Review

01 Fialkowska SchubertJanina Fialkowska’s new recording of Schubert – Piano Sonata No.7; Four Impromptus (ATMA ACD2 2699) is an example of familiar repertoire rethought, reconsidered and reinvented. Nothing has been turned on its head nor has Schubert been over-examined for missed content. The genius of his ideas lies in both their lyric value and in the exquisite nature of his supporting accompaniments. What Fialkowska has done is to redraw the emotional map that guides her playing through Schubert’s straightforward material. She plays the Impromptu No.2 in A-flat Major Op.142 D935 as if it were something sacred. The opening idea is delivered in utter simplicity and the middle section rises to a speed and intensity not often heard. This pulls the work’s emotional poles further apart and gives greater impact to the quiet ending. The other three impromptus, too, are wonderfully recast.

The Piano Sonata No.7 in E -flat Major Op.122 D568 benefits from a release of tempo strictures in the second and third movements. Fialkowska gives Schubert’s simple ideas an airy freedom that feels so completely right. She is, as ever, the mature interpreter we have come to admire.

Concert Note: On April 1 and 2 Janina Fialkowska performs Chopin’s Concerto in F Minor with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony at the Centre in the Square.

02 Hewitt ScarlattiIt’s always a pleasure to hear a new recording from Angela Hewitt, regardless of the repertoire. Early 2016 saw the release of Domenico Scarlatti – Sonatas (Hyperion CDA67613), her first project with this material and one which she hopes to pursue more. In her liner notes, Hewitt makes reference to the scholarly debate over whether the sonatas were originally intended to be paired or not. She has, nevertheless, chosen to devise her own groupings, to the sonatas’ best advantage.

Playing her long-favoured Fazioli, Hewitt delivers a flawless technical performance with clarity never sacrificed to speed. Scarlatti’s sonata structures are simple enough to navigate and one might expect that in the course of 16 such works a certain amount of predictability would set in. But this never happens as Hewitt gives the main idea of each sonata a completely fresh approach. She also never misses a contrapuntal opportunity, and plenty abound throughout. Her ornaments and figures are perfect. She is also completely at ease using whatever technical advantage the modern piano offers to this older repertoire, whether dynamic or colouristic. The Sonata in G Minor Kk8 is an excellent example of this as is the Sonata in F Minor Kk69.

The final track is a bit of surprise as Hewitt’s choice of tempo is notably slower than most often heard. This turns the Sonata in E Major Kk380 into a far more thoughtful and even slightly melancholy utterance than we expect. We look forward to her next set of Scarlatti sonatas.

Concert Note: On April 13, 14 and 16, Angela Hewitt performs two piano concertos by Bach with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The program also features Symphony No.8 by Shostakovich, conducted by Peter Oundjian.

Review

03 Grimaud WaterIn her latest disc Hélène Grimaud – Water (Deutsche Grammophon CD 00289 479 3426), pianist Hélène Grimaud draws from the well of repertoire using water as its inspiration. Nearly every composer has written something depicting an aspect of water whether vast or minute. Her choices of works were guided by a live performance project incorporating art, music and architecture. Set in a New York armoury drill hall carefully flooded for added effect, the performance reflected her environmental concerns around the treatment of water as one of humanity’s most precious resources.

Grimaud immerses herself completely in the nature of the water theme. Aided by the cavernous acoustic of the armoury, she captures all the fluidness and sparkling images created by her chosen composers. Liszt’s Les Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este is among the best tracks for its articulate shimmer in the upper registers. The Takemitsu Rain Tree Sketch II is beautiful for its deeply haunting reserve and Fauré’s Barcarolle flows with unbound rhythmic freedom throughout. The best track is, however, Debussy’s La Cathédrale engloutie. Here Grimaud evokes an architectural grandness and solemnity so appropriate to the composer’s image for the piece.

The recording produced at the art installation is combined with seven electro-acoustic compositions by Nitin Sawhney that act as transitions between her eight piano pieces. The contemporary works serve effectively as transitions between the traditional repertoire and are, in fact, titled as such, Transition 1, 2, etc. They alternate seamlessly from one track to the next and make for a truly fascinating listen.

04 LisitsaIt’s hard to imagine the mindset that a pianist must adopt to undertake an extensive project like Valentina Lisitsa plays Philip Glass (Decca 478 8079 DH2). This two-disc set contains nine selections from The Hours and other films like Mishima and The Truman Show. Lisitsa also plays the Metamorphosis I-V and the half-hour long How Now.

