Christmas came early for me with the release of so many new Beethoven sonata CDs. Each pianist has done an exemplary job in recording their interpretation of the Beethoven masterpieces and I wish I could write more. All of these releases deserve detailed critiques. Some CDs resonated more with me than others but it is an entirely subjective reaction. All performances were impeccable musically and technically. However, we all respond differently to the individual voices and inflection of each performer’s unique phrasing and tempo. In fact we are listening to each pianist translate Beethoven’s musical speech. Music as a language has been a constant metaphor throughout the centuries before and after Beethoven. Greeks and Romans associated music with spoken rhetoric and musical execution may be compared with the delivery of an orator. By way of the spoken voice or musical gesture, performers hope to capture the hearts and attention of their listeners and arouse or quiet their passions by transporting them to a sublime musical experience. As pianos improved with more rapid decay of sound, quick and efficient damping and variation of timbre from one register to another, Beethoven began writing for the articulate brilliance of a “speaking music.” He also immersed himself in the treatises of authors such as Johan Mattheson and Emanuel Bach, discovered from reading ancient rhetoric by the Greek and Roman writers. Beethoven learned through the classical oratory to describe music as gestural art and cultivate the art of eloquent musical discourse and musical declamation. Here are the pianists who spoke to me in their Beethoven CDs.

02a GoodyearStewart Goodyear: Beethoven – The Complete Piano Sonatas (Marquis MAR 513) I had the pleasure of hearing Stewart Goodyear perform the entire set of Beethoven Sonatas at a marathon in Koerner Hall last June. He is an amazing pianist with formidable technique, stamina and fortitude. His talent is promethean and his playing eloquent and polished throughout the set. Like an orator, Goodyear takes you on a dramatic operatic journey, embracing every nuance and detail. Beethoven had carried the declamatory style into the new century with articulative tools such as legato and slurs crossing bar lines to subsume points of arrival. Beethoven used speech-mimetic effects in his keyboard works in order to approximate speech articulation. According to Czerny, he adopted the methods of singers and recommended putting words to passages or listening to string or wind instruments. Goodyear has given much thought to the form and structure of each sonata. I might quibble here and there about certain tempi or tonal nuance but his level of artistry is truly exceptional. His command of the keyboard and depth of emotion, especially in the last five sonatas is moving and intense. Like a good book, once you start listening it is difficult to stop and that is a remarkable accomplishment for this young artist.

02b BavouzetJean-Efflam Bavouzet: Beethoven – Piano Sonatas Volume 1 (Chandos CHAN 10720) I love these three CDs. They spoke to me on so many levels. The warm, velvety sound Bavouzet achieves suggested an intimate conversation, almost whispered at times. More robust movements were lively but enveloped in honeyed tonal colours. I was mesmerized and hypnotized by the tenderness and sensitivity in his playing. Every phrase, every nuance and ornament was lovingly played. Bavouzet’s shaping of phrases was fluid and his articulation superb. The cantabile lines sang and the quiet, tranquil movements were introspective. The faster, more robust movements had great energy and pulsed with rhythmic inflection. The piano writing in the early sonatas embraced a multitude of textures, borrowing from the symphonic style, string quartet and other chamber music. Bavouzet emphasized this in his playing. In his program notes he is as articulate as in his performance. He asks the question: “Why record more Beethoven?” “And if Beethoven’s music is still alive within us and continues to inspire and inform us about how we relate with the world, is it not absolutely crucial that we should be alert to its enduring vitality and modernity? And why should music lovers be denied the opportunity to associate the new insights of living musicians with this immortal repertoire?” Excellent words and playing. Volume 1 includes sonatas from Opp.2, 7, 10, 13 and 14.

