Martin Slidel: Classical Music Reviews

Ruders Esfahani (hpd); Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (cond. Segerstam) OUR Recordings (2022) New this month on OUR Recordings is Mahan Esfahani’s incredible performance of Poul Ruders’ 2020 ‘Harpsichord Concerto’ with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leif Segerstam. (OK. I think I know what a digital EP is...)  The first movement ‘Avanti risoluto’ is filmic and almost tender in its careful but inevitable escalation. There is an oddly yet entirely pleasing synthetic quality, engendered by the amplification of orchestral instruments. It is in this manner that the blend of sound is achieved. The effect itself is, of course, unique. And very distant from any historic mould in familiarity with Baroque works by Vivaldi, for example. The otherworldly mesh of strings and brass is strange but wonderous indeed; a mellow foil to the sparkly and spiky solo. The next movement ‘Andante’ is a touch more romantic (with a small ‘r’) although Modernist and spacey. Single notes on each beat cut...

Messiaen Åstrand (vln); Teyssier (cl); Dam Thomsen (vlc); Salo (pno)  OUR Recordings (2022) Written in 1941 whilst incarnated as a POW, Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Quatuor pour la fin du Temps’ (‘Quartet for the End of Time’) shines for ever due its impelling creative insight and resultant beauty. Never more so on a sonically radiant recording from the un-monikered ensemble of Christina Åstrand (violin), Johnny Teyssier (clarinet), Henrik Dam Thomsen (cello), and Per Salo (piano). To be released on May 13th on OUR Recordings. The work opens with ‘Crystal liturgy,’ enticing, delicate, and gently rhythmic with its repetitive birdcalls. The next movement, ‘Vocalise…’ involves the strike of piano chords in varied tonal balance, interweaving between the melodic lines. There is a surprising jump of style near close as if switching to a new movement already. Which is the clarinet solo ‘Abyss of birds.’ A palatte of nature, and of Grieg, it retains a mystery of achievement; compositionally and in ...

Schnittke; Silvestrov; Shostakovich Matangi Quartet Matangi Music / Pias (2022) New this month is Matangi Quartet’s selection of Russian and Ukrainian works titled ‘Outcast’. The ‘Andante’ of Schnittke’s ‘String Quartet No.3’ twists or rather tangles itself around motifs from di Lasso, Beethoven, Bach, and Shostakovich. Shades of darkness, and back again, intertwined tonalities and styles. Schnitte’s ‘Polystylism’ is relentlessly edgy although cleverly bound by a more cohesive rhythmic ‘regularity’. In the second movement, ‘Agitato’, the effect is stunning. Again more darkness than light but emotionally transportive. Distinct to this writer are echoes of violence and pain, purposeful not contrived. ‘Agitato’ “serves as a culmination of the various polystylistic ideas, improved and introduced in various contrasting textures compared to the initial motivic material of movement I…” (Herndon) The final movement ‘Pesante’ is just as spine-tingling via the contrast of tonal dimensions in jux...

Various composers Emmanuel Bach, violin; Jenny Stern, piano Willowhayne Records  (2022) ‘Lennox In Paris’ is a new release this month from Willowhayne Records featuring Emmanuel Bach on violin and Jenny Stern on piano.  The selection kicks off with Lennox Berkeley’s  ‘ Sonatina for Violin and Piano ’ . Wide intervals in the top line of ‘Moderato’ create a sing-song effect accompanied by carillon motifs on piano. Thrilling yet artful, it is a considered yet soulful performance. For ‘Lento’ is a smokier tonality from the violin, its breath drawn across tender chords. The final movement, conversely, a greeting from an eager child. There follows ‘Sonata No. 1’, plaintive to start, changing to effervescence, a gently warm tone on violin maintained with absence of vibrato. The mood changes again before the listener is fully aware. In ‘Adagio - Allegro – Adagio’ a searing string is matched by a strident piano. Neither of which content to be ‘pinned-down’. Eventually dissolving,...

Various composers Kyle Horch, saxophone; Yshani Perinpanayagam; Anya Fadina, piano Norwood Recordings (2021) October marked the release of ‘Fairy Tales’, a collection of recital music from Eastern Europe. It features Kyle Horch on alto and soprano saxophones. Twenty-four short – often very short – pieces.  Yshani Perinpanayagam plays piano on thirteen tracks. These commence with Tcherepnine’s ‘Sonatine Sportive’. ‘Lutte’, the first of three, instigates the terrific tonal and dynamic balance of the performances. I n ‘Mi-temps’ t here is an almost flute-like quality to the sax, a tincture of the music’s potency. The album offers world premiere recordings including Horch’s arrangements of Prokofiev’s ‘Cinq melodies’. ‘Andante’ is busy but unhurried  –  exemplifying the appealing dichotomies within each. ‘Lento, ma non troppo’ reveals elements of a Debussy- esque  refrain. ‘Animato, ma non allegro’ has a pleasing undercurrent of modernity. E xpansions of form v eer to s...