Conventionally, one imagines a performer mapping out thematic structure and development, and attending to such concerns as articulation and phrasing. But in Glass’ world these things can have far less significance and a performer may look elsewhere to prepare.

Glass describes himself as a composer of “music with repeating structures” and it’s this device that predominates throughout the repertoire in this set. Lisitsa takes an approach that respects the important patterns of Glass’ work but leaves her enough expressive room to use speed and dynamics to shape the music. This is most evident in How Now and Wichita Vortex Sutra. The experience of playing this often hypnotic music is challenging. Lisitsa reaches successfully for the other worldliness of Glass’ minimalist voice. She never loses herself in it because she understands that the immersive experience of Glass’ music is best reserved for the listener.

Concert Note: Valentina Lisitsa performs at Koerner Hall at 3pm on April 10. The program will include Scriabin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov.

Review

05 Glassworlds 3Young pianist Nicolas Horvath has a very impressive reputation as a Liszt interpreter. It’s no surprise then, that his approach to Glass in Philip Glass – Glassworlds 3; Metamorphosis (Grand Piano GP691) is strikingly different. His own liner notes to this recording reveal his inclination toward analytical detail. At the keyboard he extracts thematic material from the rotating structures that Glass sets spinning like so many Buddhist prayer wheels. In doing so he compels the listener to experience the music more melodically than its hypnotic patterns might otherwise allow. This sets his performance of the Metamorphosis I-V apart from most others. The melodic imperative that seems to drive Horvath’s interpretation of Glass’ music is even more powerful in Einstein on the Beach and the Piano Sonatina No.2 (1959). There’s even a hint of programmatic interpretation in the piano version of The Olympian – Lighting of the Torch and Closing.

By contrast, however, Horvath completely abandons all classical/romantic sensibilities in Two Pages (1968), choosing instead to favour the dominant mechanical nature of the repeating figures, leaving only Glass’ subtle changes to play with the listener’s mind. This kind of versatility makes Horvath a compelling interpreter and presents the repertoire in a deeply engaging and listenable way. This disc is the third volume in his Glassworlds series.

Review

06 Khachaturian PoghosyanKariné Poghosyan is an Armenian-American pianist teaching at the Manhattan School of Music. With a scholarly thesis on the piano music of Aram Khachaturian to her credit, her latest recording Khachaturian Original Piano Works and Transcriptions (Grand Piano GP673) demonstrates the affinity she has for this composer’s work.

The disc includes a new piano transcription of the Masquerade Suite with its familiar Waltz, and the Suite No.2 from the ballet Spartacus, in a new arrangement by Matthew Cameron. Both performances are world premieres but the latter is impressive for the way it presents the ballet’s well-known main theme, particularly in its wide, sweeping orchestral gestures.

Also on the disc is Poem, a very early and somewhat troubled work that Poghosyan performs with conviction, finding great serenity in the quieter sections to balance the work’s darker passages.

The recording’s finest piece is, however, the Piano Sonata from 1961, one of Khachaturian’s few formal efforts in larger forms. The opening movement is breathtaking for its relentless motion that only has a brief respite midway through. Poghosyan plays this brilliantly and brings it to an edge-of-your-seat close. The second movement is remarkable for its unfamiliar and sometimes experimental language. The final movement brings back the energy of the first but with more intensity. This must be an exhausting piece to perform live. It is excitement combined with mystery and Poghosyan plays it masterfully.

07 StiebeltWe tend to have set notions of the personalities that shaped the music of most historical periods. While the names of those who dominate obscure the lesser, we sometimes find, in the shadows, new material that helps us understand an age in a richer way. And so it is with the music of Daniel Steibelt and a new recording by Howard Shelley that presents three of his piano concertos in Stiebelt (Hyperion CDA68104).

Born to German/French parents, Steibelt was a contemporary of Mozart and Beethoven. He built his career as a pianist and composer in France and England at the turn of the 19th century. He is reported to have famously challenged Beethoven to a piano duel and forever lived with the humiliation of that ill-conceived contest. Steibelt’s music shows his remarkable keyboard facility with extended runs and complex ornamentation. Although his work shows him to have been a fine tunesmith, he is judged to have been much less competent at thematic development.

Pianist and conductor Howard Shelley performs the Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 5 and 7 with the Ulster Orchestra. Shelley’s playing is graceful and delivers the full value of Steibelt’s decorative tunes, many of them finely crafted and memorable, especially the Scottish folk melodies in the slow movements. The orchestra is superbly balanced with the piano, and while conducted from the keyboard, their performance is unerringly intimate with the soloist. The recording is a welcome document of a deserving, if lesser known, composer.