02c PerianesJavier Perianes: Beethoven – Moto perpetuo: Sonatas Opp.26, 31, 54, 90 (Harmonia Mundi HMC 902138) This recording couples four sonatas which end with “moto perpetuo,” a selection that deliberately underlines their similarity but also the diversity of the results Beethoven achieves using the same basic idea. Beethoven explored, like no one else, the possibilities of this compositional concept. The incessant repetition of the moto perpetuo has influenced keyboard composers and performers since before Bach. However, the development of the piano and its quicker action ensured the receptivity of this mode of writing. As to the tempo of these fast movements, Carl Maria von Weber speaks “of human pulse as a model of tempo as informed by an apprehension of periodicity in declamation. The beat, the tempo must not be a controlling tyrant nor a mechanical driving hammer, it should be to a piece of music what the pulse is to the life of man.” There also has to be a contrast in the music of speed. A presto needs tranquil moments to prevent the illusion of excessive speed. Javier Perianes performed the slow tranquil moments with tenderness and warmth. Beautifully shaped phrases were liquid and flowed effortlessly from one to another. I was very impressed with his musicality and the direct way he approached the music. The moto perpetuo movements did not use daredevil tempos but were articulate and exciting. I loved the care with which he pushed and pulled the musical phrases, slow or fast. Nothing was unnatural and accents were not harsh. His tone always retained warmth and was deep with rich colour. Here was another CD I couldn’t stop listening to and I look forward to more Beethoven from this excellent pianist.

02d LeottaChristian Leotta: Beethoven – Piano Sonatas Volume 4 (ATMA ACD2 2489) Chords are in music what words are in language. A harmonic sentence or period consists of several chords that are connected. A succession of many sentences constitutes an entire speech and a composition consists of a succession of many periods. Christian Leotta chooses to speak not only in volumes but in unique ones. His inflections in musical speech might not be to everyone’s taste but his declamatory playing commands that you listen. According to Beethoven’s critical comments on Czerny’s playing, he wanted all the rhythmic accents stressed quite heavily. He did not want flat performances, even if they were eloquent. Christian Leotta obliges us with his personal interpretation of the sonatas. He has a prodigious technique and an innate musicality. I admire his attention to the form and structure of each movement and his exquisite detailing. Volume 4 includes sonatas from Opp.2, 7, 10, 28, 81a and 90 and in it Leotta has presented us with another extremely worthy CD that deserves many hearings.

02e Guembes-BuchananLuisa Guembes-Buchanan: Beethoven in D (www.beethovenpianoworks.com) I liked the care with which the choices were made for this self-produced CD. The three sonatas presented share the tonality of D (two major and one minor) but are radically different from one another in character. I did enjoy her intense leading of the musical phrase. Her interpretations draw you in. In a few spots she neglected pushing through to the end of the phrase. Some of the accents were too harsh and she needs to vary the tonal quality of the accents. Like in speech it is the inflection that is powerful, not necessarily the shouting. Although some of the playing was rough I did enjoy the energy and the slow movements were played with deep emotion and feeling. I could feel the pain and longing of Beethoven.

03 Debussy PianoMusic HewittDebussy
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67898

Angela Hewitt first achieved international recognition for her interpretations of the music of Bach – was that really 27 years ago? Since then, the Ottawa-born pianist has proven to the world that her talents are truly eclectic, with a repertoire ranging from Handel to Messiaen. And how appropriate now that we’ve come to the end of 2012 – the 150th anniversary of the birth of Claude Debussy – that she should return once again to France for music by the musicien from Saint-Germaine-en-Laye.

This latest CD on the Hyperion label comprises many of Debussy’s major piano works, including the Suite bergamasque, Children’s Corner, Pour le piano, Masques, L’isle joyeuse and Deux Arabesques. Nevertheless, in recording such well-known repertoire, Hewitt had a tall order to fill. What amateur pianist with some degree of proficiency hasn’t tried his or her hand at least a few of these chestnuts? The challenge was thus a question of breathing new life into these oft-performed pieces. Not surprisingly, she succeeds admirably. Opening with the familiar Children’s Corner suite from 1908, Hewitt brings a particular freshness and vitality to the music, from the tongue-in-cheek Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum to the good-humoured Golliwog’s Cake-walk. Similarly, with the Suite bergamasque, each miniature demonstrates a wonderful sense of tonal colour, particularly in the famous Clair de lune. In contrast is L’isle joyeuse, music of gregarious buoyancy, inspired in part by Watteau’s painting L’embarquement pour Cythère.

