Nicola Matteis, who died after the heyday of Italian improvisation, introduces gentility to the instrumental pieces in this compilation. More spirited, not to say impassioned, is Nika Zlatarić’s cello playing in Giovanni Antonio Bertoli’s Sonata 7.

Godoy’s arrangement of pieces by five composers under the title More palatino is an intense and entertaining combination demonstrating just what baroque composers could bring out of their instruments — and their players. In fact, this attractive recital of baroque variations confirms that they were never confined to the harpsichord or lute.

Bach – Flute Sonatas
Andrea Oliva; Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67897

On this recording Andrea Oliva and Angela Hewitt make a convincing case for playing Bach’s music on contemporary instruments. Hewitt’s nuanced approach to the master’s contrapuntal writing, especially evident in the long B minor sonata’s Andante opening movement, allows for an exquisite clarity and independence of the “voices.” Flutist Oliva brings a wide range of expression, from tender pathos in the Largo e dolce second movement of the same sonata to riveting bravura excitement in both Allegro movements of the E minor sonata. He brings effortless technique and consistently incisive but not aggressive articulation to everything he plays; this was particularly evident in the Allegro second movement of the Sonata in C Major. And then there was the confident repose of his relaxed and intelligent phrasing in the opening Allegro Moderato of the E-flat major sonata, the sparing but highly expressive use of vibrato in the famous Siciliano second movement of the same sonata, the persuasive use of dynamic contrasts to delineate episodes in the first movement of the B minor sonata and the exquisite pianissimos, allowing the melodic line of the piano to come out, later in the same work.

Extraordinary as it may sound, having played all these sonatas many times, even I was surprised by the beauty of the Andante third movement of the Sonata in E Minor. There is artistry in this recording that seems to get better every time you listen to it.

Sonatas & Suite
Steven Dann; James Parker
ATMA ACD2 2519

The accomplished musicians featured on this disc need little introduction to Toronto audiences familiar with their frequent appearances on the local chamber music scene. Their recital together on the ATMA label provides an intriguing opportunity to explore the repertoire of French viola works from the turn of the 20th century.

Pride of place in this collection goes to the central work in the program, the sonata by Charles Koechlin (1867–1950), a truly outstanding composition and a major contribution to the viola repertoire. Completed in the midst of the First World War, the work is dedicated to fellow composer and erstwhile violinist (and violist) Darius Milhaud who premiered the work in Paris in 1915. Koechlin’s crystalline harmonies, supple rhythms and melodic inventiveness are inimitable and it is a pleasure to see his music gradually attracting the attention it deserves. Throughout the four movements of the work the unusually wide-ranging piano writing is very much at the forefront of Koechlin’s thought, with the viola often receding into the background texture. Parker’s evocation of Koechlin’s kaleidoscopic quasi-orchestral textures is masterful and Dann’s artistry is movingly eloquent throughout.

The two flanking works receive their first recorded performances here. Pierre de Bréville (1861–1949) was a noted professor, music critic and the author of a biography of César Franck, a mentor whose influence permeates his finely crafted sonata which, though composed in the war ravaged days of 1944, still speaks the dainty language of the fin-de-siècle. The spirited opening and lively finale of the 1897 Suite in three parts by the celebrated organist Charles Tournemire (1870–1939) provide a rousing conclusion to this excellent and enterprising disc.

Sounds North: Two Centuries of
Canadian Piano Music
Elaine Keillor
Gala Records Gala-108
www.galarecords.ca

Canadian pianist and Carleton University distinguished research professor emerita Elaine Keillor shines in this four-CD collection of solo piano works by Canadian composers dedicated to the memory of Helmut Kallmann (1922–2012), the noted musicologist largely responsible for the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Each disc features works from a specific time frame with many of the works drawing on Canadian landscapes and traditions for their artistic motivation.

The first disc opens with the 1807 composition General Craig’s March by F. Glackemeyer. Keillor’s delicate touch and florid lines set the mood for a selection of ragtime and parlour music so popular in the 1800s and early 1900s. Keillor is fantastic in her performances of rags, as her solid beating of the rhythm drives the melodic lines.