08 Mozart BezuidenhoutLauded by critics as the finest fortepiano performer of our time, Kristian Bezuidenhout has issued another installment in his ambitious Mozart recording project, Mozart Keyboard Music Vols. 8 & 9 (Harmonia Mundi HMU 907532.33). Bezuidenhout plays a fortepiano built in 2009, copied from a Viennese Walter & Sohn of 1805. The instrument is tuned to A 430 and set in unequal temperament. This has the effect of reducing the instrument’s resonance in keys not part of C Major’s harmonic overtone series, like D and F. This is hardly noticeable since the fortepiano has, overall, characteristically less resonance than our modern pianos.

These two volumes are well programmed with plenty of contrasting pieces that make listening through their entirety highly enjoyable. The familiar Sonata in C Major K545 opens the set and is striking for the degree of clarity and articulation Bezuidenhout is able to express at this keyboard. He plays the Gigue in G Major K574 with an incisive angularity applied to both the rhythmic patterns and the intervallic leaps that must have delighted Mozart in writing them. He also includes three sets of variations and a couple of fragments completed by Mozart scholar Robert Levin.

Bezuidenhout is a dynamic player not shy about digging into the instrument forcefully to generate a fortissimo. He’s equally adept at key touch so light that some notes seem to disappear on first hearing. A quick replay confirms their presence but only at the softest levels.

The two-disc set contains selected works from 1774 to 1790 and, like the rest of the series, is not chronological.

01 In Search of ChopinIn Search of Chopin
A film by Phil Grabsky
Seventh Art Productions SEV182

Traditionally, the lives of classical composers haven’t fared all that well on film. We have only to think back to Miloš Forman’s acclaimed Amadeus which, in the opinion of many music lovers, left something to be desired in its portrayal of Mozart as a childish jokester who also happened to be a musical genius. And certain biographies currently posted online seem questionable in quality. In Search of Chopin is something very different, a sensitive documentary by Phil Grabsky on the Seventh Art label and the fourth in his series of DVDs focusing on the lives of great composers.

Through the use of exquisite photography, a well-delivered narration by Juliet Stevenson and readings by David Dawson of selected correspondence, In Search of Chopin takes the viewer on a 39-year journey, from the composer’s beginnings in Żelazowa Wola, Poland, to his untimely demise in France in 1849. Commentaries from those connected with the Chopin Institute in Warsaw and from musicologist Jeremy Siepmann further add to this compelling biography and from the beginning, I was struck by a wonderful sense of intimacy. The viewer becomes a privileged visitor to the rooms where Chopin lived and created – in Warsaw, in Vienna, at Nohant and his city of exile, Paris.

Yet the film is more than a mere life story; indeed, it views the composer through his music more than most documentaries do. Interviews with renowned pianists such as Ronald Brautigam, Lars Vogt, Daniel Barenboim and Leif Ove Andsnes shed light on the composer’s output in new and revealing ways. Furthermore, the numerous musical examples seem particularly generous in length while those performed by Nelson Goerner, Kevin Kenner and Janusz Olejniczak in concert on an early Erard instrument with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century provide the viewer with a sound very close to what Chopin would have heard during his lifetime.

Adept editing and attractive bonus features further add to the appeal of this exemplary biography, a worthy tribute to the “poet of the piano.” Highly recommended.

03 MendelssohnMendelssohn – A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Hebrides Overture; Fair Melusine Overture
Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Radio Choir; Thomas Dausgaard
BIS Hybrid SACD 2166

Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg on February 3, 1809, and a no more prophetic name than Felix (Latin for “happy”) could have been given him if his music tells the tale. His ebullient Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written when he was 17 and was followed 17 years later by more miniatures to comprise a suite of Incidental Music. That he chose to compose these extra pieces populated by those same scampering fairies of the Overture was brilliant.

The Incidental Music is composed of the Overture that sets the stage and introduces the cast, followed by 13 pieces including the Scherzo, Nocturne, Intermezzo, Wedding March and other delights.

Dausgaard’s tempi may feel slightly headlong, with an impetuosity that imbues a breathtaking expectancy even when we know the score well. This is a performance that has the listener leaning forward so as not to miss a single, unexpected nuance. Constant re-evaluation of textures in almost every chord is different in weight and balance from what we are used to, keeping us alert for what is to come. We can see those fairies being as disruptive as they are in Shakespeare.