Pancho Vladigerov, composer; Etsuko Hirose, performer Mirare Records (2021) New on the Mirare label is ‘Impressions’ – Etsuko Hirose’s performances of piano works by the 20C Bulgarian composer and teacher Pancho Vladigerov. The album comprises of a set of ‘Impressions’ plus a Bulgarian-themed suite. ‘Langueur’ is immediately attractive, water rippling from Hirose’s hands, in gently descendant lines. These invert as the mood heightens before resolving with deeper undertones. ‘Étreinte’ conjures an image of silent movie stars. Its swirling colours infuse a downtime of a 1920s Parisian cocktail bar. ‘Valse-Caprice’ is an enchanting and thrilling waltz, with a pleasing variation in tempo. Again, Hirose contains an emotive response to affect a delicate balance. ‘Caresse’ offers an air of nostalgia. Its influences range from Late Romantic to early Music Hall. ‘Élégance’ also marks the intersection between Romantic and Modern. Another intimate recording: ‘clean’, effortless, and elegance inde...

Chabuka Amiranashvili, composer; performer Memo Music (2021) Chabuka Amiranashvili’s new collection for Memo Music commences with ‘We Will Survive’ akin a John Williams score with whirring brass and droplets of ‘purer’ electronic sound. ‘In Past’ offers restful piano motifs accompanied by a gentle pattering of drum pads. These elements shift in timbre and dynamic range, conjoined by the echoing rasp of a pan flute. I would have also enjoyed it without it being ‘pinned down’ melodically.  ‘Bao Bao’ is warm synth clusters and sparkling chimes, reminiscent of a 1980s Vangelis soundtrack. In exposition, intervals descend,  very satisfyingly,  on electric piano. And again, those warm synth clusters in ‘Svani’ with a simple piano tune floating above. T he forces intertwine, i n a dual narration, becoming part of the other. Its structural balance consistent, it is one of the best compositions on the album. ‘Small’ seems an easy styling of a wordless Soul ballad, employing attrac...

New on Willowhayne Records is ‘The King’s Alchemist – British String Trios’ performed by the Eblana String Trio comprising Lucy Nolan on viola, Jonathan Martindale on violin, and Peggy Nolan on cello. First is Finzi’s ‘Prelude and Fugue’. The piece is gently contemporary, melodic and familiar, in debt as it is to Bach (though to this listener hinting towards Handel). The strings are soulful, yearning, plaintive. ‘Prelude’ is led by a repetitive melancholic air which near close takes on slightly more force. ‘Fugue’ offers deeper tones sensitively related by the performers. The high sweep of the violin echoes what it is underpinned by. The aspect of forcefulness mounts in a masterfully restrained execution, maintaining resonance and balance. Second is a world premiere recording of Hugh Wood’s ‘Ithaka.’ Eblana’s almost-breathy playing complements aspects of airiness, to further open a range of timbres. The explorative and engaging nature of the piece, if at phases lacking consistency, pre...

Jesper Sivebæk, guitar OUR Recordings (2021) New from OUR Recordings is ‘Ta’ Mig Med (Take Me Along)’ – a collection of ‘classical’ arrangements of songs by the late Danish musician Kim Larsen which translate very well. As the supremely gifted guitarist Jesper Sivebæk explains, “The arrangements… are a tribute to Kim Larsen’s melodies, but also to my instrument – the classical/Spanish guitar.” Its opening track (using English titles for this review) ‘Lady Oh Lady’ sets the tone: faintly contemporary and faintly lyrical, and resting upon the pillow of tradition. ‘If Your Dad Says OK’ has a Bluesier edge yet in transcription could pass for a European folk song. ‘Lots of Success’ has the slower-paced melancholic air of an Italian film score, gradually building to (granted, Spanish) Albéniz-style riffs. ‘The Narrow Road’ proffers a chant-like journey, its melodic line blending into the accompaniment seamlessly. ‘Heaven’ offers an increase of rhythm, motion, and tempo not expected from its ...