CD2, Developments to the End of WWI, continues with more of the same genre of works and lyrical performance. Alexis Contant’s Yvonne (1903) is especially enjoyable as Keillor’s sense of playfulness and joy creates a danceable waltz. In W.C. Barron’s Lullalo, An Irish Lullaby (1890), Keillor sustains a swaying Irish folk lilt that supports the more intense mood in the dramatic harmonic sections. More European compositional influences are evident in such selections as Mazurka Nos.1 and 2 (1890) by Clarence Lucas.

The third disc extends to the end of WWII. Here, even more European compositional influences are heard in a number of multi-movement works by such composers as Robert Fleming, Georges-Emile Tanguay and George M. Brewer. In Leo Smith’s Suite for Piano (1930s?), the mournful melody of the opening movement is transformed and developed in an almost jazz-like manner in each of four movements. Keillor has also included Two Pieces (1951–52) by Glenn Gould. Gould’s development of contrapuntal ideas is fascinating in the second piece.

The fourth disc, Canada’s Space in Sound, opens with Louis Applebaum’s A Northern Legend (1957), a four-section work that is programmatic in its successful aural depictions of such classic Canadian features as tundra, rocks and huskies. “Unfinished Rag,” the fourth movement from John Beckwith’s March, March! (2001), continues to delight with its bouncing rhythm. The last chord leaves the listener waiting for more. The disc ends with Jocelyn Morlock’s The Jack Pine (2010), a work inspired by a painting of the same name by Tom Thomson. At first, the colours and timbres seem to be played too brittle and shrill but as the piece progresses, the harmonies support this touch.

This is a monumental project. The sheer number of works is astounding. Keillor plays each with more than the expected necessary skill, accuracy and respect. Musically, the pianist is able to convey each composer’s sensibilities as she glides through the diverse styles. Her choice of works is interesting in both its inclusions and exclusions but the collection is a fitting tribute to Canadian composers past and present.

Franck & Strauss – Violin Sonatas
Augustin Dumay; Louis Lortie
Onyx 4096

César Franck’s passionate and romantic Violin Sonata has been regarded as one of the greatest in the repertoire. Thanks to this disc however, I have fallen in love with Richard Strauss’s Violin Sonata Op.18, a work of his early years. It is lyrical and lush with all the hallmarks of his later style. It was written in 1887 and Strauss had studied both violin and piano from a very early age. He had already composed a violin concerto in 1882 so it is not surprising to hear superb writing for both instruments. This sonata is expansive in the grand manner using idiomatic writing for virtuoso performers but it is also melodic, tender and intimate. There are references to Brahms in several moments of the music and in the last few bars the piano part quotes from the Adagio of Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata. This is vigorous and adventurous music, full of bravura. The middle section seems to be invaded by the Erlking. However, the lyrical moments melt your heart as do the performances.

César Franck’s only violin sonata was written in 1886 as a wedding present for the virtuoso violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. It is a staple of all violinists. Both violinist and pianist get to flex their muscles in this unabashedly emotional and radiant work. The second movement is the most fiery music Franck ever wrote and lets the pianist display his virtuosic technique. However, the dolcissimo and rhapsodic, improvisatory nature of the Recitativo-Fantasia shows Franck at his most expressive with an intense but serene melodic line. No wonder this piece became a standard-bearer for French chamber music. These performances are poised, refined and exquisite. They match in their touch and in the pacing of the music. Both Dumay and Lortie sing the melodic line on their instruments in intense and sensitive unison. The two artists have chosen to highlight the music instead of their own technique and it is a journey well worth listening to. A highly recommended CD for lovers of French chamber music.

The dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey has lived with the Bach Cello Suites for virtually his entire professional career, having explored them and played them in recital close to an astonishing 1,000 times. He has already recorded them twice, 14 and 21 years ago, but decided to celebrate his 50th birthday last September by recording them for a third time; the new 2-CD plus DVD set on Evil Penguin Records Classic (EPRC 012) is the result. Given Wispelwey’s ongoing relationship with the pieces, however, he readily admits that this won’t be the end of the road. “Six suites, six recordings,” he says in the DVD; “Why not?” Wispelwey also took this opportunity to “take the plunge,” in his own words, and do something he had done in private but had never dared to do in concert: tune his cellos down from the standard 415 baroque pitch to 392, the contemporary pitch in Cöthen, where Bach wrote the suites around 1720. This dropped the tuning a semi-tone; it gave him, he says, “the sensation of entering rooms that I hadn’t been in before or didn’t know existed.”

