Early, Classical and Beyond

Bach - Suites and Partitas

Dom Andre Laberge

Analekta AN 2 9767

If we needed reminding of the inventiveness, adaptability and wide-ranging influence of Bach’s music, this recording provides ample evidence. The four major works are pieces Bach wrote for instruments other than the harpsichord, including violin (A minor sonata, BWV 1003 and famous D minor Chaconne), lute (BWV 996) and a hybrid known as a “Lautenclavicymbel” (BWV 997). With the exception of the Chaconne - which has been transcribed especially for Laberge by Pierre Gouin – all of the transcriptions were made during Bach’s lifetime by his students.

Paradoxically, the most convincing performance on the disc is of the least successful transcription. The solo violin sonata, BWV 1003, is a glorious work, full of contrapuntal and melodic interest. When transcribed for harpsichord, however, the sound alternates between being too thin or – when the “implied” harmonies of the violin are filled in – too thick and literal. Perhaps sensing this challenge, Laberge’s performance is brilliant, free and exciting, most particularly in the sensational fugue. This is in contrast to the somewhat careful and reserved approach to the rest of the material on the recording.

Laberge’s 1987 Dowd harpsichord records well and its warm and majestic sound suits its classy and formal owner, who is the organist and Abbot at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac in Quebec.

Clara and Robert Schumann - Piano Trios

Castle Trio

Friends of Music FOM 36-801 (www.smithsonian.org)

Robert Schumann - Complete works for Piano Trio

Leif Ove Andsnes; Christian Tetzlaff; Tanja Tetzlaff

EMI 0 94180 2

The American writer Catherine Drinker Bowen once referred to chamber music as “a conversation between friends.” I’ve long thought this a very apt description, and what better way to get ourselves in the mood for all the chamber music being heard at numerous festivals this summer than sampling these two recordings, featuring music by Robert and Clara Schumann? The first, on the Friends of Music label presents Clara’s only completed four-movement work, the Piano Trio Op.17, and her husband’s more familiar Piano Trio Op.63, performed by the Castle Trio. The second is a double disc featuring Schumann’s complete works for piano trio with Leif Ove Andsnes and Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff on EMI.

Clara Schumann’s Trio Op.17 and the Trio Op.63 by Robert were written within a year of each other, between 1846 and 1847, and both are now recognized as among the best of their output. Although Clara once described her trio as “effeminate and sentimental” there is no denying the fine craftsmanship displayed within. The American–based Castle Trio - Lambert Orkis, piano, Marilyn McDonald, violin, and Kenneth Slowik, cello – play with a finely-balanced precision and their exemplary interpretation is further enhanced by the decision to perform on early instruments, including an 1846 Streicher grand piano. To those used to modern-day chamber performances, the thinner, more transparent sound heard here may be a little disconcerting, but at the very least, the result is an accurate representation of how the music would have originally been heard.

The partnership among pianist Leif Ove Andsnes with violinist Christian Teztlaff and his sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, is a not infrequent one, and their performance on this EMI recording is everything we’d expect from three outstanding players. Included in the set are the three piano trios, the Fantasiestücke Op.88, as well as the Six Etudes in Canonic Form Op.56, as arranged by Theodor Kirchner. Indeed, there is much to admire here – the playing is at times bold and impassioned, imbued with the true romantic spirit. Yet sections such as the second movement of the Piano Trio No.2 display a wonderful sense of intimacy, with the cello particularly warm and resonant. The four Fantasiestücke Op.88 are an attractive bonus, with the Marche finale bringing both the set and the collection to a buoyant and optimistic conclusion. In all, these are two fine additions to the catalogue; surely Robert and Clara would nod their heads in approval.

Live from Lugano 2010

Martha Argerich and Friends

EMI 0 70836 2

Once again, in June 2010 in Lugano (Switzerland) “the hills are alive with the sound of music.” Those lucky enough to find a hotel room can enjoy Martha Argerich’s famous festival with many of today’s most talented young musicians playing solo and chamber music. Martha is as good as ever but her interests now extend towards a) teaching and inspiring the young and b) getting involved with chamber works as well as new adventurous projects, new music and even jazz. This year, apart from nearly 20 young artists, we have her usual stalwarts like the amazing brothers, violinist Renaud and cellist Gautier Capuçon and even her ex-husband the famous pianist Stephen Kovacevich.

2010 being the year of 200th anniversaries for Schumann and Chopin these are dutifully celebrated with Schumann’s Violin Sonata in a minor played beautifully by Renaud Capuçon and Argerich and his Adagio and Allegro Op. 70 for cello and piano, performed with Gautier Capuçon. To honour Chopin there is a wonderfully relaxed performance of one of Martha’s long time favourites the E minor piano concerto.

