CD Review (The Straits Times, March 2018)

FRANCK. FAURÉ. PROKOFIEV

Flute Sonatas

SHARON BEZALY, Flute

VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY, Piano

BIS 2259 / *****

The surnames of flautist Sharon Bezaly and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy are printed in a large gold font, sitting pretty on top of composers Cesar Franck, Gabriel Fauré and Sergei Prokofiev, as if relegating them to secondary importance. Such is the cult of big-name performers, supposedly to enhance the desirability of recordings, not that it matters much in this case.

Flautists have since time immemorial appropriated the wider repertoire of violinists, and this disc displays two famous examples. Both Cesar Franck's Violin Sonata in A major (in Jean-Pierre Rampal's adaptation) and Gabriel Faure's Violin Sonata No.1 (arranged by Bezaly herself) translate very well for the flute, which occupies mostly the same register as the violin. Given Bezaly’s nimbleness and virtuosity, these exemplary performances do much to further that proposition,

Operating in the reverse direction, Prokofiev's Flute Sonata was later published as his Violin Sonata No.2. Although less often heard than its violin guise, the original work is beloved of flautists. One of the Russian's most lyrical scores, Bezaly makes most of its bittersweet musings. 

Ashkenazy, who no longer gives public piano performances, is the ideal partner in all three works, where the piano plays an extraordinarily demanding role. The recording is in the demonstration class and makes for pleasurable listening.       

Landmark:
This was the 2222th article/review I wrote for The Straits Times, a journey which began with a review of Evelyn Glennie's concert in the 20 June 1997 issue. 

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, June 2014)

LEGENDS OF THE PIANO

Acoustic Recordings 1901-1924

Naxos Historical 8.112054 / ****1/2

Wonder what some of the great composers sounded like playing on the piano? Thanks to the advent of electrical sound recording early in the 20^th century, we now know. This anthology brings together 24 performances recorded a century ago, in acoustic recordings which have a more natural feel and aural ambience than the mechanical and robotic piano-roll, a rival medium at the time. Camille Saint-Saëns was still agile and speedy at the age of 84 when he recorded his French Military March from Suite Algerienne. One will not get more authentic than Edvard Grieg in his Norwegian Bridal Procession and Peasant’s March, or Enrique Granados in an improvisation on El Pelele and Spanish Dance No.10.

Arthur Friedheim and Frederic Lamond, both students of Franz Liszt, can be heard in their master’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 and Gnomereigen (Dance of the Gnomes) respectively. Aleksander Michalowski and Raoul Koczalski provide the same service for Chopin, teacher of their teacher Karol Mikuli. Also interesting are Ilona Eibenschutz, pupil of Clara Schumann in Brahms’s Waltzes and Ballade (Op.118 No.3), and Alfred Grünfeld in his famous transcription of Johann Strauss’s Voices of Spring. All these reveal a free-wheeling and almost nonchalant pianism of a bygone era. The re-masterings here filter away most of the hiss, crackle and pop from the original sources and are hence make for more than tolerable listenable.  

GREAT WORKS FOR

FLUTE & ORCHESTRA

SHARON BEZALY, Flute

Residentie Orkest Den Haag / Neeme Järvi

BIS 1679 / *****

From one of the world’s great flautists comes this flavoursome anthology of flute concertos and concertante works. The adjective “great” in the title probably just applies to Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto (1926), a work of remarkable eloquence in blending dissonance, lyricism and  Scandinavian folk elements. Israeli flautist Sharon Bezaly’s advocacy and virtuosity shines through most persuasively, with the music’s apparent spikiness being lent a smooth and silky veneer. German Carl Reinecke’s Flute Concerto (1908) and American Charles Griffes Poem (1918) are more approachable, as is Tchaikovsky’s virtually unknown Largo & Allegro (1863-64), originally for two flutes and strings.

