Terrific playing from Frank Peter Zimmermann and the Frankfurt RSO under Paavo Järvi in a new release of Hindemith’s works for violin from BIS

The German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) www.hindemith.info was born at Hanau, near Frankfurt am Main. Whilst there is no shortage of recordings of his music, he still does not seem to enjoy the profile that he deserves. He studied the violin and composition with Adolf Rebner (1876-1967), Arnold Mendelssohn (1855-1933) son of a second cousin of Felix Mendelssohn; and Bernhard Sekles (1872-1934) at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main.  He earned his living at an early age playing the violin in cafes, dance bands and, at the age of only twenty, was appointed as the leader of the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra.

After the end of the First World War, he returned to Frankfurt and founded the Amar-Hindemith Quartet in which he played the viola from 1922 to 1929. He began building a reputation when his String Quartet Op.16 was performed at the Donaueschingen Music Festival of which he was a committee member. In 1927, he was appointed as professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin.

Early works included chamber music composed for the Amar-Hindemith Quartet; the song cycles Die junge Magd (The Young Maid) (1922), and Das Marienleben (The Life of Mary) (1924 rev. 1948)  and the opera Cardillac (1926). By the late 1920s Hindemith was regarded as the foremost German composer of his generation.

He sought to revitalize tonality—the traditional harmonic system that was being challenged by many other composers—and also pioneered in the writing of Gebrauchsmusik, or “utility music,” compositions for everyday occasions. An opponent of the 12-tone school of composer Arnold Schoenberg, Hindemith formulated the principles of a harmonic system that was based on an enlargement of traditional tonality.

Hindemith’s career as a composer reached a high point at the beginning of the 1930s, but with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, his works were declared as “culturally bolshevist” and disappeared from concert programmes.

Perhaps his greatest work was the opera Mathis der Maler, concerning the artist Matthias Grünewald and his struggles with society. The Nazi cultural authorities, led by Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda, banned the opera, denouncing the composer as a ‘cultural Bolshevist’ and ‘spiritual non-Aryan.’

During this time Hindemith travelled to Turkey where he taught at the conservatory in Ankara and to the USA but, in 1936, a final ban was issued for the performance of his works which led to Hindemith emigrating, initially to Switzerland but subsequently to the USA where he acquired American citizenship.  As a professor, he taught at Yale University from 1940 to 1953 and from 1951 to 1957, he was a professor of musicology at Zurich University, settling in Blonay near Lake Geneva.

Other notable works by Hindemith include his Kammermusik series for small, unconventional groups of instruments the Violin Concerto (1939), the Cello Concerto (1940), the Symphonic Metamorphoses After Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1946), and the opera Die Harmonie der Welt (The Harmony of the World) (1957).

He died on 28 December 1963 in Frankfurt am Main.

BIS Records www.bis.se have just released a very attractive recording of Hindemith’s works for violin. With Frank Peter Zimmermann

www.ks-gasteig.de/en/kuenstleragentur/artists/violin/frank-peter-zimmermann and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra http://www.hr-online.de/website/rubriken/kultur/index.jsp?rubrik=2067&key=standard_document_857540 conducted by Paavo Järvi www.paavojarvi.com performing the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1939). Frank Peter Zimmermann also plays the Sonata for solo Violin, Op. 31 No.2 (1924) and in the Sonata in E flat for Violin and Piano op.11 No.1, the Sonata in E for Violin and Piano (1935) and the Sonata in C for Violin and piano (1939) Zimmermann is joined by pianist Enrico Pace www.nymusartists.com/artist/index/en/175

SACD
BIS 2024

 

Quiet timpani open the Mäßig bewegte Halbe of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra before the violin quickly joins with Frank Peter Zimmermann demonstrating an assured manner as he drives the music forward. In the slower second subject there is playing of great finesse. As the music picks up there are some terrific passages from Zimmermann, full of bravura with Paavo Järvi and the Frankfurt RSO on top form. What a lovely tone Zimmermann has as later in the movement he alternates with various woodwind instruments before leading to a brilliant coda.

The soulful Langsam unfolds beautifully in Zimmermann’s hands, with intricate little trills and delicate motifs before becoming increasingly intense. The music eventually returns to a quiet thoughtful nature with some lovely playing from Zimmermann who holds the extended line of the violin with a tense, slow, steady concentration.

Zimmermann and the orchestra bring a lighter feel to the Lebhaft, as though trying to cast off all gloomy thoughts.  This movement is positively skittish at times in its unstoppable forward momentum. The Frankfurt RSO is terrific in the livelier sections for orchestra. The violin returns in a more lyrical section, a lovely moment as the violin rises with the orchestra in a typically Hindemithian sound. The theme is picked over quietly by the violin with various woodwind instruments accompanying. The following cadenza is brilliantly done by Zimmermann, not just virtuosic, which it most certainly is, but thoughtful and delicate as well. The orchestra re-joins leading to a brilliant coda, a real presto, with terrific playing from Zimmermann and the Frankfurt RSO under Jarvi.