But here ends the “traditional” part and the “adventurous” now begins. First comes a fiendishly difficult transcription for two pianos of Liszt’s Les Preludes presaging next year’s Liszt celebrations. Erich Korngold’s rarely heard, feverishly overheated post-Straussian Piano Quintet still harkens back to late Romanticism but not the next work. Bartok’s Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion is from the composer’s “barbaric” period, a relentlessly percussive, uncompromising piece. If some listeners think it is “ugly” then Bartok actually achieved his purpose. It is played with great aplomb and exuberance by Argerich and Kovacevich. It had already been recorded by these two but alas that disc was deleted from the catalogue. Now with this set thankfully it is back.

I doubt Stravinsky ever heard Carlo Maria Griguoli’s three piano version of the Firebird Suite but he would certainly have approved of this stunning virtuoso arrangement played by three young pianists including the arranger himself. Now for a suitable ending of this fascinating set, terrifying noises of the big city emanate from Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Quintet (1976). Fully atonal with plenty of quarter tones we hear sirens of an ambulance at one point and at another unbearable noise of a swarm of hornets closing in around one’s head. Yet at the end ironically there is heavenly peace inspired by Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

Keeping Score: Mahler - Origins and Legacy

Michael Tilson Thomas; San Francisco Symphony

SFSMedia

This is the third season of the San Francisco Symphony’s admirable “Keeping Score” music documentary series, a project that can be followed on certain PBS stations (unfortunately Buffalo’s WNED is not among them). The episodes are typically an hour long, though the latest Mahler instalment is twice that length. The retail version of the broadcast includes a second CD featuring the complete First Symphony and isolated movements from three more symphonies (details are available at keepingscore.org). This handsomely produced and thoughtful documentary is considerably enhanced by on-location visits to Mahler’s boyhood home of Iglau (now Jihlava, in the Czech Republic) and the re-creation of its unique soundscape: a melange of military bands, the hymnody of St. Jacob’s church (Mahler, though Jewish, joined the choir there), the rustic sounds emanating from his father Bernard’s tavern, and the sylvan stillness of the ravine just beyond the town walls. Tilson-Thomas delivers an extended and quite engaging thematic analysis of Mahler’s First Symphony, convincingly demonstrating how Mahler forged the touchstone for all his subsequent works from these disparate cultural elements. Mahler’s rapid rise to the very top of his profession as a conductor is traced via stops in Budapest, Vienna and New York, including an unprecedented opportunity to enter his villa on the Wörthersee and visits to the various “composing huts” he had built for his precious few summers of composing. We learn of the genesis of most, though not all, of his 10 symphonies along the way. It is perhaps understandable, considering the huge expense of the recording contracts involved, that the choral symphonies (2 and 8) are glossed over and the grandiose 8th symphony rates but a single sentence. It is nonetheless an unfortunate omission, as both these works embrace a message of resurrection and transcendence that belie the clichéd thesis of Mahler’s introverted “otherness” which forms such a large part of Tilson-Thomas’s argument.

The Polish composer Henryk Gorecki, who died last November, wrote three string quartets fairly late in his career - a fourth was apparently unfinished at the time of his death - and these are presented on the specially-priced 2-CD set Gorecki: The Three String Quartets (Hyperion CDA67812) performed by the Warsaw-based Royal String Quartet. It’s certainly not easy listening, with predominantly slow, quiet, and often dissonant meditative passages with low harmonies and little vibrato, interspersed with rich tonal outbursts. Already it is dusk, from 1988, Quasi una fantasia, from 1991, and ...songs are sung, completed in 1995 but not released until 2005, all offer ample support for Adrian Thomas’ comment in the booklet notes that “contemplation was always central to Gorecki” - certainly there is a sacred as well as a secular feel to these complex and very individualistic works. All three quartets were commissioned and first performed by the Kronos Quartet, who have also recorded them. I haven’t heard their versions, but however different they may be it’s hard to believe that they could be any more authoritative than these exemplary performances by the Polish ensemble.

Hyperion continues to add outstanding discs to its catalogue, and has just re-issued the Anthony Marwood and Susan Tomes recital of Music for Violin and Piano by Dvořák in their Helios budget-label series (CDH55365). It’s an absolute delight from start to finish, with really fine works, outstanding playing, and a beautiful recorded sound. The Sonata in F minor and the Sonatina in G are the major works, but there isn’t a single track that is less than top-drawer. The Four Romantic Pieces were originally written for 2 violins and viola, Dvořák arranging them almost simultaneously for violin and piano; two shorter works, the Ballad in D minor and the Notturno in B major, complete the disc. Marwood’s playing is simply faultless, with perfect intonation, a lovely tone, and sensitive and intelligent phrasing. He is matched in all respects by Tomes. Marwood has a half-dozen other fascinating and highly-acclaimed CDs on the Hyperion label, ranging from Weill and Stravinsky to little-known British Romantic concertos. He’s clearly a player with a range to match his ability – and that’s saying something.

