Bach - Clavierubung II

Alexander Weimann

ATMA ACD2 2603

Seldom can there have been a more sombre cover than on this CD. Dressed in black, soloist Alexander Weimann is photographed against a dark green/black background. One wonders why.

The theme of Clavierubung II is duality, some would say polarity. Bach chooses two works in highly contrasting keynotes but even then neither work can be described as entirely solemn.

The Italian Concerto in F Major starts with a spirited movement - for which no indication is given. It may not have been written to equal the exhilarating speed of the Presto but its demands on the player are still great. The Andante, the middle of the three movements, does demonstrate polarity within a single work. It is slow, almost out of place on this CD.

Bach’s Overture in the French style in B Minor, much the greater part of the CD, starts with an Ouverture; if anyone expects a gentle introduction to the main work, they will find this movement breath-taking.

Next are the movements named after the great French country dances of the Renaissance and Baroque. Here are the Gavotte, Passepied, Sarabande and others. All make their transition from countryside to court, recognisable for their mainly cheerful and lively characteristics.

Enjoy Bach’s interpretation of duality and Alexander Weimann’s skills which have made him one of the most sought-after baroque instrumentalists - and ignore that depressing cover.

Telemann - The Baroque Gypsies

Ensemble Caprice; Matthias Maute

Analekta AN 2 9919

Telemann’s compositions were so prolific they beg the question whether he turned to other influences to help maintain his output. His own memoirs contain the answer: temporary exile led to his discovering Poland and Moravia (and their “barbaric beauty...”).

Not so barbaric that he could not be captivated by Eastern European gypsy music though. How imaginative, then, of Ensemble Caprice to intersperse works by Telemann with extracts from the 1730 Uhrovska Collection of 350 gypsy melodies.

For those rarefied souls who believe that baroque music is in some way superior to contemporary folk music, this CD will shake them. The Uhrovska Collection melodies initially overshadow their more grandiose counterparts. The rousing opening track, a Romanian traditional melody, leads the way, followed by the Uhrovskaya’s haunting instrumental C91 and Netrap zradna song.

By track 10 (out of 28) we realise how much Telemann was influenced by gypsy music. The Gypsy Sonata in D Minor and Sonata à la gitane brought the vitality of gypsy music to courtly audiences by way of conventional baroque instruments: recorder, violin and continuo. Above all, Telemann’s Gigue for solo violin leaves no-one in doubt as to its inspiration.

Telemann and the gypsies weave their way through in the order assigned by Ensemble Caprice’s artistic director Matthias Maute. The Ensemble helps us share in Telemann’s own gratitude to the gypsies: “In only a week, a composer could be inspired for an entire lifetime.” These sixty-eight minutes are all that are needed to learn why.

Handel’s Harp

Maxine Eilander; Seattle Baroque

Orchestra; Stephen Stubbs

ATMA ACD2 2541

@Grigorian.Com

“Handel’s Harp” celebrates good fortune - Handel not only enjoyed patronage from the Duke of Chandos but the Duke also employed the talented Welsh harpist William Powell. Handel featured the harp throughout his mature career of 30 years, whether in sacred, concerto or operatic contexts. Quite a challenge for soloist Maxine Eilander.

In fact, Miss Eilander both accompanies soprano Cyndia Sieden in spirited fashion and treats us to the full range of the solo harp. She plays the slow, thoughtful Symphony from Saul, a piece which reminds us how fortunate we are when we hear music for the classical harp.

We are again treated to almost celestial music for solo harp in Lascia ch’io pianga from Rinaldo. This is where the orchestra’s conductor Stephen Stubbs makes his presence felt. As his notes make clear, he has arranged his own version of this piece for harp because many of Handel’s opera songs were adapted by harpists and Stubbs feels that this lost art of the harpist deserves commemoration.

One almost feels that Handel was testing both harp and harpist. Handel’s harpists had to play alongside soprano voice, strings (including pizzicato), recorders, oboe, harp, viola da gamba, theorbo, bassoon, cello, flute, and mandolin. All that within the mere eight compositions presented here. Anyway, the impression should not be given that Handel’s music for harp was all austere. His Concerto in F is sprightly, fast and lively. Round off the recording with the last piece, “Hark, hark, he strikes the golden lyre” from Alexander Balus, and appreciate Handel’s good fortune.