Hindemith’s little Sonata for Solo Violin, Op.31, No.2 has a lovely opening Leicht bewegte Viertel with the soloist sounding as though he is merely improvising a little tune. At one point I thought I could even hear Debussy in the music which ends with odd little pizzicato notes. The second movement Ruhig bewegte Achtel is more dramatic, full of harmonic angst with superb playing from Zimmermann, controlled yet virtuosic. The following Gemächliche Viertel is terrific, a fragile little movement played pizzicato throughout. The final Fünf Variationen über das Lied ‘Komm lieber Mai’ von Mozart. Leicht bewegt has a lilting theme from a song by Mozart that is subjected to a series of variations, very much like a study for violin with many virtuosic passages brilliantly played. There are some rhapsodic episodes before the music returns gently to the opening theme.

There is a bold opening from the piano in the Erster Teil. Frisch of the two movement Sonata in E flat for Violin and Piano, Op.11, No. 1 before the violin soon enters, with both performers frantically playing off each other. A longer melody soon follows but despite the lighter aspect of this movement there is occasionally a darker mood, certainly an instability well captured by Zimmermann and Enrico Pace. The opening theme returns at the end.

The second dance like movement Zweiter Teil. Im Zeitmaß eines langsamen, feierlichen Tanzes concentrates on this more sombre atmosphere, Enrico Pace often playing in the lower register to add to the gloom. Harmonically the music is very free. What a fine performance this is.

The Sonata in E for Violin and Piano has a lovely flowing melody in the Ruhig bewegt that rolls along, with the piano taking a fairly equal role. There are lovely resonant chords from Zimmermann and, at times, it is as though there is a conversation between the soloists. The second movement Langsam reveals a more passion melody, with Zimmermann displaying some fine textures. Part way through the music suddenly moves to a faster tempo, hurtling along, with Zimmermann and Pace a brilliant partnership. The music slows again towards the end before a decisive coda.

Hindemith’s Sonata in C for Violin and Piano (1939) that preceded his Violin Concerto by a few months, is one of his finest works. The lively Lebhaft opening moves ahead with great drive before the nostalgic flowing second movement Langsam – Lebhaft – Langsam, wie zuerst, which eventually gives way to the livelier Lebhaft section that really dances along. Zimmermann controls his dynamics so wonderfully and imperceptibly. The music finally returns to a slower tempo, beautifully controlled, where the faster theme blends with the slower theme to bring this movement to an end. The Fuge. Ruhig bewegt has a terrific fugal melody where both artists brilliantly weave around each other rising to a passionate central point before slowing and quietening again. The music eventually rises to a decisive, rousing coda to end this masterly sonata.

It is entrancing how much Hindemith is able to say in these relatively short sonatas. I still retain an affection for David Oistrakh’s 1962 recording of the Violin Concerto with the USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra under Gennady Rozhdestvensky but with these fine performances recorded in such excellent sound this new release is a must for those who wish to get to know this still somewhat overlooked composer. 

BBC Proms - Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet play Borodin, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky with a World Première of a work by Edward Cowie

Tonight’s (5^th August 2013) BBC Prom featured the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/philharmonic  with their Conductor Laureate Gianandrea Noseda www.gianandreanoseda.com  in works by Borodin, Prokofiev, Edward Cowie and Tchaikovsky.

Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra opened with a light and airy Overture from Borodin’s Prince Igor that perhaps lacked that last degree of Russian flavour, something that couldn’t be said of their performance of Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances which were full of Russianness with Noseda and the BBC PO providing some beautifully idiomatic playing. The orchestra were on top form in the boisterous sections with some terrific playing from the BBC PO woodwinds section.

Whilst not as popular as his third piano concerto, Prokoviev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Op.16 is in many ways equally fine. Perhaps it is the sheer technical difficulties that mitigate against it. French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet www.bavouzet.com  was certainly up for the challenge with some lovely playing in the deceptively broad and simple opening to the Andantino. When the Allegretto arrived, Bavouzet showed lovely phrasing, with playing that was well-paced and intensely virtuosic in this fiendishly difficult movement. Just occasionally, Bavouzet sounded a little exposed in some of the huge chords but in the short second movement Scherzo: Vivace he showed sparkling pin point accuracy. The Intermezzo: Allegro Moderato received a fiery performance with Bavouzet fully in command of Prokoviev’s metronomic rhythms and Noseda and the BBC PO giving some terrific support. The Finale: Allegro tempestuoso with its almost manic opening had one on the edge of one’s seat. Bavouzet’s beautiful playing of the quieter moments was lovely and the way that pianist and orchestra built the music up slowly was brilliantly done. The cadenza was magically conceived, building as it did from poetic to virtuoso before rushing manically to the formidable coda with Bavouzet on terrific form.