French woman composer Cecile Chaminade is better remembered for her salon piano pieces but her Concertino (1902), a popular showpiece, has become a favourite of flute competitions. Francis Poulenc’s well-known Flute Sonata (1956-57) takes on an orchestral guise in Lennox Berkeley’s orchestration, and is a sumptuous listen. Listen out for the built-in encore, Finnish composer Kalevi Aho’s exciting transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee. Bezaly’s mercurial artistry knows few equals.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, April 2013)

GREAT VIOLIN CONCERTOS

Naxos 8.501058 (10 CDs) / ****

This slim-line budget-priced box-set not just showcases the violin concerto as one of classical music’s most popular genres, but also celebrates the art of Takako Nishizaki, the primary Naxos house violinist for the past 25 years. The wife of Naxos founder and owner Klaus Heymann, she is soloist in 14 out of the 26 violin concertos highlighted.

Pride of place is her recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with the Cappella Istrapolitana of Bratislava, Slovakia. This 1987 album was the Hong Kong-based label’s first big hit, going on to become the 8^th bestselling classical record of all time. Her playing is tasteful, refined, unmannered, and above all, honest. She also tackles the three great violin concertos in D major, by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Brahms, with much fervour. The latter two incorporate rarely played first movement cadenzas by Fritz Kreisler which are well worth hearing.

Also in the mix is the Russian Ilya Kaler, joint-winner of the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition, who makes light of virtuosic demands in concertos by Paganini, Dvorak, Glazunov and Shostakovich. The Kazakh Marat Bisengaliev (Lalo and Wieniawski) and Korean Dong-Suk Kang (Elgar and Saint-Saens) also register equally strong performances that challenge better-known soloists in the major labels. Younger names featured, such as Simone Lamsma (Spohr’s Concerto No.8), Mischa Keylin (Vieuxtemps No.5) and Henning Kraggerud (Sibelius), represent a bright future for the instrument. Programme notes are included, which is most helpful for the beginner, to whom this series is targeted. 

PIPE DREAMS

SHARON BEZALY, Flute

Australian Chamber Orchestra

BIS 1789 / ****1/2

This is a collection of concertante works for flute from nations of the southern hemisphere. Only one carries the formal designation of concerto but all have a palpable feel of the song and dance genre. The Flute Concerto with Tango (2008) by Uruguayan composer-conductor Jose Serebrier is a virtuoso showpiece dedicated to the Israel-born Sharon Bezaly, its continuous movements leading up to a short tango that is deliberately left incomplete and hanging in the air. This element of suspense and surprise keeps this music interesting and moving along. The highly athletic Pitangus Sulphuratus (1987, revised 2007) by the Venezuelan Adina Izarra is inspired by the flight and birdcall of the Great Kiskadee, a species commonly found in Central and South America.

The eponymous Pipe Dreams (2003) by the Australian Carl Vine, well known for his dance works, draws its title from the opium pipe, Aboriginal dreamtime and the flute itself. Its sheer exuberance makes it the most accessible of the 21^st century scores, and it includes a tender pas de deux by flute and solo violin, played by orchestra leader Richard Tognetti. The earliest work is the short Impresiones de la Puna (1934) by the Argentine Alberto Ginastera, which celebrates Andean folk music and the quecha, a traditional vertical flute. Bezaly’s agility and enormous range on the flute is nothing less than phenomenal, and these new works are well worth exploring.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, February 2012)

ACROSS THE SEA
SHARON BEZALY, Flute
Singapore Symphony Orchestra / LAN SHUI
BIS CD-1739 / *****

This anthology handily brings together four flute concertante works by three Chinese-American composers - Zhou Long, Chen Yi and Bright Sheng – all born in the 1950s and who had lived through the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution. Despite combining contemporary idioms with Chinese and Oriental motifs, these pieces are an interestingly varied bunch. Zhou’s Five Elements (2008) play on the differing yet complementary perceptions of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, in the five linked movements. His rhapsodic The Deep, Deep Sea (2004) has a more impressionist colour, which made it a good companion for Debussy’s La Mer when it was first issued several years ago.

Chen’s The Golden Flute has the feeling of a fantasy, despite being in the classical fast-slow-fast concerto form. Flute and piccolo alternate in Sheng’s Flute Moon, manifested in a vigorous dance of the qilin (the spiritual chimera of Chinese mythology) and the lyricism of Sung dynasty poetry. Israeli flautist Sharon Bezaly’s exhaustive mastery of her instrument’s possibilities and a most alert and supportive SSO make this a very listenable, even enjoyable outing.