Bernhard Joachim Hagen - Sonatas for Lute and Strings

John Schneiderman;

Elizabeth Blumenstock; William Skeen

Dorian Sono Luminus DSL-90907

@Grigorian.Com

Though he spent his professional life as a violinist employed by the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Bernhard Joachim Hagen was also a lutenist of the first order. But as this CD’s notes suggest, he may well have thought himself an anachronism by the time he died in 1787, so moribund was the lute by that time. Hagen left behind a number of works for the lute, all of which are found in a collection of manuscripts now preserved in Augsburg. This disc offers up his six sonatas for lute, violin and cello, performed by three celebrated specialists from the USA.

These are Rococo trio sonatas, with expertly balanced parts for the violin and lute and a continuo-esque line for the cello. From the cheerful and careful opening Allegro of the F major sonata through the remaining three-movement sonatas, the transparent texture and melodic delicacy of Hagen’s writing is sensitively performed. And though some of the slow movements lack musical depth, their refined delicacy is expertly expressed.

Schneiderman, Blumenstock and Skeen play with grace, poise and sensitive attention to even the smallest details, and the intimacy of this repertoire is immediately apparent here. This is a charming glimpse into the very late life of the Baroque lute, a generation after the great Silvius Leopold Weiss, and Hagen could ask for no better champions of his music.

Mozart - Don Giovanni

Quatuor Franz Joseph

ATMA ACD2 2559

This 2-CD set gives us a fascinating example of musical transcriptions at the end of the 18th century. Montreal’s Quatuor Franz Joseph, using period instruments, specializes in works from that era, and here they perform Mozart’s wonderful 1787 opera in an almost complete - although unfortunately anonymous - transcription for string quartet published by Simrock of Bonn around 1798.

Transcriptions of popular works were extremely common, being the only way the music could be enjoyed away from the theatre or concert salon; Don Giovanni, for instance, spawned almost 600 various arrangements in the century following its premiere.

Questions arise, of course: Is it necessary to record the whole opera? Does it work? Is it boring? Well, Yes; Yes; and No. This is a genuine 18th century work of very high quality, and there would be little point in excerpting it. There is a transparency to the sound that allows all the vocal lines to be clearly heard, and as these are cleverly woven through the score there is no sense of “melody with accompaniment”. Sure, you lose the fullness of the voices and orchestra, but the richness of the part-writing belies the number of players, and, as the excellent booklet notes point out, the arrangement seems to bring out the purely musical aspect of the work without overly affecting its dramatic qualities.

And boring? - even at over 60 minutes per disc, this outstanding performance simply flies by!

Mendelssohn - Piano Concertos 1 & 2; Symphony No.5

Louis Lortie; Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec

ATMA ACD2 2617

@Grigorian.Com

To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn ATMA has released a disc featuring both of his piano concertos and the Symphony No. 5 - the “Reformation”, with the Québec Symphony Orchestra and Louis Lortie, as both soloist and conductor. Lortie has come a long way since his fine debut recording of the complete Chopin Etudes on the Chandos label in 1989. Now recognized as one of the world’s foremost pianists, he is as comfortable with conducting from the keyboard as he is with performing, as this disc clearly demonstrates.

Mendelssohn composed his two piano concertos seven years apart, the first in 1830 while in Italy (completing it in Germany), and the second in England, shortly after his marriage to Cécile Jeanrenaud. While the second is perhaps more serious in tone, both have many similarities – brisk solo passages requiring considerable dexterity, lyrical slow movements, and an overall sense of fine craftsmanship. Not surprisingly, Lortie rises to the challenges admirably, and together with the OSQ, both concertos are performed with great panache. This is indeed a most conducive pairing of soloist and orchestra.

Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 was completed in 1830, honouring the 300th anniversary of the Lutheran faith. Under Lortie’s competent baton, the OSQ again treats the music with the respect it deserves, achieving a grand and noble sound. While the second movement was taken at a brisker pace than I would have liked, it certainly didn’t detract from this most satisfying performance. So to all concerned - félicitations on some fine music-making!

Piano Music by Manuel de Falla

Jason Cutmore

Centaur CRC 2952

(www.JasonCutmore.com)

Pianist Jason Cutmore displays stellar star quality as he performs the piano music of Manuel de Falla. Falla’s compositional output may be described as prolific. His style embraces a wide range of sources, both in melody and harmony, but it is always Spanish in its roots. He wrote specifically for the piano but also arranged some of his other instrumental works for the keyboard. Both genres are represented here.