Bavouzet really brought out the poetry in Prokoviev’s concerto, showing himself to be a poet as well as a virtuoso pianist.

The second half of tonight’s Prom featured the World Premiere of British composer, Edward Cowie’s www.edward-cowie.com Earth Music 1: The Great Barrier Reef, a BBC Commission. Crashing orchestral sounds with percussion opened the work, conjuring up a massive seascape. There were many lovely individual instrumental sounds as the music calmed and quietened with Cowie magically evoking the ocean depths by use of repeated descending phrases and delicate orchestral sounds. There was always the feeling of activity within the quieter moments with the music rising and falling before quiet muted brass led to a magical coda with hushed orchestra and woodwind flourishes.

The evening ended with a terrific performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor Op. 17 ‘Little Russian’. Noseda gave us a lovely broad Andante Sostenuto with a very Slavic flavour. As the movement developed with the Allegro Vivo, Noseda and the BBC PO proved to be a formidable combination with gutsy playing, taut and dynamic. There was a beautifully taut second movement with its well-known march theme and a beautifully developed string theme where Noseda and the orchestra brought out so much of Tchaikovsky’s wonderful orchestration. A vibrantly rhythmic Allegro Molto Vivace followed, full of life with a playful trio section. There was a fabulous finale with the BBC PO blazing out in the opening before the lovely jaunty little melody that contrasts. Noseda and the BBC PO were a delight as Tchaikovsky’s orchestral variations worked to combine the two themes before the tam tam heralded a tremendous coda.

This was another fine concert in what is turning out to be a memorable season.

 

Much to enjoy in violin sonatas by Leclair, finely played by Adrian Butterfield (Baroque Violin), Jonathan Manson (Viola da Gamba) and Laurence Cummings (Harpsichord) on a new release from Naxos

Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) is an interesting figure from 18^th century French music.  He was born in Lyon, France and started out as a dancer at the Rouen theatre, travelling, in 1722, to Turin as ballet master. It was during his time in Turin that he composed ballet music and took up the violin that had, until then, been merely a secondary pursuit, studying with Giovanni Battista Somis (1686-1763).

Leclair went to Paris in 1728 studying composition with Cheron and becoming a member of the royal band and violinist at the Opera. After a dispute with Guignon he relinquished his post with the royal band and retired from the Opera. For the rest of his life Leclair appears to have devoted his time to composition and the publication of his works. Twice married, his first wife died; his second wife, Louise Roussel an engraver, who prepared his works for printing.

It was after the break-up of his second marriage, during the night of 22^nd October 1764, soon after his return from a visit to Holland, that he was murdered close to his house. It is not known who was responsible or why the murder took place though family members are thought to have been behind it.

Leclair’s compositions include an opera Scylla et Chambery (1746), 6 violin concertos, Op.7; 6 violin concertos, Op. 10; 12 sonatas for violin with bass, Op.1; 12 violin sonatas, Op.2, 6 sonatas for two violins, Op.3; 6 sonatas en trio, Op.4; 12 sonatas for violin with bass, Op. 5; trios for two violins with bass, Op.6; 12 violin sonatas, Op.9; 6 sonatas for two violins, Op.12 and the sonata for violin with bass Op.15.

Adrian Butterfield (Baroque Violin), Jonathan Manson (Viola da Gamba) and Laurence Cummings (Harpsichord) have just had released on Naxos www.naxos.com  their recording of Leclair’s Op.2 Violin Sonatas No’s 1 – 5 and No.8.

 

8.572866

Adrian Butterfield http://www.rcm.ac.uk/hp/professors/profile/?id=5039 is Musical Director of the Tilford Bach Society and Associate Musical Director of the London Handel Festival. He regularly directs the London Handel Orchestra and Players and is increasingly invited as a guest director and soloist in Europe and North America. He directs a baroque project annually with the Southbank Sinfonia and is Professor of Baroque Violin at the Royal College of Music in London.

Jonathan Manson www.ram.ac.uk/find-people?pid=182 was for ten years the principal cellist of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. As a concerto soloist, he has appeared at the Wigmore Hall, the Carnegie Hall and the South Bank Centre. His long-standing partnership with the harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock has led to critically acclaimed recordings of the Bach gamba sonatas and, together with Rachel Podger, Rameau's Pièces de clavecin en concert. He is a professor at the Royal Academy of Music.

