RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Vienna
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Sonata No.2 in F, Op.99 (1886) [28:40]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Sonata in A minor “Arpeggione”, D.821 (1824) [23:47]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Sonata No.3 in A, Op.69 (1808) [26:38]
Thomas Carroll (cello) Llŷr Williams (piano)
rec. October 2009 and April 2010 (Schubert) at the Wyastone Leys Concert Hall,
Monmouth. DDD.
ORCHID CLASSICS ORC100016 [79:46]
Some orchestral and choral recordings can impress you just by their sheer
“size”: grandeur, width, weight of sound. There is a lot going
on, and we are delighted by seeing it all work together. Are we more impressed
by the quality or the quantity? For me, it is an open question. It’s
more difficult to astound when you are playing something of much more modest
proportions. I’ve heard on the Internet a few sound-clips from the new
recording by Thomas Carroll and Llŷr Williams, and I expected it to be
good. But I did not anticipate it to be that good.
It is always easier to criticize. A long list of superlatives looks suspicious.
I don’t even want to do comparisons with other recordings: this one
seems to me excellent in every sense. It will change your like of this
music to love. It is devoted. The cello sound is “big”
and vibrant. It has pulp. It is not smoothly flat - but the vibrato does not
annoy. The instrument belongs to Carroll’s teacher Heinrich Schiff,
and it is a 1767 Guadagnini. The piano sound is full and round, yet can be
transparently delicate. The recording is deep and spacious, with ideal balance
of the two instruments. When I listen, I want to put every track on “Repeat”.
I imagine a look “from the side” on my words, and I understand
that they may sound fishy, like a bad commercial. Can a recording of standard
chamber repertoire by musicians without “star” status generate
such a torrent of praise? Believe me, yes!
The album is entitled “Vienna” and contains three cello sonatas
by three great composers that blessed this city with their presence in the
19th century. The Second Sonata by Brahms is the more heroic
and passionate of his two works for the medium. Carroll and Williams dive
into it like swimmers in the Olympics, with splashes of excitement around
them. In calmer places, both instruments sing, and their voices blend perfectly.
The slow movement is a heartfelt romance with some delightful play with timbres.
The pizzicato is well pronounced and is not buried under the piano. The phrasing
is expressive. The Scherzo is a dark, wild ride, yet not too fast to lose
the human touch and become demonic. Its Trio is warm and nostalgic. The finale
is sunny and positive, as Brahms liked to do, but you should expect some very
Romantic moments.
After the overheated Brahms, the Arpeggione comes as cool and refreshing
balm. The cello and the viola have long claimed this sonata each to their
own. The problem I often noticed is that in dense pages the cello tends to
sound heavy, busy and “dirty”. Happily, this is not the case here.
The cello is as light as any viola, yet still not “thin” in the
way a viola can be. What the cello version has that the viola one doesn’t
is the greater richness or different registers, from the deepest growling
low, through the murmuring middle, to the translucent top. This recording
presents a most compelling argument in favour of the cello version. In the
opening Allegro the performers do not hurry, and unwrap its glorious
melodies with care. The tempo and dynamics are alive, and the slight rubato
is very natural. The two Welsh musicians know how to build Schubertian tension
and how to maintain the dancing lightness. The slow movement is a serene song
without words. The finale sways between a lyrical refrain and a merry polka,
and Carroll and Williams keep us airborne throughout its colorful episodes.
The performance of the entire sonata has a rare sense of unity, like a big
arch from first to last. The aftertaste is wonderful.
Finally we arrive at Beethoven’s great Op.69, and the performers do
not let us down. The brave and valiant opening Allegro shares the revolutionary
spirit of Eroica and Appassionata. It also resembles its sister
- the opening movement of the Kreutzer sonata, but without the panic
attacks. It is more confident, like an arrow that knows for sure that it will
hit the target. Again, in the dense places of the development section the
cello sound is remarkably clear. The pizzicato is sonorous. The music flows
as a powerful stream, yet the musicians show no haste, and the lyrical episodes
are expressive. The jumpy, angular Scherzo has a lot of off-beat accents and
is presented with good contrast. What starts as a warm and tender slow movement
is actually just a short introduction into the extrovert and lively finale,
one of Beethoven’s happiest creations. Its mercurial sprints have Mozartean
charm. The performance is invigorating and conveys happiness.
In the photo on the front cover, Thomas Carroll looks nervous. He has absolutely
nothing to worry about! In my opinion these are definitive performances of
ultimate beauty, and I think that I already know what will be my Disc of the
Year.
Oleg Ledeniov
Definitive performances of ultimate beauty. My Disc of the Year.