Released this month on Nimbus Alliance Records, Mozart’s intimate ‘quattro’ versions of his three Vienna piano concerti arranged for quartet or string orchestra (though never written for full orchestra). This album features the unsurprisingly award-winning Czech pianist Matyáš Novák alongside compatriots the Wihan Quartet. Photo: Lenka Hatašová Performed in a natural and fluid style, and without sentimentality, the studio production is as crystal-clear as to be invigorating. Novák’s playing is in turns crisp and gently assured, and always in perfect balance with the full-bodied strings. And yet, this is a warm and intimate recording. The second movement of Concerto No. 11 is both melodious and mellifluous, the performers’ exacting balance never overplayed. Its closing minuet belies an artful variation of tone. Similarly enlivened, and thus reenergised, it seems as if Concerto No. 12 could have been written yesterday. A welcome lightness of touch compliments its compositional structur...

‘Territorial Songs’, a new CD of works for recorder by Faroese composer Sunleif Rasmussen, may not be everyone’s cup of tea presenting as it does the wonders of contemporary practice, performed with jaw-dropping skill by Michala Petri, pushing the envelope to extend a range of tones and approaches. The collection kicks-off with ‘Flow’ for recorder and string trio, and featuring the Esbjerg Ensemble. Its strikingly fresh and contemporary sound seems akin to a reformed Baroque, short sharp string stokes complementing the breathiness of Petri’s technique. The central ‘Tranquillo’, however, affords a gentler unison between the solo and the strings, accompanied by a pitter-patter of pizzicato. The closing ‘Rondeau’ is brighter and rhythmic, Keystone Cops chasing tails around a carousel. ‘I’ is a setting of a poem by Inger Christensen in which recorder and chamber choir are at times astonishingly similar in tone. The vocalisation (Stephen Layton leading the Danish National Vocal Ensemble) ...

Jasmin Seidl, piano Cugate Classics (2021) New from Cugate Classics is a restful collection of original piano pieces by Jasmin Seidl. Gently Minimalist, these offer Glass-like strains although nod to Classical structure and melodicism. Commencing with ‘Sea’, pleasingly underplayed, a glock picks out higher ranges with the percussive aspect of a triangle. If you enjoy Elena Kats-Chernin, you’ll love this: peaceful, calm, serene. The pieces sustain a carillon quality. ‘Sunday Sarabande’ lilts and drifts, with slight shifts of cadence and tempo. ‘Mourning’ proffers slow and ponderous trails in between sets of descendant chords. ‘Lullaby Talk’ repeats its echoey refrain of rising and falling minor thirds – again reminiscent of bells. With ‘Wings’, simple phrases attain tonal height to airily meander. I confess to expecting contrast with ‘Valse Triste’, being in fact a slow stroll in 4/4. Its ‘waltz’ element is a repeating motif in the left hand. ‘Melting’ is indeed so: fluid and dreamy, a ...

Violeta Vicci, violin; viola; voice Aldilà Records (2020) ‘Mirror Images’ is a mesmerising collection of short works for violin, viola, and voice. A tonic for our times, it comprises truly exceptional performances by Spanish-Swiss performer Violeta Vicci . The album opens with Söderlind’s ‘Elegia II’. Sonorous, melancholy, and graceful, it seems familiar-yet-new. A carefully measured violin recording executed with engaging dynamic contrast. ‘Improvisation I’ is the first of Vicci’s imaginative and personal statements. These intersperse the selection. ‘Improvisation II’ combines ancient and modern dance elements, its gentle cadences strumming like a guitar. ‘Improvisation III’ is wistful, exquisite, whilst ‘Improvisation IV’ draws upon traditional idioms as if an unhinged sea shanty. ‘Improvisation V’ features Vicci’s fluid soprano, echoing the resonance of a bowed string. ‘Improvisation VI’ brings vocal and instrument together, the string seeming to reference a hurdy-gurdy. Bach’s ‘Par...

Sarah Kapustin, violin; Roeland Jagers, viola Navis Classics (2020) ‘Reflections’ is a new release from Navis Classics featuring Sarah Kapustin on violin and Roeland Jagers on viola. The duo present a clean yet breathy tone. You often hear the performer’s breath (performers’ breaths) in the exquisite ‘live’ studio production. The phrasing is dynamic and forceful but not forced. It is at the edge of a natural and easy sense of both timbre and rhythm. The collection opens with a series of short and intriguing canons by Josquin des Prez. In order, these form a satisfying narrative. The semi-dissonant cadences resolve with a legitimate melancholy befitting these extraordinary times. It seems to disperse into the resonant and electrifying Martinu ‘Duo’. Like off-kilter Vivaldi, brief, beautiful, but brilliant. ‘Allegro’ and its bookend are stirring and fiery. And, in between, the variant phrases of ‘Lento’ reflect upon the route travelled. A pair of Bach canons arranged by Forbes embody an...