Laurence Cummings www.rayfieldallied.com/artists/laurence-cummings has played harpsichord and organ continuo with many leading period instrument groups, including Les Arts Florissants, The Sixteen Choir, Gabrieli Consort and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has also conducted at English National Opera and Glyndebourne. As a soloist, he has recorded the harpsichord music of Louis and François Couperin. He is the Musical Director of the London Handel Orchestra and the Tilford Bach Society and is William Crotch Professor of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music.

In the opening Adagio of Leclair’s Violin sonata in E minor, Op.2, No.1 Adrian Butterfield has a nice full tone bringing out lovely sonorities across the range. Jonathan Manson provides some attractive sounds from the Viola de Gamba with sensitive accompaniment from Laurence Cummings. A lovely flowing Allegro ma poco follows, with some lovely articulation from Butterfield and something of the brilliance of an Italian sound. The lovely Sarabande. Largo gently unfolds with some really lovely playing from all of these artists. This is a beautiful piece. A really lively allegro concludes this terrific sonata, with more of that Italianate feel.

Violin Sonata in F major, Op.2, No.2 opens with an adagio, as do five of the sonatas recorded here. After the Viola e Gamba and harpsichord have a say, the violin enters with some lovely lower, sonorous notes, weaving a lovely web of sounds with the Viola da Gamba and harpsichord. There is an intricate Allegro ma poco, with lovely rising decorations for the violin expertly done. There is some lovely playing here. The short Adagio acts as a kind of bridge passage with sustained violin chords with responses from the harpsichord  leading to the Allegro ma non troppo where staccato bowing reminds one very much of Vivaldi. There are terrific violinistic effects including intricate trills, double stopping and bariolage technique.

A sweet melody for violin gently accompanied by the Viola da Gamba and harpsichord opens the Adagio of Violin Sonata in C major, Op.2, No.3. A constant flow of melody is created with the Viola de Gamba often echoing the violin line. The allegro scampers along in an attractive, descending motif with terrific ensemble from these players before a lovely wistful largo, full of little twists and turns beautifully played by Butterfield. Manson provides a deep sonorous support from his Viola da Gamba with Cummings beautifully filling in the texture. This sonata concludes with a bouncing, rhythmic Giga. Allegro ma poco, full of life.

In the Adagio of Leclair’s Violin Sonata in A major, Op.2, No.4, Butterfield always manages to provide the right amount of expressive playing. Cummings has a lovely way of providing a kind of spread of chords, brilliantly done. Little clipped phrases in the Allegro ma non troppo add a rhythm that is most attractive with, again, spot on ensemble. The unusual Aria: Gratioso has the feel of being based on a popular song. Leclair’s allegro finales are so attractive, this one being no exception, rhythmically interesting, varied and most of all full of life, with terrific sonorities and affects.

Violin Sonata in G major, Op.2, No.5 opens with a flowing Andante with violin and viola de gamba weaving around each other, accompanied by the harpsichord. The following, finely played, Allegro ma poco is another rhythmically interesting movement, with little short phrases that give it character. The way Leclair weaves his melody in the Gavotta: Gratioso, with subtle little decorations, is most appealing, especially as played here. A vibrant Allegro assai, full of attack and forward motion has some lovely delicate touches.

We jump to the eighth of the twelve Op.2 sonatas, Violin Sonata in D major, Op.2, No.8 to end this disc. There is a leisurely adagio with more attractive decorative passages, a joyful and lively Allegro, enough to raise anyone’s spirits, beautifully played and a beautiful, melancholy Sarabande: Largo, exquisitely played by all three of these artists. The final Allegro assai  is full of life making this a terrific conclusion to this sonata and the whole disc.

There is so much to enjoy in these sonatas finely played by these three artists with Adrian Butterfield providing a brilliant tone as well as some richer, even earthier sonorities. If you don’t already know them, these sonatas are really worth getting to know. The trio are excellently recorded at St Mary’s Church, Walthamstow, London and there are excellent notes by Adrian Butterfield.

The Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch bring a special magic to the music of Ravel, Debussy and Fauré on a new release from Nimbus

Nimbus Records www.wyastone.co.uk/all-labels/nimbus/nimbus-alliance.html has just released a recording of Piano Trios by Ravel and Fauré together with the Violin Sonata and Cello Sonata by Debussy, dating between 1914 and 1924, performed by the Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch.

NI 5905

 

In different ways these were difficult or unsettling times for each of these composers. Ravel was writing his Trio just before the outbreak of the First World War. Writing from St-Jean-de Luz to Mme Kahn-Casella, wife of the Italian composer, Alfredo Casella he said, ‘I am working on the trio in spite of the cold, the tempest, the storm, the rain and the hail.’ By the end of June he was working in a heat of 35 degrees. Although this was a happy time for Ravel, the outbreak of war on 3^rd August 1914 came as a great shock to him. It was Alfredo Casella who was the pianist in the first performance of the Piano Trio, in Paris, on 28^th January 1915. By March 1915, Ravel had enlisted in the 13^th Artillery Regiment.

