fri 29/03/2024

Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Diana Ambache | reviews, news & interviews

Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Diana Ambache

Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Diana Ambache

Baroque keyboard suites, Russian fireworks and French chamber music

Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Teodor CurrentzisAnton Zavjyalov


Bach: The French Suites Peter Hill (piano) (Delphian)

Start trying to explain exactly why this latest instalment in Peter Hill’s Bach series is so good and it might seem as if you’re dismissing the very things which make it great. This is pianism completely devoid of ego and flash; Hill is a superb technician but never draws undue attention to himself. You forget he’s even there: what we’re hearing is Bach. In all his guises – the earlier, minor key French Suites typically open with introspective Allemandes before the mood lifts. Hill’s way with the opening of Suite No. 1 is typical: Bach’s slowly unwinding melody never quite resolving, the left hand quietly trying to assert order. The same suite’s “Gigue” is another surprise, its dance steps disguised as a cerebral fugue. Each line is beautifully clear, a perfect blend of the cerebral and the sensual.

Hill is also a master of conviviality: Suite No.4 in Eb is gently joyous, with a serene “Sarabande” and a rollicking “Gigue”. No. 6’s tiny “Polonaise” is exquisite. As a bonus we get Mozart’s baroque-influenced Suite in C, its unfinished “Sarabande” heard in a completion by Hill. Mozart didn’t provide a last movement, so Hill substitutes the sparkling, contrapuntal K574 Gigue. Delphian’s warm, natural-sounding engineering adds to the fun. More from this source, please.

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, Stravinsky: Les Noces Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)

These two works aren't an obvious coupling. Sony's slightly bonkers booklet will infuriate some listeners, consisting of a florid epistolary exchange between violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and conductor Teodor Currentzis, plus some some arty black and white photos showing the couple dressed as folksy newlyweds. Her words are a model of lucidity compared to those of Currentzis, whose gnomic statements include such gems as “This immaterial sound is the yardstick to architect the world we want to live in.” Best to read them after listening, as they do contain some valuable insights into both performances. I love this disc. It contains one of the gutsiest, most exciting versions of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto I've heard, paired with one of Stravinsky's most important but least-performed works. Gutsy being an apt term – Kopatchinskaja and the tutti players use gut strings, along with period wind and brass. Unexpected extremes in dynamics and tempo don't impede the performance's flow: Tchaikovsky's “Canzonetta” is daringly hushed, the finale breathtakingly fast, the Russian influences to the fore. And the soloist calls herself PatKop on Twitter – what's not to love? Brilliant, in other words.

Stravinsky's Les Noces still surprises. Currentzis's reading should be played at high volume, the stark piano and percussion sonorities a major influence on Bartók, Orff and Messiaen. The playing is thrillingly incisive, but the real attraction is the solo and choral singing by native Russian forces. The results are savage but upbeat, and should be embraced by anyone who's guiltily enjoyed Carmina Burana – though Stravinsky's music is deeper and more original. The closing chimes, played on four synchronised pianos, are one of 20th-century music's great moments.

Liberté, Égalité, Sororité: 100 years of chamber music by French women Diana Ambache and friends (Ambache)

None of the composers on Diana Ambache's latest anthology are well-known, but that shouldn't put anyone off. There's not a dud track on it, and the performances are consistently sympathetic. Germaine Tailleferre was the sole female member of Les Six, and her compact Concertino for Flute, Piano and Chamber Orchestra is gorgeous: 15 minutes of delectable neoclassicism fun from an underrated figure who modestly admitted that “I write music because it amuses me...” It's so, so French, and a real find. We get a tiny Nocturne for violin and piano by the short-lived Lili Boulanger, sister of the more famous Nadia. As with the Tailleferre, you scratch your head in disbelief that this isn't a repertoire standard. Another standout is Scènes de la Forêt for flute, horn and piano by Mel Bonis, an exquisite four-movement suite, the wind writing on a par with that of Bonis's compositional classmate Debussy.

Ambache gives us two 19th-century works. Pauline Viardot-Garcia's Sonatina for violin and piano begins in a mood of solemnity before two exuberant dances. Louise Farrenc's Sonata for cello and piano is a little too well-behaved at its outset, making amends with a genial closing Allegro. Claude Arrieu's Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon opens the disc. As good as anything by Arrieu's contemporary Poulenc, it's an invigorating delight. All good – the whole disc impeccably performed by pianist Ambache and her crack ensemble, and very well recorded.

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