Volume 26 Issue 7 - May and June 2021

Johann Georg Pisendel – Neue Sonaten
Scaramuccia
Snakewood Editions SCD202001
(snakewoodeditions.com)
! The name
Johann Georg
Pisendel is perhaps
not all that familiar
today, but during
his lifetime he was
highly acclaimed
as a violinist and
concertmaster. Born near Nuremberg in
1687, Pisendel studied at the Royal Chapel
at Ansbach where among his teachers was
Giuseppe Torelli. He continued his studies
in Leipzig and ultimately enjoyed a long and
successful career in Dresden as leader of the
Dresdner Hofkapelle, an ensemble that won
the praise of no less a figure than J.S. Bach.
Pisendel’s own output was small, but
among his compositions are four chamber
sonatas scored for violin, cello and continuo,
discovered in the immense assemblage of
scores that he amassed during his lifetime
and which now comprises the esteemed
Schrank II collection in the library of Dresden
University. These Neue Sonaten are presented
here for the first time ever on this splendid
Snakewood label disc performed by the
ensemble Scaramuccia.
Under the leadership of director/violinist
Javier Lupiáñez (performing on a 1682 instrument),
the four-movement miniatures truly
come alive – what a joyful sound these musicians
produce! Lupiáñez’s skilful playing
– his phrasing always carefully articulated
and artfully nuanced – is complemented by
the solid performances of cellist Inés Salinas
and harpsichordist Patricia Vintém. Many of
the ornamentations in the form of cadenzas
and passagework were added by the musicians
themselves, based on a thorough study
of Pisendel’s performance practices. Indeed,
the melding of Pisendel’s solid compositional
style exemplified in these recently discovered
works with Scaramuccia’s careful and intelligent
approach is a fortuitous one. An added
bonus is a charming but anonymous harpsichord
sonata in D Major that Vintém performs
with much flair.
The attractive slipcase and artwork further
enhance an already appealing disc.
Richard Haskell
Cavatine
DUO Stephanie and Saar
New Focus Recordings FCR274
(stephsaarduo.com)
! This piano duo
disc by Stephanie
Ho and Saar Ahuvia
(DUO) has expressive
virtuosity
written all over it.
It’s not simply fourhands
piano that
has been captured
on disc, but repertoire as poignant as it is rare.
Its late Beethoven is paired with late Schubert.
And its music is evocative of the unrequited
love both men lived with. In Schubert’s case,
it was also a life lived in the permanent and
towering shadow of the master, so much so
that he – in an almost Shakespearean kind of
twist – was even buried next to Beethoven.
All of this spills over into the highly
charged program on Cavatine. DUO
Stephanie and Saar has completely subsumed
every emotive aspect of this music. There is
even an extraordinarily eerie seamlessness
of how Beethoven’s String Quartet in B-flat
Major Op.130 slides into the Cavatine, then
into the Grosse Fuge Op.134, before ending up
in Schubert’s Fantasie in F Minor D940.
This is a made-for-each partnership. The
amazing rapport between Ho and Ahuvia
and their impeccable style unite to produce
winning results. The warmth and tangible
empathy on display here bring out all of the
music’s emotive aspects – especially in the
intensely lyrical movements of the Quartet
in B-flat and the Cavatine, which gives way
to the chromatic boldness of the Grosse
Fuge and finally in the rhapsodic features of
Schubert’s Fantasie. All of this makes a disc
to absolutely die for.
Raul da Gama
Schubert: Explorations
Mathieu Gaudet
Analekta AN 2 9184 (analekta.com/en)
! One year ago,
in May 2020, this
reviewer wrote of
a new release from
pianist Mathieu
Gaudet. Late
Inspirations was
the second installment
of an ambitious
project to record the entirety of Franz
Schubert’s sonatas and major works for
piano. Since then, Gaudet has added another
two discs to the anthology: The Power of
Fate in October 2020 and Explorations in
March 2021. What a thrill it has been to
discover each of these records in an alimentative
journey comprised of attentive listening.
From its wondrous, heights to its simplest of
gifts, Schubert’s art is a way of life for Gaudet.
As a fulltime emergency physician, Gaudet
has persevered through a harrowing year for
human beings on our planet, combatting a
health crisis on a magnitude not seen for a
century. The compassion, care and healing
that Gaudet surely delivers to his patients is
transfused – enviably – to his musical artistry.
As listeners around Gaudet’s keyboard, we are
in safe hands. His deeply empathic connection
with Schubert is genially revealed,
phrase by phrase, piece by piece, as we are
led through a lifelong tended garden, everwatered
with a sublime Schubertian prowess.
A consistent feature of each disc thus far is
a blending of the known with the unknown.
Explorations opens with the familiar
Moments Musicaux, D780. What comes next
What we're listening to this month:
thewholenote.com/listening
Borne By A Wind
Sid Richardson
Boston-born composer Sid
Richardson releases his debut
recording, shaping the program
around literary influences that
have had a strong impact on his
work.
No Bounds
Caity Gyorgy
A swingin’ new release of
jazz standards and original
compositions from one of Canada’s
exciting new rising stars in vocal
jazz!
Dream Logic
Sarah Jerrom
Adventurous and exciting,
showcasing Jerrom’s formidable
skills as a vocalist and songwriter/
composer. Featuring Harley
Card (guitar, vocals), bassist Rob
McBride and drummer Jeff Luciani
Entering Utopia
TuneTown
NEW! From Three Pines Records:
"Fun stuff for anyone that knows
how to let their non-linear freak
flag fly." Chris Spector – The
Midwest Record
thewholenote.com May and June 2021 | 37