It is curious that it took so long to issue this most delightful
collection of Martinu works for chamber orchestra. After all,
they were recorded in 2009, and there is not a dud among the
twenty-two tracks. Martinu excelled in these small-scale works
to a greater degree, I would say, than in the larger forms such
as the symphonies. The program here is really varied and contains
pieces from both ends of his career. The best known of these
is surely the ballet, La revue de cuisine, except here
for the first time we get the whole ballet instead of the usual
four selections: Prologue, Tango, Charleston
and Finale. This adds only an extra six minutes or
so, but every one of them is delicious. Once heard in its entirety,
the shorter suite will never seem adequate again. According
to Klaus Simon, who not only conducts and plays piano on the
CD but also provides the detailed notes, the complete score
languished in the archive of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basle,
Switzerland. A reconstruction of the original was prepared and
edited by Christopher Hogwood, who has specialized in Martinu’s
music as well as that of earlier eras, in collaboration with
Aleš Brezina and the Bohuslav Martinu Institute. Members of
the Holst-Sinfonietta, which despite its name is a Freiburg-based
ensemble, founded in 1996 by Klaus Simon with players from South
Germany, perform the work to the manner born. It is scored for
clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, piano, violin and cello. The various
soloists are superb throughout. Simon in his notes mentions
the similarity of a theme in the Tango to Ravel’s Bolero,
even going so far as to call it a “magnificent parody”. The
only problem is that Martinu’s work pre-dates Ravel, though
the likeness is there for all to hear! Undoubtedly it’s just
a mere coincidence.
The other works are equally attractive. The disc begins with
one of Martinu’s neo-baroque concertos, this one for harpsichord
with other solo instruments in the manner of a concerto
grosso. Yet the harpsichord is the dominant voice and at
times reminds one of Bach’s keyboard concertos. It is a most
tuneful and infectious piece and receives a fine performance
from harpsichordist Robert Hill and the other musicians. The
concerto is followed by one of the composer’s last works, the
Chamber Music No. 1 for clarinet, harp, piano and string
trio. It is more astringent than usual for Martinu and has rather
dense textures which contrast with more folk-like passages in
the first movement that have something of Copland’s Appalachian
Spring about them, before returning to the dissonant themes
that begin the movement. The second movement, marked Andante
moderato, is gentler and more atmospheric, evoking the
nocturne part of the subtitle. Near the start of the third movement
there is a clarinet melody that pre-echoes a theme in John Adams’
Gnarly Buttons clarinet concerto. After that the tempo
picks up and is more typical of Martinu in his happy, consonant
mode, before the Adams-like clarinet makes its reappearance.
The work ends on a light-hearted, positive note.
The third work on the CD may just be the most interesting and
unusual of all. As Simon notes, Les rondes refers to
the “round dances of the Russian chorovod”. He sees
more of a similarity to Janácek than in other compositions of
Martinu. To me, though, the work is much closer to the neo-classical
Stravinsky with touches of French humor ŕ la Milhaud
or Poulenc. It is scored for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet,
piano and two violins. The way the violins interact with the
trumpet and clarinet recalls Stravinsky’s L’histoire du
soldat. The work is in six movements. In the second movement,
Poco andantino, there is a phrase initially on oboe
and then on the trumpet (starting at 2:40). The latter is a
near quotation of the trumpet theme close to the beginning of
the third movement in Janácek’s Capriccio. It’s then
accompanied by a Petrushka-like squeezebox rhythm that
serves as an underpinning. Les rondes is a delightful
piece delectably performed here with its elements of jazz, Stravinskian
dance rhythms and bi-tonality familiar from Milhaud. Yet, it
all comes out in the end sounding like Martinu. It would make
a fine addition to a chamber music concert and should be much
better known.
The performances here are first rate as is the vibrant recorded
sound. The instrumentalists all receive due recognition in the
notes and it would be churlish of me to single out any one of
them — such is the excellence of the ensemble. Furthermore,
Klaus Simon clearly has the measure of Martinu’s music. This
generously filled disc will appeal to all lovers of Martinu’s
music. I look forward to hearing more from this ensemble in
other music as well.
Leslie Wright
see also review by Paul
Corfield Godfrey
Robert Hill (harpsichord) (Concerto); Klaus Simon (piano) (Les rondes)