Kitezh
is a community about 300kms from Moscow, built for Russian orphans.
It is a village of log cabins with a school, a farm, a church,
a guesthouse for visitors, and a village banya (the Russian
equivalent of the Finnish sauna). Since 1992 more than
80 children have lived in Kitezh and the first of them are now
university graduates. Working at Kitezh are doctors, teachers,
farmers, cooks, writers, artists and psychologists, and there
are volunteers from all over the world. The whole project has
been a huge success and there is now a second village, Orion,
some 50kms from Moscow, working along the same lines. The organisation
has had substantial donations but they still need more support.
That’s where this disc fits in. Pianist Martin Berkofsky, who
has dedicated his life to help those in need, visited Moscow
to give a concert at the Tchaikovsky Hall and happened to hear
about some impressive fund raising efforts being made. He later
returned to Moscow to give a concert in aid of Kitezh at the
British Embassy, a concert attended by many of the orphans,
none of whom had ever been to a concert before. It was then
that he got the idea to dedicate the Beethoven recording from
the Tchaikovsky Hall concert to Kitezh. He then asked his long-time
friend Einar Jóhannesson, to join him once again in Moscow and
record the Brahms and Schumann works, also on this disc. This
means that the profit of the sales of the disc goes directly
to the Children’s Community Kitezh.
This
could be the end of this “review”, since charity projects like
this shouldn’t be subject to traditional assessment. Instead
I could just conclude that this is a worthy cause and that a
purchase of the disc will contribute to the survival of a deserving
purpose. But it is more than that. The live recording of Beethoven’s
Choral Fantasy, with its pre-echoes of the finale of
the ninth symphony, presents Martin Berkofsky as a brilliant
pianist who negotiates the not inconsiderable technical difficulties
with ease. In many ways it is a curious composition with the
orchestra after quite some time creeping in gradually and then
the chorus joins in during the last two minutes. The playing
and singing is excellent, the sound a bit tinny but fully acceptable
and there is a short spoken introduction in Russian.
Berkofsky
also takes part in the chamber music items and they are real
duo music – not a wind instrument with piano accompaniment.
The Icelandic clarinettist Einar Jóhannesson, who is principal
clarinettist of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, is a versatile
musician, whom I have heard in a wide variety of music, not
least newer Nordic compositions. Here in German high Romantic
music his smooth tone and superb technique allows him to express
all the beauty and contemplative mood of Brahms’ sonatas, two
of his very last compositions. But even though late Brahms to
a great extent implies inwardness and melancholy, there is a
lot of energy here – and this is not underplayed. In comparison
with the only other recording of the sonatas I have available,
Kálmán Berkes and Jeno Jando on Naxos, Jóhannesson and Berkofsky
are generally tauter and more eager. Timings all through both
works, with one exception, also show this clearly. In the E
flat major sonata, which is the lighter and more improvisational
of the two, the second movement is really played Molto appassionato
as indicated in the score and the allegro finale of the
same work is vital and has a positive approach – a real happy
end.
Robert
Schumann’s three Fantasiestücke were also created during
a happy period in the composer’s life, a life often darkened
by depression. Closely related to his songs, considering the
interplay between the melody instrument and the piano, the first
piece shows some melancholy, but the other two are optimistic
in tone and constitute a life-enhancing close to this disc,
played on all hands with heart-warming devotion for an important
cause.
It
should be added that Cristofori – the “record company”
– is the name of Martin Berkofsky’s non-profit foundation, started
to facilitate his work for charitable causes. The booklet gives
important background to Kitezh, some of which I have
related above, performers’ biographies and notes on the music
by Berkofsky and Jóhannesson.
Warmly
recommended for both musical and charitable reasons!
Göran
Forsling