My only quibble – and it’s a minor one – are the tempos, at times slightly brisker than we’re accustomed to. Yet this is not always the case. La Plus que lente is all sensuousness, performed with just the right degree of hesitancy and tempo rubato, thus rounding out a fine recording of much-loved repertoire.

04a Mahler Sym3 FeltzIs there too much Mahler being performed these days? The venerable Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink believes so, contending that a “Mahler cult” has created a glut on the market which is distorting orchestral programming in favour of this formerly maligned composer and threatening to marginalize even the mighty Beethoven. There are even those, he claims, who never set foot in a concert hall unless Mahler is programmed. Hopefully, he concludes, Mahler mania will fade away in due time (like the collapse of the Dutch tulip mania of 1637 perchance?). It is a peculiar assertion coming from a man who has recorded the entire cycle of symphonies twice over and continues to churn out new performances with a global selection of orchestras; even so, Mahler himself predicted his symphonies would someday surpass Beethoven’s in popularity. Any conductor or ensemble worth their salt these days feels duty-bound to tackle them, regardless of their capability for or empathy with the complex and demanding works. It helps too that Mahler’s own conducting experience led him to virtually “idiot-proof” his scores with extremely detailed performance instructions throughout, and his obsessive retouching of his instrumentation after every performance has resulted in new editions continuing to appear to this day. Especially in the recent double centenary years this has led to many high-profile integral cycles springing forth bearing a uniform, streamlined quality all too often indistinguishable from each other.

04b Mahler Sym4 FeltzIt is therefore refreshing to come across these very interesting and idiosyncratic performances from the Stuttgart Philharmonic, which began appearing without much fanfare once a year on the Dreyer Gaido label soon after the young (born 1971) Gabriel Feltz was appointed director of the Stuttgart ensemble in 2004. Feltz has yet to make his conducting debut on this continent and this orchestra’s recordings have only recently been added to the Naxos catalogue. A remarkable feature of these discs is the conductor’s own insightful program notes, replete with music examples (!) and cogent arguments for Feltz’s interpretations, which often contradict or re-interpret the printed scores. The most daring example is undoubtedly the startling up-tempo interpretation of the rabble-rousing march midway through the first movement of the
04c Mahler Sym5 FeltzThird Symphony (CD 21065), utterly contradicting Mahler’s call for a steady tempo throughout this section. Other examples are less radical yet still telling: the compulsive alternations of nimbleness and near panic of the

Fourth Symphony
’s (CD 21072) ostensively charming opening movement; the utter serenity Feltz brings to the famous Adagietto of the Fifth Symphony (CD 21052), so often bathed in an excess of sentimentality; or the positively erotic atmosphere he conjures towards the end of the second “Nachtmusik” of the Seventh Symphony (CD 21041).

04d Mahler Sym6 FeltzI especially enjoyed reading his statistical argument for the placing of the Scherzo as the second movement of the Sixth Symphony (CD 21045), settling once and for all a specious argument that has gone on for decades amongst musicologists. His interpretation of the first movement of the Sixth is notable for its urgently martial clip, offset by a luxuriant pulling back of the tempo for the secondary theme in just the right proportion. Feltz’s solution to the potpourri finale of the Seventh at first seems counterintuitive; he emphasizes the disjointedness of the rondo form rather than smoothing it over, yet it somehow works quite successfully.

04e Mahler Sym7 FeltzOf all these performances perhaps the massive Third Symphony takes pride of place for the excellent unnamed trombone soloist in the first movement, the unmannered gracefulness of the middle movements and the very moving alto solo (Alexandra Petersamer) in the penultimate movement; only the finale seems to fall a bit short in sonic intensity. Perhaps the orchestra was a bit tuckered by this point however; these are all live performances including ofttimes thunderous applause at their conclusions from the otherwise respectfully taciturn audience.

The sound is clear and spacious, with no evident sonic trickery, though I did find the volume needed to be cranked a bit higher than normal to bring the string section into focus. Though there are unquestionably finer isolated performances of these works to be found in the ever-growing Mahler discography, very few contemporary cycles exhibit the integrity of vision Feltz brings to these works. I look forward to enjoying the remaining five symphonies in this cycle in the years to come; there’s never enough Mahler for me!