The uniquely mid-nineteenth-century quality of the score is brought out with extremely precise orchestral execution, transparent and articulate, adding a zing unlike any others. This is pure Mendelssohn and, for me, exemplary.

Similarly, the two familiar overtures are meticulously prepared, drawing even a blasé listener into these interpretative revelations and performance bench marks.

Concert Note: On April 9 and 10 the Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream & More” featuring Mendelssohn’s incidental music, Handel’s Harp Concerto, Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries under the baton of James Feddeck in his TSO debut. 

03 Liszt DutilleuxMiroirs: Dutilleux; Liszt
Jonas Vitaud
NoMadMusic NMM028 (nomadmusic.fr)

Miroirs is a solo piano album of Romantic and 20th-century repertoire by French pianist Jonas Vitaud that stems, in part, from his work with Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) at the Cordes-sur-Ciel festival in 2004.

The CD immediately transports us into harmonically adventurous worlds with Liszt’s Angelus, Klavierstück, Valse oubliée, Nuages gris and Dutilleux’s three Preludes: D’ombre et de silence, Sur un même accord, Le jeu des contraires (1973-1988). However, Vitaud has changed the order of the pieces and interjects a Dutilleux prelude between each of Liszt’s four late compositions. His rationale is to show parallels between the works written by these two very different composers, with Vitaud describing Liszt as a prolific virtuoso and Dutilleux as “a composer of the night.” The reordering may be confusing for a listener who is not following along with the liner notes, however Vitaud consistently conveys an acute awareness of harmonic colour and masterfully presents works that are not performed as often as they should be.

The album gradually leads to Liszt’s virtuoso Mephisto Waltz before closing with Dutilleux’s musically and technically complex Piano Sonata Op.1 (1948). Dutilleux consciously defied classification and rejected a number of 20th-century compositional idioms while expanding elements of the Impressionist tradition. Many of his compositions are refined and deeply moving, such as the Choral et variations, the final movement in the piano sonata, which Vitaud delivers superbly. Particularly impressive is Vitaud’s ability to convey strength without harshness even in the most technically difficult passages, resulting in an innovative and beautifully performed CD, released to coincide with Dutilleux’s centenary.

04 Concertgebouw windsWoodwinds
Woodwinds of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
RCO Live LC-14237

This varied, attractive program of 20th-century woodwind chamber music presented by Concertgebouw wind players is a credit to all concerned. For me the highlights are Poulenc’s Sextet (1932/39) and Jánaček’s Mládí (1924). The well-known Poulenc is played with sensitivity, and Jeroen Bal’s handling of the piano part is particularly subtle. Fine recordings of this work are numerous: the recent Berlin Counterpoint on Genuin is more energetic and virtuosic; while the London Conchord Ensemble on Champs Hill has a more reverberant acoustic. But to me, the shifting senses of nonchalance, dreaminess and high spirits in the composition are most stylishly captured in this reading.

Jánaček’s late and wonderful Mládí evokes his memories of childhood in Moravia, with instrumental suggestions of speech, song, dance and play. The group projects frequent changes of activity and emotional tone confidently. Intonation is unfailingly accurate and Lucas Navarro’s oboe playing is particularly expressive.

Martinů’s Sextet for Piano and Wind Instruments (1929) avoids consistent style and instrumentation. The Scherzo is to me the best movement; flutist Emily Beynon’s virtuosity and tone make it shine. Gershwin-jazzy passages burst in on several movements, and the Concertgebouw winds turn the whole into a witty, enjoyable experience. The early Sonatina for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon (1931) by Sándor Veress (1907-1992) features intriguing dissonance, attractive lyricism and vital rhythm in turn, all conveyed convincingly by the reed trio who seem throroughly at home with the work’s Hungarian folk idioms.

Review

01 Collectif9Volksmobiles is the quite fascinating first CD from collectif9 (collectif9.ca), the Montreal string ensemble that made its debut in 2011 and is composed of four violins, two violas, two cellos and a bass. The players met through their studies at McGill University and the Université de Montréal, and their assertion that the ensemble size enables them to combine the power of an orchestra with the crispness of a chamber ensemble is more than justified by the results here.

Two arrangements by the group’s bass player Thibault Bertin-Maghit open the program: a simply dazzling version of Brahms’ Rondo alla zingarese (check out the video on their website!) and a short but effective transcription of the Allegretto from Alfred Schnittke’s Violin Sonata No.1.