By the time Debussy www.debussy.fr  wrote his Cello Sonata, his health was failing. He had been operated on to remove a cyst from his bowel in early 1913, war had broken out in 1914 and his mother died in March 1915. In summer 1915, Debussy rented a house in Pourville, on the Normandy coast, with his second wife Emma Bardac. That summer brought forth a prolific period of composition with En blanc et noir for two pianos, the Sonatas for Cello and Piano (1915) and for Flute, Viola and Harp (1915) and the Douze études pour piano. The sonatas were intended to be part of a set of six with the third a Violin Sonata (1916/17), the fourth for oboe, horn and harpsichord, the fifth for trumpet, clarinet, bassoon and piano and a six that would combine ‘the sonorities I’ve employed in the others. Only the first three were to be completed, Debussy dying in 1918 of the bowel condition he had been operated on for in 1913.

By 1922 old age and money worries had begun to take their toll on Fauré. Despite being made Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur in 1923, his flagging energy, increasing frailty and hearing difficulties began to weigh on him. In July 1922, Faure spent a month near the Luz and Cauterets valleys. He asked for some sketches he had left in Paris to be sent on. These were to become the central section of the slow movement. However, the composer caught bronchial pneumonia thus delaying any work on the Piano Trio. He continued to work on the Trio while staying with friends at Annecy and completed the trio in Paris during the winter of 1922/23. Originally written for clarinet, cello and piano it was published for violin, cello and piano, a form in which it is almost always performed. It was pneumonia that caused Fauré’s death in 1924.

Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch was founded in 2009 and comprises of three of the finest instrumentalists of our time. Hagai Shaham www.hagaishaham.com studied with Professor Ilona Feher, Elisha Kagan, Emanuel Borok, Arnold Steinhardt and the Guarneri Quartet. In September 1990, Hagai Shaham and his duo partner, Arnon Erez, won the first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in the Violin-Piano duo category. As a soloist he has performed with many of the world's major orchestras and is a professor at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University.

Born in 1965, Arnon Erez is one of Israel’s leading pianists, primarily known as an outstanding chamber musician. He collaborates with a wide number of musicians and performs with top artists worldwide. His international career began in 1990, after winning, together with his duo partner Hagai Shaham, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Arnon Erez studied the piano with Mrs Hana Shalgi, Professor Michael Boguslavski and Professor Arie Vardi.  He has won several competitions, including first prize in the François Shapira competition, Israel’s most prestigious national competition and has performed in numerous major concert halls and currently teaches at The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at the Tel Aviv University.

Raphael Wallfisch www.raphaelwallfisch.com was born in London into a family of distinguished musicians, his mother the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and his father the pianist Peter Wallfisch. Raphael Wallfisch was guided by a succession of fine teachers including Amaryllis Fleming, Amadeo Baldovino, Derek Simpson and Gregor Piatigorsky. At the age of twenty-four he won the Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Florence. Since then he has enjoyed a world-wide career playing with the world’s greatest orchestras. He is professor of cello at the Zürich Winterthur Konservatorium, Switzerland and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

The first movement Modéré of Ravel’s Piano Trio has a beautifully wistful opening that rises to a passionate climax. There are some lovely delicate, sensitive passages. These players are right inside Ravel’s idiom, drawing so much of his exquisite nostalgia from the music. In the faster sections there is some scintillating playing. The spiky opening to the second movement Pantoum: Assez vif yields to a rolling melody in what is effectively the scherzo, with some fine playing and spot on ensemble. As the music returns to the opening motif there is some lovely string playing. The Passacaille: Très large highlights the individual merits of these fine artists, in this beautifully paced movement, where they slowly build the drama and emotion in an arch like form. The rhythmically changing Finale: Animé receives a terrific performance, full of drama and power with terrific playing in the striking coda.

There is simply lovely playing from Wallfisch and Erez in Debussy’s ambivalent Cello Sonata, by turns confident and melancholy, with so many lovely details in the strange music of the Prologue: Lent. Piano with pizzicato cello open Sérénade: Modérément animé before this music speeds, then slows with more pizzicato phrases and staccato piano in this oddly eerie music. The Finale: Animé at first seems to want to rush ahead, but becomes hesitant. However it soon picks up with some great playing from these two performers. As the mood alternates between slow and thoughtful and rapid, even frantic, Wallfisch and Erez’s playing is spot on.

Debussy’s Violin Sonata of 1917 opens with a more settled feel in the Allegro vivo, but this doesn’t last, becoming more unsettled with sudden forward movement, before pulling back. Shahan and Erez prove an equally fine duo, feeling each other’s every turn and nuance. The skittish Intermède: Fantasque et léger receives a terrific performance with these artists, clearly enjoying themselves, in playing of such clarity and wit. In the Finale: Très animé  Erez displays some beautifully rippling, fluid playing in the tentative opening, before the music picks up in a lively, somewhat virtuosic finale showing Shaham’s brilliant violinistic skills. There are quiet sections where these two draw so much from the music.