 

 

 

05 RachmaninovRachmaninov - Symphony No.2; Dances from Aleko
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Vasily Petrenko
EMI Classics 9154732

Early in his career Rachmaninov was regarded as a gifted pianist, an occupation that supported the unrecognized composer. By his last decade, living in the United States, he was recognized both as a composer and an extraordinary concert pianist. I was told by a friend who was a member of the New York Philharmonic during the Toscanini era that the maestro asserted that Rachmaninov’s performance in Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto in 1933 remained peerless. The Second Symphony was written in during 1906 and 1907, half a dozen years after the now signature Piano Concerto No.2 and is solidly of the romantic era, full of great tunes in the recognizable Russian tradition. Performances were often truncated in order not to burden audiences with a 60-minute symphony. Into the LP era, too, shortened versions were recorded.

 Under an unsympathetic baton, the first movement can seem endless and tiresome, an impression put to rest by some fine recorded performances, none more convincing than this one.

Here Petrenko’s penetration into the score produces a reading of unusual empathy that quickly draws the listener’s attention to the composer’s sensitivity and yearning, tension and release. There is Russian lushness aplenty from musicians who clearly love what they are playing.

The second movement, marked Allegro Molto in the opening, is given a perceptibly broader tempo than is favoured by others but, to my ears, it has panache.

The third movement, Adagio, is quite exquisite as Petrenko preserves the tranquility and nostalgia implicit in the score with wistful memories of the first movement. The triumphant rush of the last movement brings this superb recording to a rousing finale. If you are up for some orchestral thrills and a startlingly real recording with dramatic dynamics and astonishing body from the very quietest passages to ravishing tuttis then this recording is a must, even if it duplicates other performances in your collection.

06 Argerich Lugano ConcertosLugano Concertos
Martha Argerich and Friends
Deutsche Grammophon
477 9884

Martha Argerich! For lovers of piano music such as myself, the very name conjures up feelings of near reverence for a veritable icon in the world of classical music. Ever since she wandered into an EMI recording studio in London in 1965, aged 24, to record her first major album, she has rightfully enjoyed an international reputation as a charismatic pianist and recording artist. Since 2002, Argerich has also assumed the role of impresario, annually gathering musicians for the Martha Argerich Project, part of the Lugano Festival held every June – and it’s from this event that her latest offering is based, a fine four-disc set of live recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon label titled Martha Argerich Lugano Concertos.

This is a beautifully packaged collection, with extensive notes and photographs in book-in-sleeve format. Drawn from past festivals, the music was recorded over seven summers, with repertoire spanning a period of 150 years. Not all the other artists taking part are well known but included in the group are pianists Paul Gulda and Gabriela Montero, the Lugano Percussion Group and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under a number of different conductors including Gabriela Chmura, Ion Marin and her one-time husband, Charles Dutoit.

At first impression, the listener is immediately struck by the set’s eclecticism. Yes, they all involve ensembles of various sizes, but the music comprises a myriad of styles and periods, with works by such diverse composers as Beethoven, Schumann, Bartok, Brahms, Milhaud and Stravinsky. The set opens with the classically refined Piano Concerto No.1 by Beethoven, music from around 1800. Here, Argerich demonstrates her typically flawless technique and a certain robust quality that seems particularly suitable for the music of a young composer on the verge of fame. In complete contrast is the Concerto for Two Pianos by Francis Poulenc, where she and her pianist partner Alexander Gurning along with the Swiss-Italian Orchestra conducted by Ersmo Capilla easily capture the cheeky and exuberant spirit of this music written in 1932.

Not all the pieces involve large ensembles. For example, the Divertissement à la Hongroise by Schubert finds Argerich on stage with pianist Alexander Mogilevsky in a thoughtful interpretation of Schubert’s homage to the Hungarian folk idiom. For a delightful 2005 performance of the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, she’s joined by pianist Gabriela Montero and the Swiss Radio Television Chorus directed by Diego Fasolis.

