CD Reviews (The Straits Times, May 2015)

HINDEMITH Complete Piano Concertos

IDIL BIRET, Piano

Yale Symphony / Toshiyuki Shimada

Naxos 8.373201-02 (2CDs) / ****1/2

Of the five works for piano and orchestra by German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), presented as a set here for the first time, only one was designated a piano concerto. His Concerto for Piano & Orchestra (1945) is rarely heard but interesting as it contains a set of variations on the medieval song Tre Fontane as its final movement. The best known is however The Four Temperaments (1940), another work in the variations form, originally conceived as a ballet. 

Typical of the composer was to append apparently mundane titles to these works. Such was Piano Music With Orchestra (1923) for piano left hand, which had been rejected by the left handed pianist Paul Wittgenstein and rediscovered as recently as 2001. Chamber Music No.2 (1924) is another such work, which harks back to the baroque concerto grosso in form and scoring. The revelation is Concert Music for Piano, Brass and Two Harps (1930) which is very transparent in textures despite the unusual forces employed.

Hindemith's idiom is dissonant but tonal, with astringent themes which sound better with repeated acquaintance. His Bachian mastery of counterpoint is indisputable which make these works an unusually good listening. The historical significance of this album recorded in 2013 is timely and relevant as it was Hindemith who revolutionised music education in Turkey which produced Idil Biret as its finest musical prodigy. He then went on to teach composition in Yale as one of its most distinguished professors. The performances by Biret and the Yale Symphony are incisive and committed, befitting the 50^th anniversary of Hindemith's passing.

SCHUMANN Paganini Caprices 
& Humoreske

MARIYA KIM, Piano

Naxos 8.572374 / ****1/2

Robert Schumann, the arch anti-virtuoso, must have taken a shine to Paganini's 24 Caprices for solo violin. Why else would he have contributed piano accompaniments for the notorious finger-twisters or transcribed twelve of these for solo piano? His two sets of six studies each (Op.3 and 10) are direct transcriptions of Paganini Caprices as finger exercises, but are far more faithful to the originals than Liszt's Six Paganini Etudes. There is much familiar music here. From Op.3, No.1 is the Arpeggio Caprice, while No.2 is La Chasse (The Chase) and No.4, is the one known as “The Devil's Laugh”.

There is much on the violin which the piano cannot replicate, but Schumann makes up in other ways by way of adding harmonies that further rather than detract from the original conceptions. The Op.10 set are longer elaborations, especially on the slower caprices, and the sound palette soon moves away from Paganini to become more Schumann. Ukrainian pianist Mariya Kim, laureate of multiple competitions, has the full measure of the spirit and fingers for these technically demanding pieces.

Her generous coupling is Humoreske (Op.20), presented in a single 34-minute-long track. No separate tracks are provided for its seemingly disparate sections, which cohere very well in a beautifully idiomatic performance that in certain respects even surpasses that of Kim's famous compatriot, the great Vladimir Horowitz.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, May 2014)

BELLINI Norma

CECILIA BARTOLI et al

Orchestra la Scintilla / Giovanni Antonini

Decca 478 3517 (2 CDs) / *****

Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma, arguably the greatest bel canto opera ever written, has often been associated with dramatic sopranos like Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland in the title role. Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli’s extraordinary portrayal of the ill-fated Druid priestess has historical precedent. The part was written for the great 19^th century diva Giuditta Pasta (1797-1865), legendary for singing the great mezzo roles of today. This recording, accompanied on period instruments by the Zurich-based Orchestra la Scintilla, thus returns to the opera’s original conception. More than just convincing, it is an artistic triumph.

The indefatigable Bartoli lives and breathes the conflicted world and double lives of Norma, and her famous aria Casta Diva has an otherworldly feel despite sporting a darker tonal colour. Opposite her, the virginal Adalgisa is served by no less than Korean coloratura soprano Sumi Jo. Together, they are spectacular in the ecstatically charged duets Ah! Si, fa core e abbraciami and Mira, O Norma. Joined by tenor John Osborne’s Pollione (Norma’s lover) and Michele Pertusi’s Oroveso (father), the ensemble conjures up a near-definitive reading of enterprise and spirit that is pleasure from start to end. 

