Early, Classical and Beyond

Anton Rubinstein – Piano Quartets
Leslie Howard; Rita Manning; Morgan Goff; Justin Pearson
Hyperion CDA68018

“Russians call me German, Germans call me Russian, Jews call me Christian, Christians a Jew. Pianists call me a composer, composers call me a pianist. The classicists think of me as futurist, and the futurists call me a reactionary. My conclusion is that I am neither fish nor fowl – a pitiful individual.” Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein playfully described himself this way in his posthumously published book Gedankenkorb. While he is better known as one of the greatest 19th-century pianists and educators (he founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the first of its kind in Russia), Rubinstein also had a long and productive composing career.

The two piano quartets presented on this CD are premiere recordings of these pieces. Piano Quartet in F major, Op.55bis was originally written as a quintet with winds and the reduction for the string version was quite successful. The string’s sonority (with slightly more prominence given to the cello) certainly enhanced typical romantic gestures, lush harmonies and flourishing piano lines.

Piano Quartet in C-Major, Op.66 is clearly the stronger of the two – more cohesive, with more emotional depth and a touch of beautiful dark sonorities. The third movement, Andante assai, stands out with its stately piano lines and a dramatic violin solo that brings in a dash of gypsy spirit before settling into a peaceful melody. The ensemble playing is strong and close knit. Leslie Howard’s articulation is refined, bringing a sparkling quality to more virtuosic piano lines. Strings are juxtaposed nicely, achieving lovely colours in unison parts. Recommended for rainy afternoons – not exactly masterpieces, but these quartets could certainly take you on an interesting journey.

Allure
Kayla Wong
Independent (kaylawong.net)

Unlike many young artists, who tend to stick to familiar repertoire when releasing their first recording, pianist Kayla Wong thought outside the box and produced a CD of music almost entirely from the 20th century. She explained: “The composers on this CD are ones that I have always been drawn to on a deep musical level” and the result is an intriguing combination of music by Lecuona, Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Barber on this debut release titled Allure.

Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Wong studied at the University of Victoria and the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Since then she has appeared in concert throughout North America and Asia, including recitals at Carnegie Hall and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Wong’s deep affinity for 20th century music is evident from the first chord of Lecuona’s Ante El Escorial, one of three compositions included by the Cuban-born pianist/composer. Her playing is dramatic and polished, at all times capturing the subtle rhythms and nuances which are such an inherent part of his style. Lecuona’s slightly older contemporary Maurice Ravel is represented by two of his most famous compositions, Jeux d’eau from 1901 and Une barque sur l’océan from the set Miroirs, written four years later. Dazzling and difficult, this music broke new ground when it first appeared and Wong approaches its formidable technical challenges with apparent ease. Indeed, her flawless technique seems to have no limitations, evident again in the Rachmaninoff Moments Musicaux Op.16 where a warmly romantic tone further enhances a fine performance. Of all the compositions on this disc, Samuel Barber’s Piano Sonata Op.26 from 1948 is undoubtedly the least familiar. Its four movements are a study in contrast, from the strident opening to the bold finale in the form of a fugue – a true technical tour de force which Wong brings off with much bravado.

In all, this is a very impressive recording from a young artist – “alluring” indeed – and we certainly hope to hear from her again in the future.

There is some simply beautiful music on Wood Works, the latest CD from the Danish String Quartet (Dacapo 8.226081), but it’s not necessarily what you would expect to hear. In their description of the recording the quartet members say that they borrowed a selection of Nordic folk tunes that are very close to their hearts and “let the music flow through the wooden instruments of the string quartet.” All but one of the 13 tracks are arrangements by the quartet members, and they are very effective, retaining the simplicity of the folk music while adding a quite modern touch in places. Some of the tunes, as you would expect, are clearly fiddle-based in origin, but there is a lovely range of mood and tempo here. I’m not sure why they felt it necessary to add an anonymous jazz trumpet solo to Five Sheep, Four Goats, though!

On the sleeve notes the quartet wonders “Does it work?” Yes, it does. It’s a charming, relaxing and thoroughly satisfying CD.

Violinist Tianwa Yang has often been featured in this column over the past few years, mainly because of her outstanding Naxos series of the complete violin music of Pablo Sarasate, and she has now let loose her remarkable talents on the Sonatas for Solo Violin Op.27 by Eugene Ysaÿe (Naxos 8.572995).

This is the fourth CD I’ve received that features all six of these astonishing works, arguably the greatest contribution to the solo violin repertoire since the Bach Sonatas & Partitas that were, in part, their inspiration, and it again highlights the difficulty in trying to make comparisons between the various versions. There are close to two dozen currently available on CD, and while many of the biggest names are missing there are certainly enough outstanding recordings to make choosing a top recommendation virtually impossible.

The good news, of course, is that there’s no need to. This is clearly one of those epic works – like the Bach unaccompanied – where owning one version is simply never enough. Tianwa Yang’s current performance, where her faultless technique enables her to delve deeply into the heart of these remarkable sonatas, is certainly one that you’ll want and will keep going back to.

The brilliant young Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova adds yet another stunning CD to her catalogue with Prokofiev Violin Sonatas and Five Melodies (Hyperion CDA67514). Cédric Tiberghien, her regular keyboard partner, is missing this time, but the outstanding British pianist Steven Osborne proves to be an ideal choice as replacement.

Prokofiev’s music for violin and piano seems to be attracting a lot of recording attention these days: this is the third CD of the same three works to come my way just this year, following the James Ehnes and Jonathan Crow discs reviewed in this column in February and April respectively.

