Early, Classical and Beyond

Tchaikovsky - Souvenir de Florence

I Musici de Montreal; Yuli Turovsky

Analekta AN 2 9954

It was during his second visit to Italy’s sunny skies in 1890 that Tchaikovsky composed his string sextet in d minor, Op.70, appropriately titled Souvenir de Florence. Initially dissatisfied with it, he ultimately revised the piece and we have it here as arranged for string orchestra, along with the much earlier String Quartet Op.11 with I Musici de Montréal under the leadership of Yuli Turovsky.

What a fresh and vigorous sound IMM achieves on this recording! While always displaying a formidable precision, the group also demonstrates a keen sensitivity to the counterpoint. Melodic lines are carefully delineated, and there is none of the muddiness that can characterize string playing from time to time. This element of clarity is nowhere more evident than in the lively finale, which to me, always sounds more Slavic than Italian.

The String Quartet in D major is a considerably earlier work, written in 1871. Today, the piece is most famous for the well-known slow movement, the “Andante Cantabile”. Here, the augmented size of the ensemble, resulting in a lusher sound, seems particularly suited to this lyrical music which apparently brought Leo Tolstoy to tears upon first hearing it!

Kudos should also go to the engineering team for its fine technical work, and also for their decision (if indeed it was theirs) to record the disc at the Église Saint-Mathieu de Beloeil. The acoustics in this venerable 113-year old building are sublime and give a wonderfully resonant sound throughout, an element that further enhances an already great performance.

Sarasate - Virtuoso Violin Works

Gil Shaham; Adele Anthony

Canary Classics CC07

By all accounts, Pablo de Sarasate must have been quite spectacular. One of the post-Paganini European virtuosi of the late 1800s, he dazzled audiences, critics and contemporaries alike, and not just with his playing. Like several of his fellow violinists – Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski in particular – Sarasate produced many outstanding compositions, and their warmth and brilliance is testimony to his playing ability.

Gil Shaham took the opportunity afforded by the centenary of Sarasate’s death in 2008 to present several concert performances of his works, culminating in the Sarasateada festival in Valladolid, Spain, last November. This latest CD on Shaham’s own Canary Classics label was recorded at the festival, and also features Shaham’s wife, the Australian violinist Adele Anthony.

Ysaÿe noted that it was Sarasate “who taught us how to play exactly”, and precision is certainly the first requirement if these pieces are going to be performed successfully. No worries here on that score. Shaham is brilliant in the four live orchestral performances with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon under Alejandro Posada: the Carmen Fantasy; Zigeunerweisen; a somewhat bland Leo Blech orchestration of Zortica; and – with Anthony - the scintillating duet Navarra.

Anthony plays three of the eight outstanding tracks with pianist Akira Eguchi – Song of the Nightingale; Airs Ecossais; and Introduction and Tarantella - and certainly isn’t ‘second fiddle’ here in any respect. Shaham’s solo tracks are Habanera, Zapateado, Romanza Andaluza, Capricho Vasco, and Gavota de Mignon, and his playing standard never waivers.

Both players use a Stradivarius violin – Shaham the 1699 “Countess Polignac” and Anthony a 1728 instrument - and their richness in the lower register and brightness in the upper, while possibly more contrasted in Shaham’s playing, are very similar.

The booklet notes are by the always-reliable Eric Wen and nicely complement this delightful disc.

Liszt; Rachmaninov - Sonatas

Nareh Arghamanyan

Analekta AN 2 8762

Many years back I was fortunate to see young a Martha Argerich in concert and I recall hardly being able to sleep that night. So when I first listened to this debut recording of 20 year old Armenian pianist Nareh Arghamanyan I had only one wish and that was to see her performing in person as I had hopes of a new divine Martha. Fast forward now to the miracle of the Internet.

I‘ve already enjoyed three of her video performances seeing how she becomes symbiotic with the music, swaying her girlish, fragile body. Her seemingly gentle hands produce titanic sounds without any of the mannerisms and showiness of some pianists of great commercial appeal I don’t want to mention.

Her latest achievement is winning the 1st prize (piano) of the prestigious Montreal International Music Competition in 2008, but she has been winning competitions since age 11. In fact Analekta is fortunate in securing this young lady at this time as I predict her fame will skyrocket and the big recording giants will be clamouring to get her.

Both of the sonatas she plays are murderously difficult, “alternately passionate, desperate, energetic and tender with hurricanes of octaves seething with raw energy” (Lucie Renaud). They are prime examples of the Romantic sonata invented by Liszt and furthered by Rachmaninov. The strict sonata form is replaced by an inner subliminal logic, of ebb and flow, but it must be kept in balance. This is something only the greatest pianists like Ms Arghamanyan with her God given gifts are capable of.

Schubert - Complete works for Violin and Piano, Volume 1

Julia Fischer; Martin Helmchen

PentaTone PTC 5186 347

Julia Fischer is outstanding in this Super Audio CD. The three sonatas featured on this disc – D.384 in D, D.385 in A minor, and D.408 in G minor – date from 1816, but despite being early works they exhibit all the characteristics of the mature Schubert. The Rondo Brillant D.895 from 1826 completes the disc.

Despite the constant flow of irrepressible melody there is always a sense of wistfulness and drama lying just beneath the surface of Schubert’s music, and Fischer’s beautifully-judged performance captures this perfectly, with a beautiful clear tone, sensitive vibrato, and a fine range of dynamics. The recording balance is excellent, with clean and intelligent piano support from Martin Helmchen.

The booklet notes unfortunately scream “Translation!” at times – the Pseud’s Corner column in the old Private Eye magazine would have had a field day with lines like “In truth, renewed energy slumbers within the tangled web of the dialogue interwoven in the chamber music” – but the notes that matter are on the CD… and they’re just wonderful.

Volume 2 is slated for release in April 2010; as the remaining Schubert works for violin and piano aren’t sufficient to fill a CD, it will apparently feature Fischer in a Schubert piano duet. Shouldn’t be a problem - she performed the Grieg Piano Concerto in Frankfurt last year!

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.