Two transcriptions are exceptionally noteworthy. Originally scored for chamber orchestra, El amor brujo is technically not as demanding as the other tracks but the folksy Spanish gypsy dance qualities are glorious. From the pantomime El Sombrero de Tres Picos, the piano transcription musically evokes the anger and the frustration of the upset Miller in its guitar-like passages and tumultuous chords. Cutmore plays with a passion and understanding that is never trite.

Of the original piano works, Fantasia Baetica is breathtaking in its compositional and performance values. Originally written for Artur Rubenstein, here is a really virtuosic gem. Cutmore proves that he is a master technical wizard as he seamlessly plays with a clear vision of colour, sound and rhythm.

Jason Cutmore understands de Falla’s piano music, making this an intelligent, musical and enjoyable listening experience.

Concert note: Jason Cutmore performs music of de Falla, Soler and Poulenc for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society on November 1.

Garden Scene

Joel Quarrington; Andrew Burashko

Analekta AN 2 9931

This astounding new album from Canada’s premiere bass player Joel Quarrington is proof positive that the rarely-heard, husky voice of the double bass is indeed capable of the expressive cantilena we normally associate with the cello. This is partially accounted for by the fact that Quarrington tunes his double bass in perfect fifths (an octave lower than the cello) rather than the customary fourths, with a consequent enhancement of the instrument’s acoustics, but it is the sheer musicality of his playing that really wins the day. He is ideally partnered here by his long-time friend and sympathizer Andrew Burashko.

The album includes transcriptions of works by Korngold (the title track) and Henri Casadesus (a transposed version of his faux-classical Viola Concerto In the Style of J.C. Bach). Actual bass pieces include the celebrated Elegy in D major by the 19th century bass virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini and a slew of sugary bon-bons commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky from Reinhold Glière. Following this pleasant onslaught of bel canto salon music comes the real find, a powerful, world premiere recording of the remarkable Sonata for Solo Bass composed in 1971 by the prolific Soviet composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg. The first-class acoustics of the album were produced by Toronto jazz bassist Roberto Occhipinti. An extended podcast preview of this recording and related Quarrington interviews are available from Peter Jones’ web site at doublebasscast.com.

Piotr Anderszewski - Unquiet Traveller
Bruno Monsaingeon
Medici Arts 3077938

@Grigorian.Com

“Voyageur intranquille, Unquiet Traveller”, opens with pianist Piotr Anderszewski boarding the train that, by choice, will be his home, complete with grand piano and a kitchen, until the end of this tour. So begins the documentary of an extraordinary musical figure.

During this winter’s journey across Poland we will listen in on his conversations about musical aesthetics, love, and the composers for whom he has a special affinity. He speaks about his personal journey and the decisions that have led him to this point in his life.

His profound favourite composer is Mozart and he is delighted to vocalise passages from The Magic Flute, reducing the orchestral accompaniment to some basic keyboard figures. We also hear him in various venues across Europe playing Bach, Chopin, Szymanowski, Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann. The film ends with a most affectionate tribute to Lisbon, now his home.

Anderszewski has the rare gift of sharing every performance with his audience, conveyed by his sincere, overflowing personality. Incidentally, he plays only works he likes!

Born in Warsaw in 1969, Anderszewski is a pianist with ample technique and an intriguing personal philosophy, proof that there is true musical force in his generation.

Johann Gottlieb Janitsch
Sonate da camera Volume 1
Notturna; Christopher Palameta
ATMA ACD2 2993

For all his militarism, Prussia’s Frederick the Great supported composers who left their mark on music; the role of J.J. Quantz in developing the modern flute comes to mind. Frederick’s most senior musicians included Johann Gottlieb Janitsch whose manuscripts were stored at the Berlin Singakademie; World War Two (when the Singakademie was plundered) deprived us of many of Janitsch’s works.

Twenty-seven quadro sonatas did survive. Christopher Palameta brings us five; that in G Minor (O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden) takes precedence and with good reason. The opening bars of the Largo are at once celestial and solemn; the all-but-forgotten Janitsch is no composer of dull chamber music.