The central work on the disc is the title track, a short three-part piece commissioned by the group from the Guelph composer Geof Holbrook. Its opening movement has more than a hint of Marjan Mozetich about it (no bad thing!) and the third movement is a clever mixture of percussive effects and pizzicato.

A condensed Allegro assai from Bartok’s Divertimento is a more substantial piece played with a great sense of style, and André Gagnon’s really short but exuberant Petit concerto pour Carignan, an homage to the legendary Quebecois fiddler Jean Carignan, rounds out the disc with a wicked cross-mixture of Bach and fiddle music.

I have only one complaint, and although it’s a big one it’s also a positive one: clocking in at just over 29 minutes for the seven tracks, the disc feels more like a sampler CD than a debut disc, and it certainly leaves you really wanting to see what the group does with a more substantial program. Hopefully we will be hearing a great deal more – in both quantity and length – from this dynamic ensemble in the not-too-distant future.

Concert Note: You can hear collectif9 live courtesy of Music Toronto at Jane Mallett Theatre on March 10. The program will include the Holbrook mentioned above and works by Brahms, Shostakovich, Bartók, Schnittke, Hindemith and Prokofiev.

02 Gabetta VasksThe Swiss-based Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta is simply stunning in Vasks Presence, the world premiere recording of the Concerto No.2 for Cello and String Orchestra, “Klātbūtne – Presence,” which was written for her by the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks (Sony 88725423122). The work, premiered in October 2012, was commissioned by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, which is conducted here by Candida Thompson.

The concerto is described as portraying the hope that the individual may find peace and purification in a conflict-ridden here and now, and consequently has passages of both great beauty and dissonant struggle. There’s a glorious build-up throughout the opening Cadenza – Andante cantabile, a tough and choppy Allegro moderato with distinct shades of Shostakovich, and another lovely build through the Adagio final movement, Gabetta adding a really lovely and almost Bachian vocalise at the end, as the cello soars to the highest and quietest of endings.

Grāmata čellam – The Book is a two-movement work for solo cello, with a strong, percussive and impassioned Fortissimo followed by a Pianissimo that again requires Gabetta to add a vocalise. Written in 1978, it was the first work of Vasks that Gabetta heard and led directly to their ongoing friendship.

For Musique du soir for Cello and Organ, Gabetta is joined by her mother, the organist Irène Timacheff-Gabetta. Vasks has said that the evening of the title refers to the evening both of the day and of life; it’s a strongly tonal and very effective work.

The standard of Gabetta’s playing and interpretation throughout a challenging program is quite astonishing, especially in view of the amount of solo writing and the remarkably high and demanding technical level of the music. It is the Cello Concerto that really stands out here though, and as Vasks assisted with the recording this is clearly a definitive performance of what is a significant addition to the contemporary cello concerto repertoire. It’s a simply indispensable CD for anyone interested in the genre.

03 Saint Saens CelloThere’s another excellent cello CD this month, this time with cellist Truls Mørk as soloist in the Cello Concertos Nos.1 and 2 of Saint-Saëns on a Chandos Super Audio CD (CHSA 5162). Neeme Järvi conducts the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Saint-Saëns was an astonishingly gifted musician whose life spanned a period of enormous musical change – he was born eight years after Beethoven’s death and was still alive three years after the end of the First World War – but his music was often regarded as out-of-date almost as soon as it was written. Still, what music it is at times!

The two concertos, written in 1872 and 1902, must have been welcome additions to the solo cello orchestral repertoire, which was still quite thin on the ground by the late 1800s. Concerto No.1 in A Minor Op.33 is a three-movement work with a lovely Allegretto as the middle movement, while the Concerto No.2 in D Minor Op.119 is a shorter two-movement work with equally beautiful lyricism in the slower passages. Mørk plays with a warm tone and fine sense of style throughout both concertos.

The additional works on the CD offer ample proof of the composer’s all-round ability. Pianists Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier join Alasdair Malloy on glass harmonica and members of the orchestra for a joyous performance of Le Carnaval des animaux, Grande Fantaisie zoologique for Two Pianos, Flute, Clarinet, Glass Harmonica, Xylophone and Strings. The work grew out of a cello solo – Le Cygne – which the composer wrote for a cellist friend in 1886, but while the famous Swan was soon published Saint-Saëns never allowed the entire work to be performed outside of a small circle of his friends; it remained unpublished until 1922, after the composer’s death. Not surprisingly, Mørk shines in his famous solo turn.