As fine as those CDs were, Ibragimova proves to be quite irresistible in her performances here, showing the same fire, intensity, subtlety and intellect that helped make her live Wigmore Hall 3CD set of the complete Beethoven sonatas with Tiberghien such a remarkable issue.

There’s another CD of violin music by the early 20th-century Russian Jewish virtuoso Joseph Achron, this time on a Naxos CD of his Music for Violin and Piano featuring Buffalo Philharmonic concertmaster Michael Ludwig and pianist Alison d’Amato (8.573240).

Achron not only had a remarkable career as a soloist but also enjoyed great success as a composer, although his music fell out of favour following his death in 1943, just short of his 57th birthday. Most of his works have remained unpublished, and those that were in print suffered badly: his early publishers went out of business following the Russian Revolution, and nearly a dozen works published by Universal Edition were forced out of print by the Nazis when Achron was blacklisted in the 1930s. Achron’s music does seem to be making a comeback, however. Hagai Shaham’s terrific 2CD Hyperion set of the Complete Suites for Violin and Piano was reviewed in this column in September 2012, and Naxos has also issued the Violin Concerto No.1 in a performance by Elmar Oliveira.

The titles here are mostly short early pieces from before the First World War that encompass many different moods. Michael Ludwig’s big, rich tone is perfectly suited to the style and nature of Achron’s music, deeply influenced as it was by Jewish folklore and melodies, and he and d’Amato give performances that are idiomatic and technically stunning.

By coincidence, there was also a new CD by the afore-mentioned Hagai Shaham in a recent selection of discs, this time featuring Violin Sonatas by Italian composers Ildebrando Pizzetti and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco with Arnon Erez as keyboard partner (Hyperion CDA67869). Both composers died in 1968, but Castelnuovo-Tedesco was 14 years the younger, and studied with Pizzetti in his youth.

Both are represented here by a single sonata and three short songs.

Pizzetti’s Violin Sonata in A Major dates from 1918-19, and although it premiered to somewhat mixed reviews it was considered to be a major addition to the Italian chamber music repertoire, Castelnuovo-Tedesco devoting an in-depth article to it in a 1920 Turin music magazine. It’s an easily accessible work with – not unexpectedly – clear links to the war years; the central movement is a Prayer for the Innocents. The Tre canti from 1924 were transcribed by Pizzetti from his original cello and piano version.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Sonata quasi una fantasia Op.56 was written in 1929, and features a big, sweeping first movement that makes great technical demands on the players, a dance-like middle movement and a calm epilogue. The Tre vocalizzi Op.55 were written the previous year for wordless voice and piano, and arranged for violin in 1930 by Mario Corti, an early advocate of the violin sonatas of Pizzetti and Respighi. Not surprisingly, perhaps, there are touches of Respighi here, but they’re lovely pieces, really stretching the violinist and ending with a delightful Tempo di Fox Trot (“American Music”).

Shaham’s playing is, as always, passionate and seemingly effortless in its handling of the technical challenges, but his constantly fast and intense vibrato can be a bit unsettling at times. The overall balance is fine, but there are moments when the two performers seem somehow to be a bit disconnected.

Handel & Porpora
Julie Boulianne; Clavecin en Concert; Luc Beauséjour
Analekta AN 2 8764

The Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal is doing something right – the sheer number of successful, outstanding graduates eclipses any other Canadian hive of classical music. Not to give too much credit to the school (after all, Juilliard was involved too), Julie Boulianne is a born talent – a mezzo of rare beauty of voice, whose technique matured rapidly since her debut recording in 2006 (that album, with music by Berlioz, was nominated for a GRAMMY!). What a wonderful choice of material here – the music that was the soundtrack of the battle royal between the Royal Academy of Music and the Opera of the Nobility, between Handel and Porpora. Between 1733 and 1737, London audiences were treated to a tight contest of the two great composers, the best castrati of the period and extravagantly staged operas. To be sure, both parties went over the top, losing thousands of pounds – the Opera of the Nobility went bankrupt, the Royal Academy nearly so, but Handel’s Atalanta turned out to be the coup de grace and Porpora left London defeated. And we have been left with a treasure trove of music, none more revered to this day than “Ombra mai fu” from Handel’s Serse, delivered here by Boulianne with a rarely heard delicacy and tenderness. Clavecin en Concert provide equally beautiful accompaniment within a traditionally well-produced Analekta recording. Five out of five stars.

Six Transcriptions
Francis Colpron
ATMA ACD2 2677

None of the works on this CD were written for the recorder but, as Francis Colpron points out, in the 18th century composers did not always prescribe the instruments on which their work should be performed. Consequently the works by Telemann, Marais, Bach and Tartini sound perfectly idiomatic. It is true that this music often needs to be transcribed. The A minor solo sonata by Bach, for instance, has long been appropriated by recorder players. But the baroque transverse flute went down to D and the alto recorder goes no lower than F. Consequently recorder players have to perform it in C minor which makes parts of the work very high and technically difficult. Needless to say, the high notes provide no problem for Colpron.

One work on this CD stands out as different, the Caprice No.24 for solo violin by Paganini. The composer would never have imagined a performance of this work on the recorder as by 1820 (when it was first published) the recorder was seen as totally obsolete. Yet the transcription works: Colpron aptly sees it as a “translation” and he cites Liszt’s piano transcriptions of the Beethoven symphonies as an analogue.

Colpron is brilliant throughout. I have often admired his playing and I had the pleasure of being coached by him in a recorder consort last July. One thing I discovered then is that his Dutch is impeccable and he will understand what I mean when I say that this recording is “uitstekend.”