Martha Argerich Lugano Concertos is indeed a fine testimony not only to Argerich’s talents as a performer, but also to her skill at gathering and showcasing talent, both well known and less familiar. All have come together for the purpose of making music on a very high level – and what a perfect holiday gift the set would make for the music lover on your list!

 

Violinist Jacques Israelievitch has been active with a solo and chamber career since stepping down from his 20-year stint as concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2008. He has compiled a fascinating CD catalogue on the Fleur de Son Classics label over the past 12 years, and two new issues were received this month. Well, one new issue and one not quite so new, by the look of it.

07a Israelievitch French SonatasFrench Violin Sonatas (FDS 58005), in which Israelievitch is ably accompanied by the outstanding pianist Kanae Matsumoto, is certainly new – it’s scheduled for release on November 13 and at the time of writing is not even listed on the label’s website – but it was recorded more than two years ago at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state. Israelievitch is, not surprisingly, very comfortable with these four works from his native country. He has a quite distinctive style, with a gentleness and a sweet softness to his playing that makes the violin very much a feminine instrument in his hands. That’s not to say that it lacks intensity or strength, though, as the spiky opening of the lovely Poulenc sonata proves.

The rarely-heard sonata by Gabriel Pierné is a cyclical, post-Franck work from 1900 that apparently did much to establish the violin sonata as a serious chamber music form in a French music world that was dominated by opera.

The Debussy sonata was the last work that the composer was to complete; the 1917 premiere with the young violinist Gaston Poulet was also Debussy’s last public performance. There’s a direct link here: in 1944 Poulet became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, where one of his future pupils would be a certain Jacques Israelievitch.

A fine performance of the Ravel sonata completes a fascinating CD, beautifully presented in a glossy digi-pack.

The New Arts Trio has been the trio-in-residence at the Chautauqua Institution since 1978. Pianist Rebecca Penneys is the only original member; cellist Arie Lipsky joined in 1996 and Jacques Israelievitch in 1999.

07b New Arts TrioTheir 30th Anniversary Recital is available on New Arts Trio at Chautauqua (FDS 58000), just received but apparently issued in 2010. There are solid if not spectacular performances of Dvořák’s “Dumky” Piano Trio and Astor Piazzolla’s Primavera Porteña, along with two works written for the Trio in 2008 – Michael Colina’s Idoru and Ella Milch-Sheriff’s Credo. The Dumky is by far the major work here, though, both in content and in length.

08 Brahms QuintetsThe Brahms Clarinet Quintet has long been one of my favourite works, and you can usually tell within the first few bars what sort of performance it’s going to be. The greatest praise I can give the performance by the Tokyo String Quartet with clarinettist Jon Manasse on the new harmonia mundi CD Brahms Quintets Op.34 & Op.115 (HMU 807558) is that after the opening bars I wrote “Glorious opening – wistful, warm, autumnal – clarinet tone just right – strings beautifully judged” and then spent the next 38 minutes basking in as engrossing and satisfying a performance of this wonderful work as I can remember.

The same high standard continues with the Piano Quintet, Op.34 where the Tokyo Quartet is joined by Jon Nakamatsu in another perfectly-judged performance. Again one to cherish.

Sometimes, as a reviewer, you just stop listening critically and simply get lost in the performances. That’s what happened here, and what can possibly top that?

09 Schumann concertosThe excellent Hyperion series The Romantic Violin Concerto reaches Volume 13 with another outstanding CD, this time featuring Anthony Marwood and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Douglas Boyd in the Schumann Violin Concertos in D Minor and A Minor – the latter a direct transcription by the composer of his Cello Concerto – and the Phantasie in C Major (CDA67847).

There seems to be renewed interest in these works, which for many years – until 1937 for the D Minor and 1987 for the A Minor – remained unplayed and unheard; this is the second set I’ve received in just over a year, following Ulf Wallin’s meticulously researched performances on the BIS label, reviewed in September 2011.

Marwood, as usual, is simply outstanding in this, his third contribution to the highly acclaimed series.