Throughout the recording Palameta’s passion for the oboe is clear. Two of the three used are copies of contemporary oboes from Leipzig, one from Saxony. Both oboists in Notturna rise masterfully to the varied and demanding challenges of the Allegro in the C Minor Sonata Op 4.

It would be wrong to ignore the contribution of the strings to this recording. Janitsch was fond of using the viola which he selects slightly more frequently in his sonatas than either the flute or the violin. Two violas certainly add a slightly darker quality to the Vivace of the Sonata in E Minor Op 5B.

Through his own inspirational direction Palameta has literally revived Janitsch’s music; three of these five sonatas are recorded here for the first time ever.

Chopin
Maria João Pires
Deutsche Grammophon 477 7483

@Grigorian.Com

Nothing but good can be said about this set issued by DGG to celebrate Maria João Pires’ 20 years with the Gesellschaft and entirely devoted to Chopin. Now in her sixties, this rather elusive artist, inspiring teacher and ardent philanthropist has avoided the trimmings of easy fame and the nowadays so prevalent jet-setting. Even on this disc, instead of just playing “popular pieces” she focuses on Chopin’s last five years, beginning with the Third Sonata and ending with his ultimate work, the Mazurka in f minor.

Chopin as we know died very young, at age 39 and his last years were plagued with illness, an unhappy love affair and other pressures. Although already the most original innovator for the piano, by extending the keyboard to its full length and making new harmonies using the enharmonic scales and chromaticism, in his last years he even tried to break out of this bond by rejecting the tonal centre entirely. In this respect he was paving the way to Debussy and Scriabin. The 3rd sonata is “profoundly chaotic and using an energy towards an entirely new logic” (Pires). Her playing, with the beautifully seductive expression of the 2nd theme of the opening movement, the filigree dexterity of the Scherzo, the heartrendingly delicate Lento and the emotionally turbulent, exhausting Finale, makes it the most momentous performance on the disc.

The very complex Polonaise Fantasie is another example of this “new logic” that seems to go in many directions, but with the pulsating, syncopated and sometimes barely present dance tempo solidly maintained she holds the piece triumphantly together. There is also a curiosity, the Cello Sonata (with Pavel Gomziakov), and a number of Mazurkas, Nocturnes and Waltzes to round out the disc, among them the Minute Waltz played in just under 2 minutes!

A Musical Journey
Rufus Choi
Cambria CD-1188

An eclectic program of piano music played by the Korean-American pianist Rufus Choi is featured on this Cambria label CD, music described in the notes by the artist as “in the grand romantic style”. Choi is a graduate of both the Juilliard School and the Musik Hochschule in Hanover, Germany. He was a first prize winner at the inaugural Jose Iturbi International Music Competition in Los Angeles in 2007.

The disc opens with Four Chorale Preludes by Bach as arranged by Ferruccio Busoni. These are tasteful adaptations - indeed, Busoni was a brilliant arranger, and the pieces sound as convincing for solo keyboard as they do for chorus. Yet as successful as Choi is at capturing the mood of noble grandeur, I have the impression that he is more at home with the type of piece that follows - the Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata #2 from 1913. This is music of exceptional difficulty, requiring formidable technique. Happily, Choi rises to the challenge admirably, tossing off the difficulties with apparent ease, while at the same time, approaching the quieter, more introspective passages with great sensitivity.

Admittedly, I’ve never been a big fan of Liszt’s transcriptions of music by other composers – too much tinsel and glitter, and often too many notes! Having said that, there are two such compositions featured here, a piece by Chopin titled Meine Freuden from his Chants Polonais Op.74, and Schumann’s popular Widmung. Once again, Choi seems in his element, both in these and in the concluding work, the famous Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No, 2, a technical tour de force. Here he pulls out all the stops, and delivers an impressive performance, in true command of the music at all times. A most satisfying musical journey indeed, by a young artist on the threshold of a promising career.