Wispelwey plays a 1710 Pieter Rombouts baroque cello for the first five suites, and an anonymous 18th-century five-string violoncello piccolo for the sixth. His familiarity with this music is obvious from the free-flowing opening bars of the Suite No.1 in G Major; there’s a great sense of flow and structure here, and a confidence and assurance in the playing that doesn’t preclude a sense of joyful exploration; it’s as if we are fortunate enough to be joining Wispelwey on yet another of his journeys through these wonderful works, and are witness to his new discoveries.

The DVD, entitled 392, Pieter Wispelwey and the Bach Cello Suites, is an entertaining 52-minute documentary filmed during Wispelwey’s dress rehearsal for the recording, a concert performance of all six suites at the Holywell Concert Room in Oxford in May of last year; excerpts from the recital are interspersed with discussions and observations about Bach and contemporary performance issues — particularly for the dance movements — with Bach scholars Laurence Dreyfus of Oxford University and Glasgow University’s John Butt. Fascinating booklet notes and an attractive presentation box format help to make this a set to treasure.

The Six Cello Suites also turn up in transcriptions on two naïve CDs from American lutenist Hopkinson Smith, Bach Suites Nos.1, 2, 3 (E 8937) being performed on theorbo, and Bach Suites Nos.4, 5, 6 (E 8938) on lute. Despite the consecutive numbers, the two CDs are not issued as a set; the first is in an attractive cardboard Digipak, while the second is in a traditional plastic jewel case. There’s a quite different feel to the suites in these performances — they’re softer and gentler, for a start, with Suites 1 to 3 transposed up a fourth and Suite 4 up a fifth — but the music doesn’t seem to suffer; indeed, the opportunity for fuller accompaniment and added bass lines serves to clarify and expand the harmonies implicit in the solo cello writing. And again, there’s that sense of journeying and exploring, of participating with an interpreter in an intimate personal experience that underlines yet again just how much depth these works have. Detailed booklet notes explain the choice of instruments, tunings and transpositions.

It would be hard to imagine a more suitable pair of performers for the Bach 6 Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin BWV 1014–1019 than Catherine Manson and Ton Koopman, or a better performance than they give on a new Challenge Classics 2-CD set (CC72560). The Dutch Baroque specialist Koopman, now nearly 70, founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979; Manson became its leader in 2006.

As the excellent and detailed booklet notes by Christoph Wolff point out, this set of innovative sonatas forms a pivotal link between the baroque trio sonata and the classical duo sonata of the late 18th century. There is true partnership in the writing, as there is in these outstanding performances. Koopman’s harpsichord sound is strong, deep and warm; Manson’s violin sound is the perfect companion and counterpart: light, but never lacking in depth.

Beautifully recorded, this is intelligent playing full of sensitivity, energy and drive.

Paul Hindemith was a world-class viola player, so it’s not surprising that there is a significant amount of music for viola in his chamber output, nor is it surprising that it brilliantly exploits the instrument’s full range and character.

Two of his three sonatas for viola and piano and the second of his four sonatas for solo viola are presented on Paul Hindemith Retrospective: Viola Sonatas, in outstanding performances by Yuri Gandelsman and pianist Ralph Votapek (Blue Griffin BGR277). The duo works are theSonata Op.11 No.4 from 1919, the year that Hindemith decided to change to viola from violin, which until then had been his primary instrument, and the final sonata of the three, dating from 1939. The solo sonata is the Op.25 No.1 from 1922. A short Capriccio, arranged by Gandelsman from Hindemith’s Op.8 No.1 work of the same title for cello and piano, concludes a marvellous CD.

Gandelsman’s tone is full and rich across the complete range of the instrument – hardly surprising, given that he plays a 1748 Paolo Testore viola – and what a range it is in Hindemith’s hands! Add faultless technique and a lovely range of dynamics from both players and you have a real winner. The CD was recorded thanks to a grant from Michigan State University, where Gandelsman is professor of viola at the College of Music. The sound quality is absolutely top notch.

The ever-reliable harmonia mundi label has added another winner to its catalogue with the Sonatas for Piano & Violin and the Piano Quartet ofCarl Maria von Weber (HMC 902108). Violinist Isabelle Faust andAlexander Melnikov, playing an original ca.1815 fortepiano, are in great form in the sonatas and are joined by violist Boris Faust and cellist Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt for the piano quartet.

