This is a powerhouse disc of some powerhouse music. If Ysa˙e is
remembered today as a composer it is almost exclusively for his
remarkable cycle of six solo violin sonatas. Nowhere on this disc
does it say that these are first recordings so I must assume they
are not but certainly I had not encountered any of this music
before. I find it hard to believe that it could find finer or
more dedicated advocates than this group of four stellar Norwegian
players who perform with marvellous technical address, conviction,
musicality and no little passion.
These three works are all big and serious compositions. For my
taste, all too often the violin duet format can result in sequences
of acrobatic technical displays which can be passingly entertaining
but offer little meat for repeated listening. The big thirty minute
Sonata in A minor for Two Violins which opens this disc
could not be further from this description. The technical demands
on the players are huge but they are always at the service of
the music. Ysa˙e refuses to let the presence of only two essentially
homophonic instruments limit his musical argument. The players
are equal partners throughout with multiple stopping and complex
polyphony the order of the day. Stylistically it is hard to place.
Written in 1915 – some eight or so years before the solo sonatas
mentioned above it has absorbed many of the modernistic traits
of its time while remaining steadfastly tonal. I would agree with
the players – who have collaborated to write the liner notes –
when they say “the work is full of modal chords, late-romantic
chromaticism, impressionistic and expressionistic traits”. If
I were to level a criticism at all at the work it is precisely
that it veers between styles and lacks the economy of utterance
that makes the solo sonatas such extraordinary works. But that
really is a po-faced response to a work full of so many lush delights.
Kraggerud and Monsen are quite superb – their violins superbly
matched tonally, technically peerless and creating an aural illusion
of many more players than the two of them – try the last three
minutes of the work as it builds towards a delirious climax –
a terrifying complex of chordal passage work and double stopping
produces a glorious Zemlinsky-like texture. If you enjoy the sensual
neurotic world of the early Second Viennese School this will be
for you.
The
String Trio ‘Le Chimay’ that follows is immediately
a terser work – ironically given that it has more instruments.
The introduction of a bass and middle voice to the texture by
definition widens the tonal range. But the musical writing is
far more searching, ill at ease at times. This was written some
twelve years after the earlier sonata and shows how far Ysa˙e
had come as a composer. Again I hear Korngold and Zemlinsky quite
clearly. Although tonal the tonality is exceptionally fluid. Kraggerud
is joined by the brilliant Lars Anders Tomter on viola (most collectors
will know him from his beautiful version of the Walton
Viola
Concerto on Naxos) and the rich glorious cello playing of
Ole-Eirik Ree. Again the quality of the chamber playing is quite
first rate – listen from 5:45 how Kraggerud plays a sinuous plaintive
solo line that slowly builds as the other instruments enter –
Tomter’s viola singing a sad song from 6:11 – the internal balancing
of the instruments superbly achieved. The recording should be
mentioned here – detailed but not overly close, rich and warm
allowing the expressive nature of the music to register. I like
the way all the players enjoy the quieter dynamics – never forcing
the tone, it allows the many half-lights and shadowed passages
in the music to make their full impact.
Great care has been taken with all the works presented to ensure
that manuscripts and original scores were used to eliminate as
many textual errors as possible and this is symptomatic of the
care and attention to detail that has been lavished on this disc
– bargain price perhaps but premium price musical values throughout.
Having been so fulsome in my praise to this point it might surprise
readers that the highlight of this disc for me was actually the
final work – the
Sonata for Solo Cello Op.28. My perception
of the repertoire for solo cello (forgive me if I’m wrong here
– I’m a violinist after all!) is that aside from the Bach
Suites
there is not as much solo repertoire as there is for violin. Assuming
that to be true it makes this work all the more significant. Interestingly
it dates from exactly the same time as the solo violin sonatas
but in the main it inhabits a different musical world - indeed
it seems to be paying an indirect debt to those very same Bach
compositions being a less impulsive, less overtly dramatic piece
than the violin sonatas. The shortest work on the disc running
to just twelve minutes it is in four separate movements. But you
should not mistake brevity for levity – this is quite brilliant
in the terse concentration of its utterance. I particularly liked
the opening – again being struck by the rich dark tone Ole-Eirik
Ree produces – as well as the brief one and a half minute slow
movement
In modo di recitative (track 7) – much of this
latter movement in the lower register of the cello and again the
way Ree is willing to project a thinned-away tone absolutely makes
the most of this strange, elusive and questioning music.
Great credit to Naxos for releasing a disc which by definition
is never going to leap off the shelves in its thousands yet provides
curious collectors with a superb introduction to the chamber music
of this still undervalued composer who is so much more than just
a purveyor of violinistic virtuosity. More please.
Nick Barnard
Henning Kraggerud (violin1); Bård Monsen (violin2);
Lars Anders Tomter (viola3); Ole-Eirik Ree (cello4)