Rachmaninov - 6 Etudes;
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition;
A Night on Bald Mountain
Sa Chen
PentaTone PTC 5186 355

@Grigorian.Com

The name of pianist Sa Chen is perhaps unfamiliar to most music-lovers today, but will undoubtedly become more famous in years or even months to come, judging from the prodigious talents exhibited on this new SACD of Russian music on the PentaTone label. Born in Chongqing, China, Sa Chen began her musical studies at the Sichuan Conservatory, and she later continued at London’s Guildhall School and the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover. Although she has been the recipient of prizes from age 14 onward, it was at the International Chopin Competition in 2000 and later at the Van Cliburn Competition, that her reputation was secured. A critic once wrote: “Fleet- fingered pianists are a dime a dozen today – where are the musicians?” From the haunting opening measures of the Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableau Op.33 No.2, it’s clear that Sa Chen is a musician of the first-rank, one who combines a flawless technique with an innate musicality. She presents 6 Etudes in all, drawn from Opp.33 and 39, and throughout, her playing is marked by a delicacy of shading with never a moment of bravura for its own sake.

As equally demanding as the Etudes-Tableaux is A Night on Bald Mountain, Modest Mussorgsky’s first major work for orchestra - a tale of spirits, witchcraft, and bells tolling at dawn, a sort of 19th century Thriller, 90 years before Michael Jackson. The piano transcription is as difficult as it sounds, and Sa Chen approaches the music with a splendid panache. Nevertheless, in my opinion, she leaves the best until last, with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition from 1874. Inspired by a group of paintings by Victor Hartmann, the work encompasses a myriad of contrasting moods, and Sa Chen captures them all effortlessly, thereby bringing to a close this most satisfying disc.

Complete Dorian Recordings 1989-2009
Ames Piano Quartet
Dorian Sono Luminus DSL-90908

@Grigorian.Com

Founded in Ames, Iowa, in 1976, and currently the resident chamber music ensemble at Iowa State University, the Ames is that rarity in the chamber music world - a designated and permanent piano quartet. Only pianist William David remains from the original line-up, but with just one personnel change in the past 20 years the group’s unanimity of thought and interpretation is very evident.

Apart from three CDs of 20th-century works on the Albany label, the Ames has recorded almost exclusively for Dorian, with a repertoire of French, German, Czech and Russian piano quartets from the Romantic era through the mid-1900s. All 7 Dorian CDs are included in this box set, together with a bonus CD of the Chausson and Saint-Saëns quartets originally issued by the Musical Heritage Society in 1989.

The Dorian discs cover the three Brahms piano quartets, the two by both Fauré and Dvorak, and the single opuses of Schumann, Richard Strauss, Widor, Taneyev, Paul Juon, Suk, Novak and Martinu. An effective arrangement of Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances by Iowa State alumnus Geoffrey Wilcken completes the Russian CD, although it’s completely ignored in the otherwise comprehensive booklet notes.

Recording dates are not listed, but despite the 20-year span there is a remarkable consistency in the exceptionally high performance level, as indeed there is in the sound of the recordings themselves, which are always warm, resonant and beautifully balanced. At under $50, this is an outstanding set.

French Flute Chamber Music
Mirage Quintet
Naxos 8.570444

I’m not sure how “real” the Mirage Quintet is – a quick Google of the name reveals no references to concerts performed anywhere, and the ensemble’s discography seems to consist entirely of this recording.

But never mind. Even if the group is just a mirage, its players are all fine musicians: Canada’s reigning flutist, Robert Aitken; leading studio musician and Aitken’s long-time recital partner, harpist Erica Goodman; violinist Jacques Israelievitch, recently retired as concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; and violist Teng Li and cellist Winona Zelenka, both current principals of that orchestra.

The music is also quite fine: several works are thoroughly impressionistic in style, others are touched with neo-classicism, but all are very French. CD collectors shouldn’t be discouraged if some of the early 20th-century compositions recorded here are unfamiliar.

Marcel Tournier was himself a harpist, as his lush writing for the instrument suggests. But his Op.34 Suite isn’t just a showpiece for the harp; it’s true chamber music, with a sophisticated interplay of instrumental forces. I particularly like the way the Mirage players dig into the final movement’s big, emphatic chords with an expansive sweep.

Similarly, Florent Schmitt’s Suite en rocaille Op. 84 is an elegant work – although there’s an edgy urgency in the second and fourth movements. And Gabriel Pierné’s Variations libres et finale derives an archaic quality from the composer’s use of the Lydian mode. Jean Françaix’s Quintette is a charming piece; and so is Roussel’s Sérénade Op. 30, although its instrumental effects and harmonic leanings also give it a quirky, modernist quality.

This isn’t the deepest music ever written – it’s a little too suave to be profound. But it is enjoyable, and very well performed.

Colin Eatock