Weber (1786-1826) is mostly known for his early German Romantic operas and a few clarinet pieces, but he composed over 300 works during his short life. The Six Violin Sonatas Op.10 were written in 1810 on a commission from the publisher André, who had asked for pieces of only moderate difficulty suitable for performance in a domestic setting. Restricted by this limitation, Weber experienced a great deal of trouble with the composition and was clearly annoyed when André rejected the sonatas for being too good. The works were eventually published by Simrock under the title Progressive sonatas for fortepiano with obbligato violin, composed for and dedicated to amateur musicians. They certainly get off to a dazzling start, and it’s clear from the brilliant opening of this CD that these sonatas are quite something, even if there’s not necessarily a great emotional depth to them. And don’t be fooled by the statement in the booklet notes that “the technical demands on the performers, especially the violin, (my italics) are fairly modest…,” although they do acknowledge that the real musical difficulty lies in having to interpret the constantly changing array of styles; the sonatas aren’t in the virtuoso league by any means, but the keyboard part in particular is clearly challenging. I’d be surprised if many amateur players could handle these charming pieces at all, let alone as brilliantly as Faust and Melnikov.

The Piano Quartet Op.8 is from the previous year, although the Adagio was apparently written in 1806. The work fully deserves the description “unjustly neglected,” even if there are clearly echoes of Beethoven throughout.

The Argentinean cellist Sol Gabetta has two new CD releases, both of them of very high quality.

On Shostakovich Rachmaninov (Sony 88725435752) she is supported by the Münchener Philharmoniker under Lorin Maazel in a live concert performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1 – well, live in so far as its having been recorded over three concert dates in Munich in September 2011. There’s a complete absence of any audience sound or ambience, but the recording certainly has the electricity of a live performance. The Rachmaninov work is a regular studio recording of his Cello Sonata in G Minor Op.19, in which Olga Kern is the pianist; again, it’s a first-class performance in all respects.

On Duo, Gabetta makes a guest appearance on the Deutsche Grammophon label for a recital with pianist Hélène Grimaud (479 0090).The two met at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad in 2011 and formed an immediate bond; the program on this CD, the first specific duo recording for either artist, is apparently the recital program they performed in Gstaad.

Schumann’s Drei Fantasiestücke Op.73 opens the disc, followed by three cello sonatas: Brahms’ No.1, Op.38; the Debussy; and the ShostakovichOp.40. The jewel case blurb quotes a review of the original concert, noting “Magical intensity and intimacy,” and it’s an extremely accurate description of the CD recital as well. From the interview conversation in the booklet notes it’s quite clear that these two performers share a very special musical relationship; the mutual understanding and the sharing of nuances is evident throughout an outstanding CD.

The exceptional violinist Tianwa Yang has been featured in this column several times over the past few years in reviews of her two separate Naxosseries of the complete works of Pablo Sarasate for violin and piano and violin and orchestra; both series are due for completion this year. Yang is the soloist on two recent unrelated Naxos releases.

The most recent is her recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concertos, coupled with the Violin Sonata in F minor (8.572662); Patrick Gallois leads the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, and Romain Descharmesis the pianist in the sonata. There are so many recordings of the Mendelssohn E minor concerto that it seems as if there can’t possibly be anything new to say with it, and yet it remains almost a rite of passage for all soloists. It’s not too difficult to come up with reasons: this is, after all, the most perfect of violin concertos, and a true test of technique, tone, sensitivity, artistry and musicianship. Yang certainly displays ample technique and musical intelligence in this work, as she does throughout the CD, although her tone can tend to be somewhat nasal in the middle and lower registers. The D minor concerto is a work from Mendelssohn’s youth, written in 1822 when he was only 13; Yehudi Menuhin obtained a manuscript copy in 1951, and was essentially responsible for its revival and publication. Scored for violin and string orchestra, it contains flashes of the mature Mendelssohn, but is generally closer in style to the works of Mendelssohn’s older contemporaries Kreutzer and Rode.

The violin sonata is another early work, from 1823, but the music, from the violin’s plaintive unaccompanied solo beginning, through an affecting slow movement to a quite Beethovenian Allegro Agitato finale, belies the composer’s age.

Yang’s other recent Naxos release is the Complete Works for Violin and Piano by the contemporary German composer Wolfgang Rihm, with pianist Nicholas Rimmer (8.572730).

