There is no big announcement or list of planned releases documented
here, but this is labelled as ‘Schumann: Chamber Music vol.
1’, so we can hope for a nice juicy series from MDG to follow.
Schumann’s violin sonatas are somewhat in the shadow of many
of his other works, but they do have plenty of the characteristics
which give his work its appeal and deserve plenty of recognition.
The programme here begins with the Grand Sonata op.121,
which Schumann was working on while negotiations for the publication
of the Op.105 sonata were in progress. After Schumann’s death
the work was tarred with the brush of prejudice, seen as the
product of an increasingly diseased mind and too extreme to
be anything other than a failure in performance. Listening today
one can hear the striking sense of original thinking in this
piece, which, while perhaps less thematically memorable, is
certainly a match and a challenge for Brahms’ compositions in
this genre. The first movement is nearly quarter of an hour
of unrelenting intensity, with all of the rich pianistic writing
which makes this piece a true duo and not merely a violin work
with piano accompaniment. The central two movements are more
compact, the Sehr lebhaft keeping up the demanding nature
of the first movement with further dark harmonic brooding. The
following Leise, einfach, lightens the mood a little
as promised, with the pizzicato violin being stalked by a stealthy
piano, an opening section which turns into a gorgeous set of
variations. The final movement Bewegt is a dramatic but
triumphant statement whose rondo form has a remarkable cumulative
effect.
The Sonata Op.105 is closely related in terms of period
to the Op.121 sonata, and has a similarly vital sense of intense
inventiveness and emotional inventiveness. The mention of the
piano before the violin in the title is no mistake, and not
unique in this genre, following in a line traceable to Mozart
and Beethoven. This equality of status between the instruments
is a further crystallisation of those earlier examples, and
Schumann’s contribution is rightly pointed out in Joachim Draheim’s
booklet notes as a forerunner to the romantic heights of the
later 19th century with the works from Brahms to
César Franck and beyond. Thematic connections are present throughout
the Op.105 sonata, but whether these come across subliminally
or with intellectual directness the actual music is filled with
charm, especially the Allegretto central movement, which
is like a cinematic panning shot between various conversations.
The final movement can be seen as a gesture in Bach’s direction,
but also has plenty of dance-like energy to go with the imitative
counterpoint.
To conclude there is the Sonata in A minor, which was
originally a collaborative effort in which Schumann was joined
by the younger Brahms and his protégé Albert Dietrich, resulting
in the so-called ‘FAE–Sonata’. Dietrich was responsible for
the first movement, Schumann for the Intermezzo and Finale,
Brahms contributing the penultimate Scherzo. Schumann
began replacing the other composer’s work, and while it is not
entirely clear from the booklet notes this is now entirely Schumann’s
own work. Hindsight and knowledge of this work’s history can
lead one to blithely apply words such as ‘flawed’ or ‘uneven’,
but even as Schumann’s powers waned his natural gift as a composer
and personal individuality of style are still potent and present,
wiping a myriad of lesser and entirely healthy composers off
the board.
There is a deal of distinguished competition in this repertoire,
though with a read of the review I am confident this recording
with Ensemble Villa Musica is more attractive than that with
Alberto
Bologni and Giuseppe Bruno. Carolin
Widmann and Dénes Várjon on ECM are perhaps more realistic
competitors, though tastes with regard to recording perspective
may influence the choice here. This MDG disc has a very nice
balance, perhaps a little more piano relative to the violin
might have been preferred, but then the risk is run of the recording
becoming too heavy with the weight of notes coming from the
piano part, so this is not really a criticism. Both Nicolas
Chumachenco and Kalle Randalu play with superb musicality, showing
plenty of light and shade, a deep sense of commitment and communication.
The recording itself is clear and direct, without being too
close, the relationship between instruments and acoustic is
ideal. With Schumann, my feeling is always that the ‘bravura’
is in the essence of the music, and too much extra ladled on
by the players – pianist in particular – is something which
will render the bigger-boned movements too hectic. This is most
certainly not the case here. I admire both performers’ sympathy
with Schumann’s idiom.
Dominy Clements
Ensemble Villa Musica: (Nicolas Chumachenco (violin); Kalle Randalu
(piano))
