CD Review (The Straits Times, November 2017)

PREGHIERA

RACHMANINOV Piano Trios

Kremer. Dirvanauskaite.Trifonov

Deutsche Grammophon 479 6979 / *****

The album's title Preghiera (Prayer) refers to a short piece for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler, a reworking of the melodious themes found in the slow movement of his close friend and musical collaborator Sergei Rachmaninov's popular Second Piano Concerto. Like much of the Russian's music, it is melancholic but the underlying prettiness shines through. It serves as a prelude to the his two piano trios, brooding early works which are performed in reverse chronological order.

The much longer Piano Trio No.2 in D minor (Op.9), just under 50 minutes in playing time, was composed in memory of his mentor Tchaikovsky who died in 1893. It is modelled almost exactly after Tchaikovsky's own Piano Trio in A minor, dedicated to the late Nicholas Rubinstein. Even the slow movement is a set of variations, but based on the main theme from Rachmaninov's tone poem The Rock. Tchaikovsky's influence also heavily pervades the single-movement Piano Trio in G minor, which is reminiscent of a tragic romance. 

This disc celebrates the 70^th birthday of Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer, who retains his characteristic wiry and acerbic tone, but tempers it with no little tenderness. He is partnered by younger but no less skilled partners, Lithuanian cellist Giedre Dirvanauskaite and Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. A winner from start to finish.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, August 2015)

MENDELSSOHN, GRIEG

& HOUGH Cello Sonatas

STEVEN ISSERLIS, Cello

STEPHEN HOUGH, Piano

Hyperion 68079 / *****

How does British pianist-composer Stephen Hough's Cello Sonata figure in this new album of Romantic cello sonatas? Interestingly it is scored for cello and piano left hand and carries the Beethovenian subtitle “Les Adieux” (The Farewell). A single-movement work playing for 20 minutes, it is a darkly introspective work that distils the fraught and melancholic emotions of Romanticism through a tonal musical language that is as approachable as Shostakovich, Ravel and Fauré. Perhaps expressing regret, sorrow and parting, it receives a heartfelt performance from British cellist Steven Isserlis and the composer himself as pianist.

The work sits comfortably two rather different and not so often heard Romantic sonatas. Edvard Grieg's Cello Sonata in G minor (Op.36) was the closest thing he wrote to a cello concerto, and includes familiar themes to be found in his earlier Piano Concerto and Sigurd Josalfar incidental music. Another instance of musical deja vu (“Where have we heard this before?”), Mendelssohn's Second Cello Sonata in D major (Op.38) is typical of his ebullience and tunefulness, a good example of the early Romantic style. The juxtapositions on this album make total sense, and the high musicianship displayed by both performers is to be savoured.  

NEW SEASONS

GIDON KREMER, Violin

Kremerata Baltica

Deutsche Grammophon 479 4817 / ***

Is it blasphemous to state that “emperor's new clothes” is the reason why every new work by American composer Philip Glass is greeted with nothing but adulation? In his Second Violin Concerto (2010), also known as The American Four Seasons, he rehashes just about every cliché he has worked to death in earlier works, including his First Violin Concerto (1987). The Seasons are in 8 parts, with a Bachian solo (entitled Prologue and Songs Nos.1 to 3) preceding each movement proper. As expected, the limited musical material is built upon tonal triads and repeated endlessly to pad up its 40-plus minutes. So what else is new?

Georgian composer Giya Kancheli's Ex Contrario (2006) for violin, cello, keyboard, bass guitar and strings is minimalist in a different way. Its static pace, long stretches of pianissimo and gaping silences are drawn out to an almost interminable half hour. As brief fillers, the Estonian Arvo Pärt but cheerful Estonian Lullaby features the Girls Choir from the Vilnius Choir School, while Shigeru Umebayashi Yumeji's Theme from the film In The Mood For Love is sentimental and soothing movie music with a popular twist. Superstar Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and his string band give slick and polished performances in the demonstration class, but that is the very least one would expect for the premium-priced outlay involved.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, September 2012)

DOHNANYI Piano Music Vol.1

MARTIN ROSCOE, Piano

Hyperion 67871 / *****

Although Erno Dohnanyi (1877-1960) was one of the great pianist-composers of the late Romantic era (ranking alongside the likes of Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Busoni and Grainger), his solo piano music is rarely heard these days. Even the popular Variations On A Nursery Tune gets a rare and very occasional airing, if any. This first volume of complete piano music by British pianist Martin Roscoe is a sympathetic and timely reminder of the Hungarian’s craftsmanship and virtuosity.

The Four Rhapsodies Op.11, laid out like a Brahmsian four-movement sonata, is perhaps his best known work. The scherzo-like Third Rhapsody was once a very popular encore of the rapturous, barnstorming kind, and the concluding Fourth Rhapsody sounds like the definitive apotheosis of the Dies Irae theme.

The Ten Bagatelles of Winterreigen (Winter Round Dances) are more ambitious than the title suggests, looking back to Schumann’s lyricism (the first is titled Widmung, for example) and ahead to Busoni’s complexities. Dohnanyi’s last piano work Three Singular Pieces (1951), while rooted in the Romantic past, does however attempt some modernisms. The final Perpetuum Mobile is a forerunner to Ligeti’s kinetically-charged Etudes. Finally, his Pastorale (Hungarian Christmas Song) and transcription of Delibes’s Coppelia Waltz are elegance personified. Warmly recommended.   

ARGERICH. KREMER. MAISKY

Complete Duo Recordings

Deutsche Grammophon 477 9524 (13CDs) / *****

This very substantial box-set is the fifth part of a retrospective documenting Argentine pianist Martha Argerich’s prodigious recorded output on the German yellow label over the decades. Among her favourite partners in chamber music are violinist Gidon Kremer and cellist Mischa Maisky, both originally from Latvia, with whom she has recorded the complete Beethoven duo sonatas. Kremer’s rather dry and wiry tone is an acquired taste, which you either love or loathe, but his approach works well for the two discs of 20^th century music – sonatas by Prokofiev, Janacek and Bartok. The Hungarian’s First Violin Sonata receives the most blistering, hell-for-leather performance thought possible.

Maisky is more congenial, and his contributions include J.S.Bach (sonatas originally for viola da gamba and harpsichord), Beethoven’s sets of Variations, Schumann (including the Cello Concerto sans Argerich) and two love concerts in Romantic (Chopin and Franck) and 20^th century Russian (Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich) repertoire. Argerich’s role is pivotal to the success of these collaborations. More than mere accompanist, she is the livewire that sparks her partners like never before and perhaps after. The original sleeve art has been reproduced for all 13 discs, and this budget-priced release retails for $79.90 at HMV. This is, in reality, a steal.