Despite his prolific output, I don’t recall ever hearing any of Rihm’s music. I’m sure the fault is all mine, but it may also possibly be because his music doesn’t seem to lend itself to standard radio or recital programming; it’s not always an easy listening experience, not strong on melody and with a good deal of stop/start passages in some of the pieces, and with some odd effects at the extremes of the violin’s physical range and also in the piano writing. Rihm is very highly regarded though, particularly in Europe, and although the jewel case is typically over-effusive in describing Rihm’s style as “…almost unique in today’s music in marrying contemporary technique with emotionally powerful resonances” this is obviously a very strong voice with a distinct character. Yang and Rimmer are clearly very much at home in these pieces, and give strong, assured performances throughout the CD. The five works span Rihm’s career, from Hekton (1972) and Eine Violinsonate (1971/75) through two pieces from the early 1990s, Antlitz and Phantom und Eskapade, to the world premiere recording of Über die Linie VII for solo violin, from 2006. I found the latter to be the most accessible and effective work of the five, although Phantom und Eskapade has some beautiful moments.

Brundibár – Music by composers
in Theresienstadt (1941–1945)
The Nash Ensemble
Hyperion CDA67973

The outstanding Nash Ensemble presents a compelling tribute to four Jewish composers based in Czechoslovakia and held in the Theresienstadt ghetto for prisoners often Auschwitz-bound. Hearing these works we mourn the untimely deaths of Holocaust victims Hans Krása, Victor Ullman, Gideon Klein and Pavel Haas.

The concise String Quartet No.3 by Ullman (1898–1944) is particularly accomplished. Expressiveness akin to Alban Berg’s pervades the opening movement. The colourful finale opens march-like and in canon, then takes off with many grainy sul ponticello effects and pizzicato chords. All is handled expertly by the Nash’s strings: Stephanie Gonley and Laura Samuel, violins; Lawrence Power, viola; and Paul Watkins, cello.

Their performances of the String Quartet No.2 “From the Monkey Mountains” by Haas (1899–1944) and the String Trio by Klein (1919–1945) also deserve accolades. In the Haas quartet’s opening movement, “Landscape,” intonation of violinists Samuel and Gonley is superb in high, difficult figures reminiscent of Haas’ teacher Janáček. In the hilarious “Coach, Coachman and Horse,” all players provide suitably grotesque glissandi to portray the sliding cart!

The young Klein’s trio includes deft and imaginative variations on a Moravian folksong. Finally, the full Nash Ensemble including winds, piano and percussion gives an energetic reading of a suite from the children’s opera Brundibár by Krása (1899–1944). It is a delightful work with witty allusions to popular styles. Brundibár stands as a brilliant testimony to the resilience of cultural life in Theresienstadt.

Britten – Les Illuminations; Variations; Serenade; Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
Barbara Hannigan; James Gilchrist;
Jasper de Waal; Amsterdam Sinfonietta; Candida Thompson
Channel Classics CCS SA 32213

It’s centennial season again and it’s Benjamin Britten’s well-deserved turn to hog the limelight. This new disc from the Amsterdam Sinfonietta brings us two familiar song cycles and an early work for string orchestra. A knockout performance of Les Illuminations, ten sophisticated settings of the poetry of Artur Rimbaud from 1939, opens the disc. Soprano Barbara Hannigan is in fine fettle here, singing very beautifully in excellent French while the virtuoso string orchestra blooms luxuriantly in the warm acoustics of Haarlem’s Philharmonie Hall. Hannigan, renowned for her expertise in contemporary music, is one of Canada’s most celebrated vocalists and though that information figures quite prominently on her personal website, the liner notes ruthlessly delete any reference to her nationality!

An eclectic parody of myriad musical styles for string orchestra follows, the 1937 Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, dedicated to Britten’s first composition teacher and “musical father.” Bridge was an outlier in the parochial British music scene and one of the very few who appreciated the progressive music of continental Europe, knowledge he passed down to his eager teenage pupil. The recording cleaves quite closely to the timings and interpretation of Britten’s own 1966 recording though the modern sound, recorded in the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden, is excessively reverberant and over-modulated, though I suppose this might be considered a virtue for SACD fanatics.

Superior microphone placement makes this less of a problem in the closing item, the Serenade for tenor, horn and strings from 1943. It features James Gilchrist, a fine singer with more heft to his voice and less affectations than most English tenors, partnered with the assured playing of the principal horn of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Jasper de Waal.