Sofia Gubaidulina: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan; Rejoice! Sonata for Violin and Cello
Baiba Skride; Harriet Krijgh; Elsbeth Moser; NDR Radiophilharmonie; Andrew Manze
Orfeo C230121 (orfeomusic.de/CatalogueDetail/?id=C230121)
Sofia Gubaidulina has described herself as “the place where East meets West,” which is as accurate a categorization as any. Her Tartar-Slavic background and the influence of Eastern philosophies is clear in many of her attitudes towards spirituality and its expression. Whether writing for small ensembles, large orchestras or even solo instruments her work explores a wide range of sonorities in order to create music that is extraordinarily still and serene, leaving the listener with a sense of timelessness rare in Western music.
Among her most radiantly contemplative chamber works are Rejoice! and Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan. The former work features a hauntingly beautiful setting in which Gubaidulina offsets her vast landscape with spare, orchestral writing that soars with mystical impressionism.
In her Triple Concerto Gubaidulina creates an unusual, yet enthrallingly beautiful sound-world using all the resources of the three featured instruments – violin, cello and a traditional Russian bayan or button accordion – embedded in a symphonic orchestra. Here the solo instruments play beautiful lamenting melodies and strange, agitated, wheezing sounds over chant-like passages from the ensemble.
In this repertoire both Rejoice! and the Triple Concerto stand out for their radiant beauty. This rapturous performance by Harriet Krijgh, Elsbeth Moser and Baiba Skride and the North German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze is consistently sensitive to the works’ intricate subtleties.
