CD Reviews (The Straits Times, November 2012)

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Vol.1

JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET, Piano

Chandos 10720 (3CDs) / *****

There is no dispute that Beethoven in his 32 piano sonatas completely transformed and revolutionised the genre. This first volume of the sonatas from Frenchman Jean-Efflam Bavouzet presents Beethoven’s first ten (Op.2 through 14), which built upon models seemingly perfected by Mozart and Haydn. He expanded the form’s scope and length. The first three sonatas Op.2 (published in 1796) all have four movements instead of the usual three. In the symphonically conceived E flat major Sonata Op.7 (1797), he had written the longest sonata of the time. Its 30 minutes would only be surpassed by the mighty Hammerklavier some 20 years later. The C minor Pathetique Sonata (Op.13, 1799) was also prefaced by a slow introduction marked Grave. All these point to his great symphonies to come.

The full range of Beethoven’s emotions is also explored. The F major Sonata (Op.10 No.2) is as light-hearted as he could possibly get, and has there been any music sadder than the Largo e mesto slow movement than in next sonata, in D major (Op.10 No.3)? Bavouzet’s performances come to ideal performances on the modern piano. They do not stint on outward passion sparked by an inner turmoil, yet balanced by a delicateness and beauty of sound. As a bonus, two alternative finales of the Op.10 No.1 C minor Sonata, one discarded and another reworked without development, have been included for completeness sake. This is an auspicious beginning to possibly another great cycle to come.

BRAIN RUBBISH

Swedish Wind Ensemble / CHRISTIAN LINDBERG

BIS CD-1958 / ****1/2

The rather provocative title of this disc of wind music comes from a 2007 work by Swedish virtuoso trombonist and conductor Christian Lindberg which was cobbled together from themes and fragments discarded from an earlier piece. This musical recycling in Brain Rubbish throws up a profusion of seemingly unrelated ideas which build up to an exuberant final climax. Lindberg’s Suite from Galamanta is inspired by characters of comedy theatre, colourfully characterised by virtuosic wind and brass solos, and creative play of dissonances.

Rather more accessible are Adam Gorb’s Yiddish Dances, dedicated to veteran wind maestro (and regular visitor to Singapore) Timothy Reynish, which delights in the slides and slurs of the Jewish Klezmer tradition. Spaniard Bernardo Adam Ferrero’s Homage to Joaquin Sorolla presents four evocative symphonic paintings based on the Valencia natives oils of local scenes. The most familiar number is Gershwin’s An American in Paris, in Mari van Gils’s arrangement, which replete with taxi horns and trumpet blues yields little to the original. The Swedish Wind Ensemble, which began in 1906 as a band of Stockholm bus and rail workers, put up highly spirited performances that are well worth several listens.

SSO Concert: The Bartok Second / Review

THE BARTOK SECOND

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (21 April 2012)

Singapore  Orchestra Symphony

This review was published in The Straits Times on 23 April 2012 with the title "Fireworks end with Bartok's bang and smash".

The mere mention of the 20th century Hungarian composer Bela Bartok still strikes fear in the hearts of potential concert-goers today. Just witness the rows of empty seats at this evening’s concert, which began with four dances from the ballet Estancia (The Ranch) by Argentine Alberto Ginastera, sometimes described as the “Bartok of the Pampas”.

Conducted by the young Venezuelan maestro Christian Vasquez, this was a case of excellent programming as both composers made use of the folk idioms and dances of their native countries, crafted in an invigorating and often violent way.

The insistent and relentless rhythm of percussion fuelled three of the dances, with the furious and frenetic Malambo making for a most exuberant close. In between, the reflective Danza del Trigo (Wheat Dance)offered flautist Jin Ta and concertmaster Alexander Souptel the most elegant of solos, which they accepted with utmost grace.

Excellent wind and brass dominated the first movement of Bartok’s thorny Second Piano Concerto, a work of nightmarish difficulty to accompany, as they more than kept up with French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s steely fingers. This was an astonishing performance in many ways, most of all because all on deck were functioning beyond the mastery of correct notes. Each rapid cut and thrust by the soloist was matched by equally trenchant responses from the orchestra, all accomplished at a spellbinding speed.

