This is not the first time that recordings of
Bodorová's works have been reviewed here. Simon Jenner
tackled several
Bodorová CDs and was full of praise for her music -
always tonal. Arco Diva have made a speciality of championing
her so having two more of her works from that company came as
no surprise.
The two pieces are patently sincere, deeply moving
and subtle. Bodorová demonstrates a simplicity of utterance
that bring her close to the souls of Finzi (Introit), Macmillan
(Gowdie) and Pärt (Cantus).
The Terezin Requiem refers to the
Holocaust with Terezin (or Theresienstadt) being the model 'camp'
which Hitler had filmed to show how happily confined the Jews
were. Two devotional (not contemplative) movements frame a fast
one. The baritone Nigel Cliffe has a meaty voice adept at the
sort of hieratic melisma called for by the composer. His line
is part-cantor and part-muezzin - a mix of East and West. Cliffe
is no bloodless English shadow; listen to his singing in the sneeringly
vituperative Dies Irae. The emotional span is from doleful
protest to consolatory hymn. The
writing for string quartet is gutsy, tender and amber-toned. The
viciously fast and rasping middle movement has the Martinůs
playing at the edge of their considerable technical range.
The Concerto de Estio dispenses
with the voice and has the guitarist as the soloist. The title
translates as Summer Concerto. It shares this with Joaquin
Rodrigo's violin concerto. Just as with the Terezin work the writing
is tonal, staying on the sunny side of Bartók's idiom with
effects ranging from high prayerful writing for the violins to
percussive effects on the solo instrument’s sound box, to flamenco
attack with zigeuner and klezmer touches. After a plangent middle
movement there comes a broad and confident cantilena with whispered
halflights adding to the atmosphere. At the end the writing for
high strings retreats into an extraordinary shredded cordage of
notes.
The Stevenson, like the other works here
receives its first commercial recording. It is full-blooded with
the violins singing with warm intensity and hysteria. The effect
is like a 'marriage' between Dvořák,
Shostakovich and Schnittke. It is not all burstingly ripe hurly-burly
though. Listen to the nostalgic 'whistler in the gloaming' effect
towards the end of the first movement which segues attacca
into the second. This second movement suggests steel spiders spinning
webs. Melodic flames burst and kindle all the time throughout
this heartbreakingly lyrical work with its parallels with the
Bax First Quartet. Bax has in fact been a special interest of
Stevenson who as written a major set of solo piano variations
on the ‘love theme’ from the second movement of the Second Symphony.
This has been premiered by Matti Raekkalio.
The Stevenson quartet is alive with the plunging
romantic gestures of the Nicholas Maw quartets and the work wonderfully
brought to life by the Martinůs.
Stevenson's universalist articles of faith shine through the finale
as Irish jigs toe and heel it in an evocation of the Kerry dancing
floors. Here is a slow turning vortex of dance gestures ending
in an explosive pizzicato.
Two composers unpredictably
but stimulatingly matched; tonal music
that has not lost its ability to surprise,
delight and warn. My recording of the
month.
Rob Barnett
Colin Clarke
has also listened to this recording
An interesting UK-Czech
mix on the enterprising Arco Diva label,
this CD juxtaposes two pieces by Sylvie
Bodorová (b. 1954) with a string
quartet by Ronald Stevenson. The 32
minutes of Bodorová in effect
constitute the musical worth of this
excellently played recital – the Stevenson
pales in comparison.
Sylvie Bodorová
(of Slovak Hungarian/Czech parentage)
studied at Brno (Janáček
Academy), in Prague and with Donatoni
at the Academia Chigiana, Sienna. A
list of her works can be found at http://arcodiva.savvy.cz/notoviny-en.htm.
Bodorová is one of the ‘Quattro’
group of composers formed in 1996 (the
other members being Luboš Fišer, Otmar
Mácha and Zdenĕk Lukáš).
Her haunting Terezín Ghetto
Requiem of 1997 (commissioned by
the Warwick Festival) is a triumph of
the imagination. Referring to actual
events – the approximately twenty performances
of the Verdi Requiem in 1943-44 at Terezín
– Bodorová’s piece uses excerpts
from both Jewish and Catholic liturgical
texts.
Bodorová’s own
account of her visit to Terezín
in September 1997 to hear Verdi’s Requiem
is reprinted in the booklet. Her stated
aim – ‘I want my music to contribute
… to the ideal of tolerance and humanity’
– is laudable in the extreme.
The Terezín
Ghetto Requiem is scored for baritone
and string quartet. Its three movements
(Lacrymosa, Dies irae and Libera me)
last a total of just over a quarter
of an hour in total. The opening Lacrymosa
quotes from Verdi’s Requiem and
the Jewish prayer Shema Israel. The
careful use of widely-spaced chords,
the delicate atmosphere and the pure
first violin of Lubomír Havlák
all contribute to the resultant intense
concentration. Nigel Cliffe (a member
of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)
declaims to perfection.
The Dies irae text
is almost spat out by Cliffe, contrasting
with the gentle, hushed ‘Libera me’.
Cliffe’s voice is focused as he intones
the words on a single note. The repetitions
of the word ‘Domine’ at 2’20 in this
final movement are imbued with a certain
desperation which perhaps could have
been even more shattering in effect
than Cliffe manages, but nevertheless
this is an unforgettable piece.
The Concierto de
Estio for guitar and string quartet
stands in high contrast to the Requiem.
Played by its dedicatee María
Isabel Siewers, the music’s initial
effect is South American (although Balkan
rhythms are there, too). Slower passages,
however, hearken back to the Requiem
of just two years earlier. A pity there
is a bad edit at 3’22 in the first movement.
Bodorová refers
to the second movement (‘Plegaria’)
as neo-Baroque. Its prayer-like atmosphere
stands in high relief to the surrounding
rhythmic impetus of the first and last
movements, the latter with an exuberant
close. The composer’s own claims for
this piece do seem rather exaggerated,
however. Listening blind, few surely
would agree that the finale represents,
‘a tribute to the primeval rhythm of
the earth’. Still, one comment of hers
has a ring of truth about it – ‘The
work calls for humility before nature’
– even if the piece is obviously not
of the same level of inspiration as
the Requiem.
Ronald Stevenson’s
String Quartet, ‘Voces vagabundae’ of
1989 is accorded a performance of the
utmost dedication. The title (‘Vagabond
Voices’) is in tribute to Sibelius’
‘Voces intimae’ and also to Janáček’s
‘Intimate Letters’. The first movement,
which bears an inscription by Walt Whitman
(‘I take to the open road’) is lively
but simply does not live up to Bodorová’s
inspiration. The most effective parts
are those where Bartók makes his presence
felt. Of the second and third
movements (the second inspired by Scots
poet Kenneth White’s ‘The Bird Path’,
the third by more Whitman) are given
exemplary performances. This music is
difficult to perform (some wonderful
high harmonics by first violinist Lubomir
Havlák stand out) and the Martinů
Quartet plays the score for all it is
worth. Alas, it remains difficult to
be convinced that this score is worth
all that much. The dance-obsessed finale
(which includes a ‘Strathspey fugue’)
includes popular tunes.
The overall impression
is that the work is over-long for its
materials. Another recent Stevenson
release, his 75-minute Passacaglia
on DSCH for piano on Divine Art
CD25013, seems to confirm his penchant
for ‘over-composition’.
Highly recommended
for the Bodorová.
Colin Clarke
The
Arcodiva catalogue is now offered by MusicWeb
for
details
Nigel Cliffe (bar)