Two concert pieces for piano and orchestra complete a diverse and highly entertaining CD: the well-known Caprice-Valse Op.76Wedding Cake,” and the fantasia Africa Op.89, both of them showcasing the terrific talents of Louis Lortie.

04 Bruch concertosThe outstanding Hyperion series The Romantic Violin Concerto reaches Volume 19 with three works by Max Bruch – the Violin Concerto No.1 in G Minor Op.26, the Romance in A Minor Op.42 and the Serenade in A Minor Op.75 – in performances by the English violinist Jack Liebeck and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins (CDA68060).

Bruch wrote three works officially designated as violin concertos, but that wasn’t the full extent of his compositions in that form; both the Scottish Fantasy and the Serenade included here are four-movement works that are concertos in all but name. The former was coupled with the Violin Concerto No.3 on Volume 17 of this series in performances by the same personnel.

Bruch was constantly exasperated by the popularity of the G minor concerto at the expense of his other – and in his opinion, better – violin concertos, but it remains probably the most popular of all the Romantic violin concertos. It’s given a lovely performance here.

Bruch’s other violin concertos are much better served by recordings now than they used to be, but even if you do know the other two concertos and the Scottish Fantasy the chances are that the Serenade will be new to you; if so, you’re in for a real treat. It’s a lengthy work from 1899, when the composer was 61 but still had more than 20 years left in his life. Written for and at the prompting of the Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, it’s a simply beautiful work by a mature composer in complete control of his craft; the third movement Notturno in particular is absolutely gorgeous.

The single-movement Romance dates from 1874, some six years after the first concerto, and was intended as the opening movement of what Bruch thought would be a second concerto. The booklet notes describe it as “rather uneventful, although very beautiful,” the latter a word that regularly seems to crop up in discussions of Bruch’s music.

The noted English musicologist Sir Donald Tovey once said that “it is not easy to write as beautifully as Max Bruch.” That’s quite true – and it’s not easy to play as beautifully as Jack Liebeck, either. Add the outstanding orchestral support and the lovely recorded sound and you have a supremely satisfying CD.

Johannes Brahms was notoriously self-critical, often ruthlessly destroying early compositions as well as his ongoing revisions of existing works. As a result, musicologists rarely have the opportunity to observe the compositional process and to make comparisons between initial and final versions of Brahms’ works.

One welcome exception to this is the Piano Trio No.1 in B Major Op.8, presented in its original 1854 version along with the Piano Quartet No.3 in C Minor Op.60 on a new harmonia mundi CD by the Trio Wanderer (HMC 902222).

05 Brahms Quartet TrioThe trio was completed in early 1854, when Brahms was still only 20. By the time it was accepted by the Leipzig publisher Breitkopf and Härtel, Brahms was already having serious doubts about the work and considered withdrawing it, as he “would certainly have made changes in it later.” Although he did not prevent its publication he had nothing to do with the work’s premiere. When he did finally revisit the work 35 years later his revisions were so all-encompassing that they amounted to a virtual recomposition of the piece, and the admittedly more focused and structured result is the version usually performed today. The original version, though, is a delightful and by no means lightweight snapshot of the young Brahms, and makes us wonder again what we may have lost in the large number of destroyed early string quartets.

Trio Wanderer is joined by Christophe Gaugué on viola for the piano quartet, a work whose seeds were sown in 1855 in an unfinished quartet in C-sharp minor, two of the three movements being extensively reworked for the completed Op.60 in 1875.

The period of the work’s gestation, covering his relationship with Clara Schumann, together with Brahms’ comments to the publisher Simrock in which he likened himself to Goethe’s Romantic poet Werther (who committed suicide over an unrequited love) have led to suggestions that the quartet embodies Brahms’ unfulfilled love for Clara; certainly the passion and yearning – not exactly uncommon traits in Brahms’ music, it must be said – would seem to make it much more than a mere possibility.

Trio Wanderer performers – violinist Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, cellist Raphaël Pidoux and pianist Vincent Coq – all graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris in the 1980s and went on to study at the Juilliard School in New York. The trio was formed in 1987, and the lineup has been unchanged since Phillips-Varjabédian replaced the initial violinist in 1996. Their sensitive and beautifully recorded performances here make this new release a welcome addition to their impressive discography of some two dozen discs.

We have the pleasure this month to consider two laureates of the Honens Piano Competition, Hinrich Alpers from 2006 and Gilles Vonsattel from 2009. Their discs, part of the prize intended to help launch their professional careers, are remarkably unlike each other.