10 schumann piano quintetThere is more Schumann, this time the Piano Quartet, Piano Quintet and the Märchenerzählungen, on a new Naxos CD by the Fine Arts Quartet with Xiayin Wang on piano (8.572661).

The Quartet and Quintet were written in 1842, Schumann’s “year of chamber music”, and are given the level of performance you would expect from musicians of this standing. The Fine Arts, after all, have been around since 1946, although obviously none of the current players is an original member. Until just last year, however, three of the four members – the two violinists and the cellist – had been together for 30 years.

The Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tale Narrations) Op.132 was written in 1853, a mere four months before Schumann’s failed suicide attempt, although there is nothing in the music to suggest this. It is a work that is new to me, and is played here in Schumann’s optional version for Violin, Viola and Piano, the violin replacing the clarinet of the original. Quartet members Ralph Evans and Nicoló Eugelmi join Wang in bringing out all the warmth of these four charming pieces.

The recordings were made two years ago (apparently it often seems to take a long time for CDs to reach the market). Since then cellist Wolfgang Laufer has been replaced by Robert Cohen.

11 Haydn EyblerThe six string quartets of Haydn’s Op.33 are featured on a new 2CD set from Analekta in performances by the Eybler Quartet (AN 2 9842-3). The performers – violinists Aisslinn Nosky and Julia Wedman, violist Patrick Jordan and cellist Margaret Gay – are all well-known on the Canadian early music scene through their affiliation with groups such as Tafelmusik and I Furiosi, so there’s no doubting that we are in good hands here from a stylistic point of view.

On first hearing, I did find the tone to be a bit thin, but then for me it’s the usual question of competing balances with period performances: purity of tone versus a thinness of sound; lack of – or sparingly used – vibrato versus a lack of warmth. It all comes down to a matter of personal taste, and if you’re used to a fuller sound in your Haydn quartets – even if it’s not really appropriate – then this might not be for you. There is no doubting, however, that these are highly enjoyable, technically sound performances and idiomatic interpretations, lovingly played and beautifully recorded at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.

The order of the individual quartets is a bit strange, given that the timings for the six works don’t vary that much and the keys are all different: CD1 has quartets five, one and six, while CD2 has quartets two, four and three.

01-Eton-ChoirbookMusic from the Eton Choirbook
Tonus Peregrinus
Naxos 8.572840

The Eton College Choirbook is one of pre-Reformation England’s greatest glories. English composers rejoiced in their settings of music that were as joyful as the architecture in which they were performed was lofty. The Choirbook required the skins of “112 average-sized calves” to produce; none died in vain, as this recording proves.

Two composers included here, Lambe and Browne, probably had connections with Eton. Lambe’s Nesciens mater a 5 is so exhilarating it could be used at any modern service — and the Choirbook likely dates from 1500!

William, Monk of Stratford, gave his Magnificat a 4 an ebullient character. Tonus Peregrinus uses 13 voices, five upper and eight lower, initially alternating but ultimately combined. Occasionally William’s polyphony uses strange examples of either lost or extra beats — is the lost beat between “the rich” and “he hath sent away empty” a deliberate ploy?

A second Magnificat, by Hugh Kellyk, is not as strident as William’s. It is nonetheless very demanding on the higher voices. Tonus Peregrinus’ already high reputation is only enhanced by its interpretations of the Eton Choirbook.

The opening pages of Richard Davy’s St. Matthew Passion have been lost. Jesus stands before Pilate and the events leading to crucifixion are recounted. Davy uses the arrangement soprano, alto, tenor, bass for both Pilate and Pilate’s wife. The bass part for both characters is, perhaps strangely, sung by one singer, Nick Flower. This certainly does not detract from the sheer forcefulness of Davy’s interpretation.

John Browne’s Stabat mater also uses 13 voices. Emphasis is placed on the soprano voices in what is a very powerful setting; mention must be made, however, of the bass parts, which are omnipresent if somewhat overshadowed.

Naxos is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It describes this recording as “perhaps the jewel in the crown of its series of Milestones of Western music.” Only “perhaps?”

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