The few moments of repose were afforded in the Adagio, where the hitherto silent strings produced the most evenly burnished sound to evoke the mysteries of the night. This made the hell-for-leather interlude – with piano and orchestra scurrying in all directions - even more exciting.

The brutal Allegro Barbaro–like romp of the finale completed a work that could be classical music’s equivalent of heavy metal. As a touch of supreme irony, the brilliant Bavouzet played as his encore Debussy’s genteel prelude, The Girl With Flaxen Hair. What extraordinary contrasts!

After the bang and smash of the first half, Dvorak’s affable Eighth Symphony seemed almost an anti-climax. It was a good performance overall, with no new insights to be proffered. Vasquez, like many of his prodigious generation, conducted totally from memory. A goodly and non-idiosyncratic pace started the first movement, and it continued merrily and untroubled from there.

Here is a leader who does not try and impose his own will on the score, but let the music speak for itself. Flautist Jin was called upon again for more intricate solos. As the pastorale of the slow movement gave way to a more boisterous Slavonic dance and the final procession, so did the ensemble step up to the plate to close on a high. For many, including this listener, the fireworks had ended with the Bartok.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, April 2012)

BARTOK Piano Concertos
JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET, Piano
BBC Philharmonic / Gianandrea Noseda
Chandos 10610 / *****

The three vastly contrasting piano concertos of the Hungarian nationalist composer Bela Bartok (1881-1945) are landmarks of 20th century pianism. The extremely strident First Concerto (1926) emerged from the same cataclysmic epoch of Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring and Bartok’s own urban ballet of sex and violence, The Miraculous Mandarin. The Second Concerto (1933), despite its percussiveness, is modelled like a baroque concerto grosso. Here the old and new meet with sparks flying. The Third Concerto (1945), which was incomplete at the composer’s death, returned to an agreeable mellowness tinged with a certain nostalgia. All three are virtuoso vehicles, demanding the utmost from pianists and the orchestral support.

French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, celebrated for performances of the French musical impressionists, downplays on the angularity and hard-edged steel of the first two concertos. He finds a mercurial streak in pages of flying velocity and rare serenity in the slow movements. Bartok was after all influenced by Debussy in matters of orchestral harmonies, textures and colour. This is a totally valid and persuasive view, moving away from the brutal vehemence of Maurizo Pollini’s famous 1970s recordings. With an equally musical view of the final concerto, this set is urgently recommended.

BOOK IT:
BARTOK Piano Concerto No.2
Performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet with
Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christian Vasquez
Esplanade Concert Hall
Saturday, 21 April 2012 at 7.30 pm

DEBUSSY Complete Piano Solos
NORIKO OGAWA, Piano
BIS CD-1955/56 (6 CDs) / *****

This slimline box-set probably has the most complete edition of solo piano music by French composer Claude-Achille Debussy (1862-1918) in the market. Performed with great sensitivity, finesse and an acute ear for intricate multi-layered sonorities, Japanese pianist Noriko Ogawa’s account is one for the ages. From the early salon-like miniatures (including the popular Arabesques, Reverie and lesser-known Ballade, Nocturne) to the great impressionist masterpieces (complete sets of Préludes, Images, Estampes and Études), she mines a wealth of nuances, and is recorded in sumptuous sound. Also included are the ballet La boite a joujoux (The Toybox) and several rarities, like the Scherzo from his early Piano Trio and Debussy’s final work of 1917, Les soirs illumines par l’ardeur du charbon (Evenings Lit By Glowing Coals), only discovered in 2001.

The final disc unearths the World Premiere recordings of five Preludes And Fugues composed in 1881-83, when he was a student at the Paris Conservatory. Lest one gets overly excited, these are merely well-schooled exercises from an apprentice on his chequered path towards greatness. Closing the set is Debussy’s only piano concerto, his affable melody-filled Fantaisie (1889-90), which gets a spirited contribution from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Shui Lan. A further inducement: this set retails at super-budget price in HMV.