01 Honens AlpersThe ambitious Hinrich Alpers Complete Piano Works of Ravel (Honens 201502CD) will have been several years in preparation before its extensive recording sessions at The Banff Centre in 2015. There’s so much that’s superb about this recording and virtually no space in this column to say even a fraction of it. We’ll settle then, for some praise lavished on a few of the many exceptional tracks.

Pavane pour une infant défunte has never been more lovingly played, perched just on the threshold of deep melancholy. Alpers’ touch and tone are impeccable. Oiseaux tristes from Miroirs also benefits from Alpers’ tactile genius at the keyboard where the gentlest of hammer strokes evoke unimaginable bird calls. His Gaspard de la nuit is entirely brilliant but its Ondine is especially fluid and sparkling. In the closing track, Alpers holds nothing back in La Valse and its devastation of the old order.

Six bonus tracks add homages to Ravel by composers like Honegger and Casella. This 2-CD set is a wonderful and complete document for all enthusiastic Ravellians.

02 Honens VonsattelThe 2009 laureate takes a very different direction in Gilles Vonsattel, Shadowlines (Honens 201501CD). The central and title work of the recording is George Benjamin’s Shadowlines, around which Vonsattel programs related material. Three Scarlatti sonatas open the CD. They’re crisp, emphatically punctuated and use every performance advantage the modern piano offers. With tonality and rhythm established, the Messiaen Quatre etudes de rythme: No.4 moves sharply toward a new form that along with the Webern Variations Op.27 influenced George Benjamin’s work. Vonsattel thus far proves himself capable of both incisive playing and introspective repose.

In Shadowlines, Vonsattel opens beautifully to freer form before returning to Messiaen whose Préludes are a perfect bridge to the closing tracks by Debussy. It’s a very satisfying and well-constructed program that Vonsattel holds together both intellectually and artistically. His particular gift seems to be understanding how best to highlight the stylistic differences of each composer.

He’s an adventurous and intelligent musician who brings obvious rationale to a convincingly expressive keyboard style.

Review

03 Seong Jin ChoSouth Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho won the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition last year, taking top prize after five rounds of competitive performance. 163 pianists began the odyssey that is now the world’s oldest piano competition – six emerged as finalists. Winning this event is a career-making achievement, especially at age 21.

This recording, Seong-Jin Cho – Winner of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition (Deutsche Grammophon 479 5332) is Cho’s live performance at the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall in October last year. He delivers all the bombast and meets the blazing technical demands of the repertoire with confidence. It’s also a very moving listening experience for its mature approach to the familiar fragilities that Chopin requires. Cho spends critically important fractions of seconds delaying passing notes and dissonances to intensify each moment of uncertainty.

The Préludes Op.28 contain a universe of emotions beautifully portrayed with complete conviction. The Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat Minor Op.35 demonstrates Cho’s command of Chopin’s rich vocabulary. This is particularly evident in his treatment of the third movement’s central passage where the simple melody moves slowly, unhurried and with minimal accompaniment. Cho lingers courageously creating a powerful contrast to the gravity of the surrounding Marche funèbre.

The recording ends appropriately with the Polonaise in A-flat Major Op.53 (Polonaise héroïque) upon whose closing chord the audience erupts in cheers and applause.

Review

04 Castelnuovo TedescoMario Castelnuovo-Tedesco occupies that sparse region of Italian composers whose works were not principally operatic. Perhaps best known for his guitar and film works, his small body of piano compositions is often overlooked. Claudio Curti Gialdino’s recent disc, Castelnuovo-Tedesco Piano Music (Brilliant Classics 94811) offers a fine example of how this composer blended his own voice with the French and Russian influences of the early 20th century. The repertoire represents the composer’s early work before he fled fascist Italy in 1939, to settle in the US.

Alt Wien Op.30 has a strong feel of Ravel’s La Valse about it. While it’s not nearly as deconstructionist, it does share a similar scale and language. The work’s unique feature is the anti-rhythmic way the composer has cast the dances of the opening and closing movements. Gialdino captures this wonderfully by holding back the Waltz and Fox-Trot, never letting them emerge as quite the dances we expect.

Despite its programmatic title, Le danze del Re David Op.37 is a freely impressionistic collection of eight rhythmic caricatures. It’s clever writing and fine playing. Gialdino brings a distinctive bounce to this set that is very appealing. He goes even further in his performance of Piedigrotta Op.32 (Rapsodia napoletana). Here, an underlying sense of Russian grandness supports a series of five colourful vignettes that concludes with some serious keyboard muscle.