Shaham, Wallfsich and Erez immediately bring out the ambivalent feel of the Allegro, ma non troppo Fauré’s late masterpiece the Piano Trio, Op.120. Despite the marking of this movement, there are moments of poignancy that these players point up so well, swaying from one mood to another. There is a gentle, resigned Andantino that develops into a lovely duet for violin and cello with lovely playing from Shaham and Wallfisch. There are superbly built climaxes leading to a gentle coda. In the final Allegro vivo, the violin and cello give the opening outbursts with the piano scurrying around them to disperse any melancholy or gloom in this lively, joyful allegro, so unlike the opening allegro.

These fine players bring a special magic to this music. They are beautifully recorded with the balance of these artists finely done.  A lot of fine chamber music recordings come my way but I was really taken by this one which shouldn’t be missed.

Terrific performances of Bach’s sonatas for flute and harpsichord from Verena Fischer and Léon Berben on a new release from Oehms Classics

Whilst we may frown upon such practices now, it was quite normal for composers of the Baroque era to re-use their own material to rework a new piece. Indeed it was not unusual or unacceptable to ‘borrow’ ideas from other composers.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) certainly wasn’t against such a practice, even arranging Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678 -1741) Concerto in B minor for four violins, strings and basso continuo, RV 580 as his Concerto in A minor for four harpsichords, strings and basso continuo (BWV 1065).

Bach also arranged some of his own earlier works as harpsichord concertos and arranged concertos by such composers as Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (1686-1739), Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar (1696-1715) and Vivaldi into works for Clavier (BWV 972-987).

A new release from Oehms Classics www.oehmsclassics.de entitled The Authentic Flute Sonatas includes all the solo flute sonatas known to be written by Bach, thereby excluding two flute sonatas, in E flat BWV 1031 and in C BWV 1033 that are regarded as unlikely to have been written by Bach.

 

OC 424

The Flute sonatas in B minor, BWV 1030, in A major, BWV 1032, in E minor, BWV 1034 and in E major, BWV 1035 that are performed here are authentic Bach though it is not known for certain when these works were written or, indeed, if they were originally written for flute, given Bach’s reuse of earlier material.

The flute sonatas BWV 1030 and 1032 were probably written between 1717 and 1723 when Bach was still at Cothen. The flute sonata, BWV 1034 was probably written between 1717 and 1724 and the flute sonata, BWV 1035 around 1741.

Performed here by Verena Fischer www.austriabarockakademie.at/instructors/verena-fischer, who plays a transverse flute by Martin Wenner, 2010, after an original by Carlo Palanca, 1760, Turin and Léon Berben www.leonberben.org , who plays a harpsichord by Keith Hill, 2001, after an instrument by Christian Zell, 1728, Hamburg.

Both are distinguished artists, having played with Musica Antiqua Cologne under Reinhard Goebel, Fischer as solo flautist, and both having an extensive recorded catalogue.

Bach’s Sonata for flute & basso continuo in E minor, BWV 1034 opens with a stately adagio ma non tanto. What a lovely tone Verena Fischer’s flute has, a rich woody, distinctive sound. In the sparkling allegro, Fischer’s flute tone rises to a remarkably brighter sound with brilliant articulation and a terrific contribution from Léon Berben.  Fischer’s playing of the Andante has made me fall in love with this piece all over again; such is her lovely flowing performance.  A terrific final allegro, where Fischer and Berben chase each other, brings this sonata to an end. This is great playing, so full of life and fun.

The Sonata for flute and harpsichord in A major, BWV 1032 opens with a Vivace, the harpsichord having a greater role than basso continuo. As Verena Fischer enters in this joyful piece, the balance between players is ideal with a fine dialogue between players. There is a lovely, leisurely, flowing Largo e dolce with some lovely long held notes from Fischer providing some gorgeous timbres, as well as some of Bach’s little clipped phrases adding interest. A lovely touch. The brilliant Allegro is full of Bach’s overflowing invention, with the notes all but falling over each other in their enthusiasm and ebullience with great playing from Fischer and Berben.

There are some lovely characterful sounds from Fischer’s flute in the lovely little Adagio ma non tanto that opens Bach’s Sonata for flute & basso continuo in E major, BWV 1035. The following, wonderfully agile allegro, is full of momentum with nicely pointed continuo from Berben.  The appealing Siciliana, with such lovely delicate phrases from Fischer has some lovely colouring of phrases. Despite his basso continuo role, Berben gets more prominence in the finale Allegro assai. Both provide some really lively playing, beautifully done, again as though responding off each other.