BACH Goldberg Variations / Fretwork
Harmonia Mundi 907560 (2 CDs) / *****

The universality and portability of J.S.Bach’s music ensures that much of it remains timeless whatever the form it takes. His Goldberg Variations, originally written for harpsichord to sooth an insomniac count, has sounded convincing on piano, harp, strings and various ensembles. This new version arranged for six viols by Richard Boothby deserves a special place in every library. Viols are antique instruments related to the lute dating from the Renaissance. Possessing frets and bowed on gut strings, their sound is mellower compared with steel strings of modern instruments.

The Variations are based on the descending sequence of notes played by the left hand of the keyboard rather than the opening Aria’s actual melody. There are 30 variations in all, with every third one being a canon. This offers a wealth of possibilities, and every movement is a gem. The diverging lines of counterpoint are shared by the players of Fretwork, the world’s leading viol ensemble, who respond with precision and perfect intonation. Variation No.20, which uses plucked strings, has a harp-like resonance that sounds totally magical. As repeats are taken, the work stretches to 90 minutes on two discs, priced as one. This is heavenly listening indeed.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, September 2010)

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas
STEVEN OSBORNE, Piano
Hyperion 67662

****1/2

Does the world need yet another Beethoven piano sonata recording? The simple answer: there are people who have yet to hear a note by the great German master. To this end, British pianist Steven Osborne gives a vividly energetic introduction to his popular “nicknamed” piano sonatas. Quasi una fantasia (Like a fantasy) is the description of the familiar “Moonlight” Sonata (Op.27 No.2). Rarely had any work breached convention to encompass wild extremes, ambling from quiet solace (the famous opening slow movement), through a charming country dance to untamed fury in the Presto Agitato finale.

Osborne spares the listener the “Appassionata”, opting instead for the “Pathetique” (Op.13) and “Waldstein” (Op.53) Sonatas, showing he is fully attuned to Beethoven’s idea of con brio. The finale of the latter reveals yet more steel and silk, the glissandi never sounding this smooth. The jocular little G major Sonata (Op.79) completes the picture. Beethoven’s ingenuity and multifarious genius has been more than well served.

SHARON BEZALY
plays BACRI, BERNSTEIN, DEAN & ROUSE
BIS 1799

****1/2

The highly mellifluous, liquid and nimble qualities of the flute make it eminently suited for lyrical and virtuosic showpieces, especially in contemporary music. This anthology of four concertante flute works is ample proof. The major work here is the 5-movement Flute Concerto by American Christopher Rouse (born 1949), a tribute to music cultures of the British Isles and a salve for the senseless killing of UK toddler James Bulger in 1993. The spirit of Irish and Scottish dances inhabit the faster movements, while a grand chorale and meditative slow finale provide closure for the violence that came before.

Leonard Bernstein’s Halil (Hebrew for “flute”) from 1981 is the best known piece, a nocturne with accompanying alto flute and piccolo parts, enlivened by Lenny’s typical penchant for colour and rhythm. Frenchman Nicolas Bacri’s engaging Flute Concerto (1999) and Australian Brett Dean’s The Siduri Dances complete this kaleidoscopic survey which sees young Israeli flautist Sharon Bezaly, partnered by four different orchestras, at her most eloquent and exuberant.

MOZART Symphonies No.39 & 40
Freiberg Baroque Orchestra
RENÉ JACOBS
Harmonia Mundi 901959
*****

Lovers of the big orchestral sound, awash with romantic gestures and fulsome vibrato, may look away now. More groups of the “authentic” persuasion and period instrument movement are dictating the way modern listeners perceive of the classical composers and their music. Is it a good or bad thing? Bands of Mozart and Haydn’s day were small and dynamic ensembles, a far cry from the sixty to eighty musicians of modern orchestras. The lack of vibrato is debatable, and the overall sound is that of leanness and lithe clarity, as opposed to opulence.

Hearing these recordings of familiar symphonies, Mozart’s spirit of invention and infectious humour are well served. Expositions and climaxes are never overstated, while dance movements come through with vivacity and grace. With repeats observed, the symphonies are heard in their entirety, never sounding repetitious nor ponderous. Try it, one might become hooked.