Sergei Ivanovich TANEYEV (1856-1915)
Sonata for Violin and Piano (1911) [21:20]
Theme and Variations in C major (1874) [11:31]
Repose (Elegy) (1880) [3:06]
Scherzo in D minor (1874-75) [2:37]
Scherzo in G minor (1874-75) [1:09]
Scherzo in E flat minor (1873-74) [3:12]
Scherzo in C major (1874-75) [3:17]
Scherzo in F major (1874-75) [1:35]
Prelude in F major (1894-95) [2:47]
Quadrille (1879) [7:55]
Andantino semplice (1876-78?) [4:46]
Prelude and Fugue in G sharp minor, Op. 29 (1910) [6:35]
Romance, Op. 26, No. 6: Stalaktitï (arr. for violin and piano by Leonid Feigin)
(1908) [2:50]
Ivan Peshkov (violin)
Olga Solovieva (piano)
rec. April 2005 (Sonata and Romance) at Mosfilm Ton-Studio, Moscow, and December
2008 (remainder) at the Moscow Theatre and Concert Centre
NAXOS 8.557804 [72:41]
I’m not sure why ‘Western’ violinists don’t programme the Taneyev Violin sonata
more than they do - and almost all don’t. It has spruce and upholstered ideas
and its Schumann-cum-Brahmsian axis offers plenty of opportunities for expressive
unveiling of its melodic contours. Perhaps some fiddle players shy away from
its late Romanticism, and given that they can play, say, Brahms’s Op. 108
perhaps they find it unnecessary to delve further, much less into Russian
romantic waters. That’s a pity, and fortunately Russian players are more inclined
to popularise their own repertoire, as Feigin
and Politovsky, both questing players in this respect, have both shown over
the years.
Now we can add Ivan Peshkov to the list. His playing is polished and refined
but he doesn’t stint the fire when it’s called for. So, for example, he is
closer to the more incendiary Politkovsky (RCD 16279) than the more leisurely
and affectionate Feigin (RCD 16253) in the work, though arguably he thereby
loses tonal and timbral shading especially in the slow movement, where Feigin
finds that much more sense of fantasy and colour. Still, the drone effects
and rippling piano in the Minuetto are most adeptly done, its folk-derived
inflexions standing proud and tall, and very neatly pointed. The finale is
the most businesslike and Brahmsian of the four movements. Taneyev took a
leaf out of the Master’s book and has the confidence to end contemplatively
too.
The piano works offer a sequence of mainly dance-based pleasures but actually
starts with the relatively expansive Theme and Variations in C major,
written in 1874. Pretty clearly patterned on Tchaikovsky’s own Op.19 Theme
and Variations it nevertheless offers up some personalised pleasures of
its own. Taneyev’s melodic fecundity was considerable and this work is no
exception. Rather like the Sonata, which was written much later of course,
it too harkens back to Schumann though here the influence was very much more
recent and ‘living’. The series of small scale Scherzi that follow also cleave
to the Schumannesque and also to Chopin. Olga Solovieva plays the D minor
Scherzo with defiant and gutsy strength, whilst the C major flows strongly
but with a certain brusqueness. Again she’s a hard-hitting player – perhaps,
here, rather too much so. Repose is almost defiantly Chopinesque. The
Quadrille is exciting and foot-tapping, whilst the Andantino semplice
is a touch Brahmsian. Meanwhile the Op.29 Prelude and Fugue represents
Taneyev’s own very romanticised and personalised brand of contrapuntal Bachian
writing. The Fugue is skittish and fulsome, unleashing a restless stream of
romanticist credentials. As a complete contrast there’s a delicate envoi in
the form of the Romance, Op. 26, No. 6: Stalaktitï arranged
by Leonid Feigin for violin and piano.
It ends a bipartite disc of real pleasures. Both players are certainly communicative
exponents and have been adroitly recorded.
Jonathan Woolf