The last of the authentic sonatas on this disc is the Sonata for flute & harpsichord in B minor, BWV 1030. A fairly fast flowing Andante opens this sonata, the longest movement of any of these works; it reveals again Bach’s mastery of invention wonderfully played by both artists. In the Largo e dolce Fischer certainly brings out the dolce of this movement, a fairly fast largo, with both players weaving a lovely musical thread.  Fischer and Berben give a truly virtuoso performance of the Presto, lively, hurtling along in a terrific finale, with Fischer still finding time to provide some lovely rounded sounds.

As a substantial extra, Verena Fischer gives us a superb performance of Bach’s Partita for solo flute in A minor, BWV 1013, probably written around 1720. Fischer is superb in the Allemande, showing great agility, lovely tone and superb timbres in this, one of Bach’s loveliest pieces. If anything, the Corrente is even more challenging with its rapid phrases superbly done by Fischer, whose period flute brings more lovely textures to the following Sarabande. Finally there is a wonderful, lively little Bourée Anglaise played with such agility and finesse, to conclude this disc.

Verena Fischer’s flute provides a lovely sound, rich and mellow, but never losing brilliance when needed. Both these artists give terrific performances of these lovely pieces and are given a fine recording with a nice acoustic around the players.

Proms 2013. A David Matthews premiere, Rachmaninov from Nobuyuki Tsujii and Nielsen’s Inextinguishable with Juanjo Mena and the BBC Philharmonic

Tonight’s Prom (16^th July 2013) with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/philharmonic  conducted by their Chief Conductor, Juanjo Mena http://juanjomena.com/en featured the world premiere of David Matthews's A Vision of the Sea, www.david-matthews.co.uk a BBC commission inspired by Shelley's poetry, the pull of the tide on the Kentish coast at Deal and an evocation of the sound of sunrise, as recorded by scientists from Sheffield University.

There was a luminous opening with the sound of sea birds and a feeling of expectancy with Matthew’s interesting and evocative chords in the orchestra with piano and percussion adding colour. Slowly the orchestra rose in the strings, pointed up by brass before a passage for solo violin and woodwind. The orchestra continued to rise to a brief climax before playfully dancing strings and woodwind entered. A beautifully quiet passage was shared between flute, oboe and brass, giving way to a flowing string passage.

A rising motif signalled a stormier section with basses heaving around before the music rose up in the orchestra, with timpani and brass heralding a dynamic section. Swirling strings entered, rising in waves of sound to a climax with the sound of the rainstick suggesting the shingles in the tide. The music fell back quietly to a hushed orchestra with twittering woodwind and percussion holding the music in suspense, before a cornet sounded against the background of a hushed orchestra. There were low growls from the orchestra against quietly shimmering strings before the music slowly rose with brass and timpani to a final surge.

This fine new work from David Matthews conjures up the feel of the sea, whilst using an orchestral palette that is fresh and unusual.

Nobuyuki Tsujii then joined the orchestra for his Proms debut, to perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18. Blind since birth, Nobuyuki Tsujii http://www.nobupiano1988.com was joint Gold Medal winner at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He has formed a close relationship with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, touring twice with them to Japan.  

Tsujii took the Moderato at a fairly leisurely pace with some lovely rubato and great clarity of sound. He had a delicacy in certain passages that was very appealing. Juanjo Mena and the BBC Philharmonic gave fine accompaniment, very dynamic at times. Attention was never drawn to the most fearsome of passages, Tsujii wearing his technique lightly.

In the adagio sostenuto, Tsujii and the orchestra never let pace drag, allowing the music and its emotion speak for itself. The apparent simplicity that Tsujii brought to the central section was quite affecting. It was difficult not to hear his phenomenal technique in the latter stages of this movement.

In the Allegro Scherzando finale, there was playing of breadth and freedom with Mena and the BBC Philharmonic showing restraint, allowing the more dynamic moments to become all the more telling. The coda, nevertheless, was scintillating. This was a memorable performance by a pianist of maturity and fine musicianship.

As an encore, Tsujii gave the audience Liszt’s La Campanella, in a performance that was both dazzling and entertaining.

After the interval, Juanjo Mena opened Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, The Inextinguishable, with a terrific life-affirming burst of energy. There were some lovely contributions from individual members of the orchestras as he let the Allegro unfold. In the Poco Allegretto, Mena brought out the individuality of this music, revealing many new facets that made one hear it afresh.

The strings of the BBC Philharmonic burst searingly into the Poco Adagio quasi Andante, taut and full of angst with Mena extracting much tension from the music. There was a lovely quiet central section, beautifully controlled, leading to a fine coda.

