Volume 23 Issue 6 - March 2018

technical challenges, numerous tempo changes and sheer length
making it particularly difficult to learn (James Ehnes expressed the
same concerns prior to his recording with Andrew Davis in 2007).
The original conductor for this project was Sir Neville Marriner, who
conducted the Academy of St Martin in the Fields on Pine’s critically
acclaimed Avie album of the complete Mozart violin concertos, but he
passed away shortly after Pine visited London to play and discuss the
Elgar with him. It was a sad loss, for Marriner’s teacher was Billy Reed
who, as the young concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra,
had helped Elgar with the solo violin part. What would Sir Neville
have brought to his first recording of the work, one wonders.
Still, Litton does an excellent job with a concerto that can be difficult
to hold together, his accompaniment having a quite different
sound at times – not exactly lighter or smaller, but perhaps not as
serious as some, with a great deal of sensitivity and attention to detail.
There is certainly no tendency toward Elgarian pomp or Edwardian
stuffiness that can sometimes make the concerto sound a bit laboured
or meandering in less experienced hands.
Pine’s playing in the Elgar is thoughtful and unerringly accurate
with no hint of mere virtuosity, although there is perhaps less of a
feel of sweeping grandeur than in some other performances. Much
the same can be said of the Bruch, where again the foremost impression
is one of intelligence and sensitivity in the playing rather than
unabashed Romantic passion. It supports Marriner’s observation of
Pine’s playing in the Mozart set, when he said “...there is no utter
embellishment, everything is there for a purpose, and musically
speaking, it makes such good sense.”
Dedicated “to the memory of a musical hero and generous friend,
Sir Neville Marriner,” the CD is an excellent addition to Pine’s impressive
discography.
There’s playing of the utmost warmth and
sensitivity on Antonín Dvořák: String
Quintet Op.97 & String Sextet Op.48,
featuring the Jerusalem Quartet with violist
Veronika Hagen and, in the sextet, cellist
Gary Hoffman (harmonia mundi 902320).
The Sextet in A Major was written in 1878
and was clearly modelled on the two string
sextets of Brahms, who commented many
years later on the “wonderful invention, freshness and beauty of
sound” in the work. It was Brahms who had recommended Dvořák to
his own publisher Simrock in 1877, and there is certainly more than a
hint of the German Romantic tradition here as well as the inevitable
Slavonic folk influence. The performance has effusiveness and passion,
with a lovely Dumka movement and a terrific Finale.
There’s no less passionate and committed playing in the Quintet in
E-flat Major, which simply abounds in lyrical warmth and beauty. It
was written, along with the “American” string quartet, in the Czech
community of Spillville, Iowa in the summer of 1893 during Dvořák’s
stay in the United States.
These are simply ravishing performances, with Alexander
Pavlovsky’s gorgeous first violin playing leading the way and setting a
standard that the other performers have no problem matching.
The Russian pianist, composer and teacher
Alla Elana Cohen came to the United States
in 1989 and is currently a professor at
Berklee College of Music in Boston. Jupiter
Duo is the title of a new CD of her music,
as well as the name of the performing duo
of cellist Sebastian Bäverstam and Cohen
herself on piano (Ravello Records RR7978
ravellorecords.com).
Cohen discovered Bäverstam, now 29, when he was barely 12 years
old, and the first work of hers that they performed then, the Book of
Prayers Volume 1, Series 7, opens the CD. All subsequent Cohen cello
works were written for Bäverstam, and there are three other cello and
piano works here: Third Vigil, an arrangement (which Cohen prefers) of
her Concerto for Cello and Orchestra; Querying the Silence Volume 1,
Series 2; and Book of Prayers Volume 2, Series 4, which closes the CD.
Sephardic Romancero Series 2 is a challenging solo work ably
handled by Bäverstam, although Cohen’s statement that “for anybody
else it will be almost impossible to play this piece” says little for her
awareness of contemporary world-class cellists. Cohen also contributes
two works for solo piano: Three Film Noir Pieces and Spiral Staircases.
It’s tough music to get a handle on, with little melodic content, a lot
of thick, dense texture in the predominantly discordant piano writing
and a good deal of large, heavy chords spread across the entire keyboard
range. From the cello perspective Bäverstam handles all the technical
challenges with ease; his lower tone in particular is beautifully rich.
Of the final work on the CD, Cohen says that it is one of the rare-forher
compositions “in which lighter colours prevail. It is also the most
‘consonant’ by sonority, at times even quasi-tonal.” That should give
you some idea of the music on the rest of the disc, which generally
seems to be tough, abrasive and frequently decidedly dark.
Keyed In
ALEX BARAN
In this debut release (recorded at Glenn
Gould Studio), Radiant Classics (Really
Records, really-records.com), Nina Soyfer
demonstrates her innate ability to meet the
stylistic demands of a remarkably varied
program. This admirable skill rests on the
foundation of an impressive keyboard technique
and artistic insight. She performs
the Bach Toccata in D Major BWV912 with
freedom and sensitivity. The Fugue in particular dances beautifully
under the lightness of her touch.
The disc opens with Beethoven’s 32 Variations on an Original
Theme in C Minor WoO 80 and closes with his Appasionata Sonata.
The Variations demand many changes in mood and the sonata
depends greatly on the convincing delivery of the first movement’s
heroic theme. Soyfer comes to these works with an unerring sense
of who Beethoven is in all his emotional complexity, and creates an
experience that is both authentic and profound.
The recording’s most interesting pieces are the two Preludes by
Ukrainian composer Vasyl Barvinsky. Not many of his works survive. His
late-Romantic, impressionistic style is highly crafted and somewhat
reminiscent of Chopin. Soyfer brings considerable emotion and power to
his music, leaving the clear impression that more of it needs to be heard.
Lindsay Garritson is no stranger to competitions,
touring and live performance. Her
impressive list of achievements makes this
first disc, Lindsay Garritson, piano (lindsaygarritson.com),
a welcome recording.
It shows the intensity of her style and the
eloquent expression of which she is so
remarkably capable.
She begins the disc with the Liszt
Rhapsodie Espagnole S.254. It’s a full-on engagement with all the
power and nuance that the composer’s work requires. The major item
on the CD is the Schumann Sonata No.3 in F Minor Op.14. Its four
movements demand a great deal of scope from the performer, from
the often deep introspection of the second and third movements to the
blazing technique of the Finale. Garritson’s technical and interpretive
abilities are inspiring. She has clearly lived with this piece for a long
time and justifiably owns it.
70 | March 2018 thewholenote.com