Gialdino plays a Kawai in this recording, and I suspect it might be less than full concert size. It’s brightly voiced and delivers the music well.

06 HuebnerEric Huebner is a versatile musician with eight recordings to his credit. Many of them are ensemble performances of contemporary music, so it’s a thrill to hear what he does on this new solo CD Eric Huebner Plays Schumann, Carter and Stravinsky (New Focus Recordings FCR159). Huebner’s performance of the Schumann Kreisleriana Op.16 is competent and direct with memorable tenderness flowing through the Sehr langsam movement. It is, however, his playing of three movements from Stravinsky’s Petrouchka that really tempts one to reach for superlatives.

While many pianists begin the Danse Russe at full throttle, Huebner holds back throughout this section and saves his energy for the maniacal marathon of playing required for La semaine grasse. His clarity and endurance are truly impressive. Better still is the intervening movement, Chez Petrouchka, which I have never heard played with such impish energy and mysticism. He uses the silence between notes to powerful effect and adds unexpected hesitations to rests. It’s a brilliant performance.

The recording also includes the rather dense Night Fantasies by Elliott Carter. Huebner is very much at home with this material. It’s unstructured and leaves the performer to create an episodic map that makes interpretive sense for the listener. Its length requires intellectual discipline to sustain interest and Huebner has no difficulty doing this, effectively conveying Carter’s world of half wakefulness in the middle of the night.

07 American IntersectionsThe dynamism of dual piano performance asserts itself powerfully in American Intersections (Two Pianists Records TP1039220). Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhäes have performed together since 1999. Their latest recording seeks to reflect the melting pot of influences that defines American music, Blues, Latin, Ragtime, etc.

 Souvenirs Op.28 is Samuel Barber’s collection of dances for piano four hands. Schumann and Magalhäes, however, play an arrangement for two pianos and take advantage of the opportunity for the richer performance that this offers. They adhere faithfully to Barber’s strong romantic leaning without neglecting his frequent modernist flirtations.

William Bolcom’s Recuerdos is a three-part set of homages to composers like Nazareth and Gottschalk. The Paseo opens and closes with a sublime Latin-influenced rag that is utterly captivating. But the show-stealer is the final homage to Delgado Palacios, in which the duo brings explosive energy to Bolcom’s Valse Venezolano.

When Leonard Bernstein arranged Copland’s El Salón México for two pianos in 1941, it soon eclipsed the version for single keyboard. This recording of the piece captures every orchestral nuance and turn of phrase. It’s a terrific performance.

Frederic Rzewski echoes the powerful pulse of American industry in Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues. The pounding episode that opens the piece surrenders to a mildly dissonant blues segment beautifully played, which then blends back into a combined machine-pulsed blues to close the piece.

Hallelujah Junction by John Adams is a complex and difficult piece. Schumann and Magalhäes perform this superbly. There’s a devilishly complex rhythm just before the slower middle section which they handle flawlessly. The work’s relentless drive to its finish seems no challenge at all to this very gifted pair.

08 Peter Hill BachPeter Hill’s latest recording project is JS Bach – The French Suites (Delphian DCD34166). Hill is perhaps best known for his recordings of contemporary repertoire, his books on Stravinsky and Messiaen, and his master classes at major music schools around the world. His recording of the Bach French Suites is, therefore, especially interesting.

Hill plays this music with a great deal of affection. While Bach’s pedagogical intent is always clear in the two- and three-voice counterpoint, Hill reaches further to find the beauty in every melodic fragment. He’s not the least shy about using the piano’s expressive potential to colour the main ideas. He’s quite disciplined about the regulated speed at which this baroque repertoire needs to proceed and reserves his subtle ritardandos exclusively for phrase endings. He also makes a practice of lightening up on the touch at the same time. The combined effect of these creates a reverent and respectful closing punctuation. Hill’s ornamental technique is tasteful and well considered. It’s always clean and of just the right length.

His playing overall is somewhat understated and he makes the Steinway concert grand sound both delicate and fragile. He rarely rises beyond mezzo forte, even in the Gigue of Suite No.5 in G Major where it could credibly happen. This is also true of the Mozart Suite in C K399 which many have played much more aggressively. Hill’s performance is beautifully articulate, completely unpedalled and has a meditative quality about it.

 

 

 

 

 

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