In the Con Anima – Allegro, Mena finally let the orchestra have its head, in a really affirmative and stunningly brilliant final movement. He effectively caught the echoes of past reflections that drifted by in the slower section. The BBC Philharmonic’s timpanist provided a tempestuous lead into the glorious coda.

CPO brings us excellent performances of Wilhelm Georg Berger’s Viola Concerto and Fourth Symphony from violist Nils Mönkemeyer and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin conducted by Horia Andreescu

Wilhelm Georg Berger (1929-1993) was born in Rupea, a town in Braşov County in Transylvania, Romania. He studied the violin and viola under Cecilia Nitulescu-Lupu, Anton Adrian Sarvaş, and Alexandru Rădulescu and went on to be a violinist with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra http://fge.org.ro as well as a member of the Romanian Composer Association string quartet.

As a composer, Berger was very prolific writing twenty one symphonies, concertos, oratorios, eighteen string quartets, sonatas, and organ works. His violin sonata of 1964 won the Prince Rainier III Composition Award in Monaco and his Sixth String Quartet the First Prize in Liège in 1965. One of his violin concertos earned him the First Prize in Brussels in 1966. Berger also wrote a series of books about the artistic qualities of sonatas, another series about string quartets, a guidebook for concertos and books about classical composition theory.

Berger rejected the idea of avant-garde taking the view that everything is part of a huge development that started at the beginning of musical history. Berger’s music combines moderate modernism, Romanian avant-garde, sonata form and Transylvanian Protestant hymns. He stated that his musical influences were Reger, Hindemith and Schoenberg.

CPO http://naxosdirect.co.uk/labels/cpo-records have just released new recordings of Berger’s Viola Concerto, Op.12 and his Symphony No.4, Op.30 with Nils Mönkemeyer (viola) www.nilsmoenkemeyer.com  and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin www.rsb-online.de  conducted by Horia Andreescu www.kdmueller.eu/en/artists/conductors/51-horia-andreescu-v

 

777 756-2

The Allegro moderato of Berger’s Viola Concerto, Op.12 (1959) opens with a flowing theme for viola against pizzicato strings. As the music progresses the full orchestra enters and the viola theme becomes more passionate. Berger gives Reger, Hindemith and Schoenberg as his musical influences which might suggest to some a somewhat academic style of composition; however, this music is full of romantic fervour with even a hint of Szymanowski in its golden glow. There are glimpses of a twelve tone style but well upholstered in a romantic guise. Mönkemeyer’s tone is exemplary, moving from rich and glowing to astringent as the music requires. This is a glorious, flowing, ever developing movement which after a cadenza ends with a quiet coda.

The orchestra opens the darker more subdued larghetto to which the violins join to lift the atmosphere a little, weaving some lovely passages with Mönkemeyer drawing some lovely sonorities. The Finale. Tema con variazioni  is a faster flowing series of variations, with just a hint of Bartok, that bring a multitude of moods with some lovely effects for the viola beautifully done by Mönkemeyer before leading to the dynamic close.

Berger’s two movement Symphony No.4, Op.30 (1964) is subtitled Tragic Symphony. Mysterious night sounds hover in the opening of the Allegro, meditative e serioso. The music rises to an outburst. A plaintive cor anglais is heard against a hushed orchestra with the cymbals then bass drum sounding quietly to which a fluttering flute joins. The music soon develops to a faster dynamic section, before moving to a quieter flowing passage with woodwind. There is a section where brass have a say before rising to another climax. The music alternates in mood between quieter and meditative, and louder and more agitated. There are some lovely little details in the orchestra with Horia Andreescu and the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Berlin on fine form. Eventually the music reaches a climax, where the orchestra broadens on a horn passage as the music descends to woodwind and percussion before rising up again, then falling to a lovely quiet extended string melody. An oboe passage leads to a livelier section as the music quietly makes its way to the brilliant coda.

A slow, quiet opening for strings introduces the Largo, fervido e serioso, a calmo ma fluente before a plaintive flute is heard against the strings, which become more animated as woodwind join. The music calms before rising up in a passionate string section with percussion before dropping back. Eventually the orchestra suddenly takes off with an outburst at the start of a livelier section. Soon the volume lessens but not tempo before the music builds again, really thrusting along. Halfway through, the music drops to a quieter, slower pace with woodwind playing against a string background. Strings open a new section with woodwind interventions before they begin to rise, then fall back. The strings then broaden in a slow passage before brass enters over pizzicato strings. This leads the music forward, with individual woodwind instruments entering to take the lead, before brass and pizzicato strings return, followed by flute and strings that slowly lead to the quiet coda.

A symphony consisting of two movements marked Allegro and Largo may suggest a lack of variety but this is far from the case with each movement containing a variety of moods in each movement.

These excellently played works are very worthwhile hearing. The recording is excellent and there are detailed booklet notes.