HINDEMITH Piano Sonatas

MARKUS BECKER, Piano

Hyperion 67977 / ****

The German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) wrote sonatas for every instrument of the orchestra, but he held a great affection for the piano. His three piano sonatas (all composed in 1936) are definitely more than Gebrauschmusik, or “utility music” written for the purpose of didactic study or exercise. Despite a tendency to astringency on the surface, all three are gifted with thematic coherence that makes them rather listenable. The First Sonata, the longest and in 5 movements, may seem the toughest to crack, but its lyricism gradually comes through.

The Second Sonata, also the shortest, falls within the hands of gifted amateur pianists. It is the Third Sonata, a bona fide concert piece, which taxes the virtuoso most. Its fugal finale is true contrapuntal paradise, topped by subversive humour with a wink in the eye that looks forward to Shostakovich’s more riotous fugues. German pianist Markus Becker gives very good performances, even if he misses out on Glenn Gould’s manic edge and mischief-making. As a bonus, a discarded set of variations from the First Sonata have been included. Lovers of counterpoint should not be hesitant.    

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, March 2012)

RUSSIAN FANTASY
Vladimir & Vovka Ashkenazy, 2 Pianos
Decca 478 2940 / *****

This is a totally enjoyable collection of Russian music played on two pianos. Only two works were originally written for that medium. The first is Scriabin’s Fantasy in A minor, composed when he was only 17, and still under influence of his idol Chopin. Its understated charm and gentility are leagues away from his more familiar emotionally volatile self. The other is the 20-year-old Rachmaninov’s First Suite (Op.5), sometimes referred to as the Fantaisie-Tableaux. Its four movements are inspired by Russian poetry, and imbued with typical Slavic pathos. Obsessed with bell sounds all his life, the third movement Tears is redolent of sad tolling, while the finale Easter is a joyous festive carillon which incorporates the Orthodox chant Christ Is Risen.

The anthology also features third generation pianist Vovka Ashkenazy as a brilliant crafter of transcriptions. His arrangements of Mussorgsky’s Night On Bald Mountain and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, both originally orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov, are highly effective showpieces. Also included is Glinka’s non-nationalist Valse-Fantaisie, a trifle of salon-like sensibilities. Both Vovka and his father Vladimir bring a certain authority and glorious sweep to music of their homeland.

HINDEMITH Orchestral Works
Sao Paulo Symphony / John Neschling
BIS SACD-1730 / ****1/2

Twentieth century modernism and orchestral lushness seem to be mutually exclusive entities, but not so in the case of German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963). It is hard to imagine anyone else who could use terse and astringent themes to build monuments of tonal grandeur and textural opulence. Come to think of it, Johann Sebastian Bach was such a creator as well. It was Hindemith’s lifelong devotion to Bach’s musical principles that spelt his own success, evident in the three popular orchestral works here, in thrilling performances from Brazil and recorded in sumptuous sound.

The Mathis Der Maler Symphony is perfectly proportioned in three movements, using themes from Hindemith’s opera of the same title on the life and conscience of German Renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald. The ballet suite Nobilissima Visione has the frescoes of Giotto on St. Francis of Assisi as its inspiration, the final movement being a splendid passacaglia that Bach would have whole-heartedly endorsed. The best known is Symphonic Metamorphoses On Weber, which has the unusual attribute of being entertaining as well. The chinoiserie of the Turandot Scherzo is hilarious and the fugue based on the theme’s inversion enters into the brassy realm of jazz bands. Listen to the final March, and one might imagine Hindemith writing the soundtrack to Star Wars. This is strangely but seriously enjoyable music.