I’m constantly reminded of how difficult it is to keep up with contemporary performers and compositions – or at least reminded of the fact that I’m probably not doing as well as I should be in that respect. A case in point is the new CD from the Israeli violinist Ittai Shapira, who is active as a soloist and as a composer. He performs his own Concierto Latino on an abbreviated (26 minutes) CD from Champs Hill (CHRCD020) with the London Serenata conducted by Krzysztof Chorzelski. Shapira is a new name to me, but in addition to his own works he has already had 14 concertos written for him by other composers! This concerto was written in response to a personal assault Shapira experienced when he was mugged by a New York gang in January 2005: the three movements, titled Assault, Lament and Party, clearly indicate the therapeutic nature of the work, and Shapira’s celebration of his recovery. It’s an interesting and accessible piece, with a mix of various technical and musical influences - Latin, Iberian, Sephardic, Cuban, among others – and is extremely well played by all the performers. Recorded at St. Paul New Southgate, London the sound quality is excellent.

Naxos has released Volume 3 of the projected 8-volume series of the complete Music for Violin and Orchestra by Sarasate (8.572275). I wrote a glowing review of the earlier volumes a few years ago, and this latest CD is clearly their equal. The young Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang is again simply brilliant throughout, playing Sarasate’s own violin on two of the tracks. The Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra (founded by Sarasate himself in 1879) under Ernest Martinez Izquierdo provides the most idiomatic support imaginable. And don’t think for a moment that the standard of the works themselves is lagging as the series proceeds: the Concert Fantasy on Mozart’s Die Zauberflõte is dazzling; Navarra (with the soloist double-tracked) is an exuberant duet; the bagpipe-influenced Muineiras is a delight. The Nouvelle fantasie sur Faust de Gounod, the Barcarolle venitienne and the Introduction et Caprice-Jota complete an immensely satisfying, entertaining and probably definitive disc.

Naxos has issued a fascinating CD of Saint-Saëns String Quartets (8.572454) played by the Fine Arts Quartet. Saint-Saëns was born ten years before the premiere of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and died eight years after the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, but such radical change was never reflected in his music. The quartets are both late works – the E minor Op.112 from 1899 and the G major Op.153 from 1918 – but it’s hard to tell from their decidedly 19th century musical style. It’s quite astonishing, for instance, to think that the Op.153 was written by a French composer during the last year of the Great War, and ten years after Schoenberg had first abandoned tonality; in places it’s almost Beethovenian. Fine Arts violinist Ralph Evans correctly describes the quartets as “serious, intellectual, brilliantly crafted yet delightful works,” but it’s difficult to identify a personal voice in them; they tend to remind you more of other composers than of Saint-Saëns himself. It’s also easy to see why his reputation in France had faded by the time of his death - he simply belonged to a different era.

The Fine Arts Quartet has been around since 1946; three of the current members have been there for at least 28 years. Their playing here is of the highest level, although the big vibrato and the occasional “scoop” give it a somewhat dated feel. The sound quality is very resonant, in places almost too much so.

Vadim Gluzman turns his attention to the music of Max Bruch on his latest Super Audio CD (BIS-SACD-1852), with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrew Litton. Given that Bruch wrote three violin concertos plus the Scottish Fantasy it’s a bit disappointing, albeit not particularly surprising, to see that once again it’s the Concerto No.1 in G minor – “the” concerto – that is the main work here. Bruch himself was constantly exasperated by the popularity of this concerto over the others: apparently little has changed! Still, it’s an impassioned and extremely satisfying performance from Gluzman, perfectly showcasing his rich, warm tone, and with Litton providing a sympathetic and glowing accompaniment. The Romance in F major was written for viola and orchestra, but rather than switching instruments (as did Janine Jansen on her 2008 CD) Gluzman uses the violin part from the violin & piano version prepared by the composer. It works very well, but if you know the viola version this one loses something in the translation. The third work on the CD, the String Quintet in A minor, has much in common with the Saint-Saëns String Quartet No.2 reviewed above. Bruch and Saint-Saëns had almost identical life-spans – 1838-1920 and 1835-1921 respectively – and the works were both written in 1918, when the world that both composers still belonged to had vanished completely. Like the Saint-Saëns quartet, Bruch’s quintet gives absolutely no hint of the new world order. It’s a well-crafted, lovely work, but it comes as no surprise to hear 19^th century voices – particularly Mendelssohn and Brahms – in the melodies and harmonies.

Gluzman is joined by Sandis Steinbergs on violin, Maxim Rysanov and Ilze Klava on violas, and Reinis Birznieks on cello in a finely-balanced and well-recorded performance.

This May, Virgin Classics released the final CD in the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets by the German Artemis Quartet. Their 2010 release of the String Quartets Op.18/6 and Op.130/133 (50999 694584 0 8) has just reached me, and presents the perfect opportunity to mention the project. The series started on the Ars Musici label, and Virgin reissued two single Ars Musici CDs as a Virgin Classics 2-CD set last year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to write a full review at the time, but the CDs were top of my list of highlights of the year. The playing on each CD I’ve heard so far is as good as any you will encounter, and the recorded sound is full and warm, although the cello tends to “boom” a bit on this latest disc. According to the Quartet’s website, the entire project will be issued as a box set in the near future - definitely something to look out for, especially if it’s attractively priced.