The distinguished French violist Gérard Caussé
has undertaken one of the Olympian peaks in recording the Cello
Suites recast for the viola in his own arrangement. Others have
certainly done so before him but William Primrose, for one,
wouldn’t touch No.6 in D major given that he considered
it wholly unsuited to the instrument. When in old age, and struggling
with hearing problems, he was prevailed on to record the set
(now on Biddulph),
he simply stopped at No.5. That said, a violist of a younger
generation than Primrose, Lillian Fuchs, did record all six
(Doremi)
so this is a matter of judgement.
Caussé plays all six. He does so in a freely expressive
manner, taking far greater horizontal time than either of those
eminent predecessors; Primrose and Fuchs are almost always quicker,
their rhythm more determined and their imperatives less overtly
expressive and romanticised than Caussé’s more
cushioned warmth.
He steers nevertheless a generally moderate course in his playing.
He certainly eschews historically informed performance. His
tone is rich, warm and rounded; his vibrato is constantly alive
and changing colour with subtle modifications and tightening.
This expressive quality never slides into a generality of response,
but one does feel, certainly in comparison with the two older
players cited, that he somewhat slights the necessary dance
elements embedded in the music. Chordal playing is not always
consistent, and sometimes the result is that music can grind
somewhat to a halt whilst we wait for him to resume the spine
of the thing. Ornamentation is sparingly employed.
In all, then, these are warmly textured, rhythmically somewhat
devitalised accounts. They are lovely as examples of viola playing
but they don’t always reach to the heart of the music.
There is another aspect to consider however and that is that
the music is interspersed with readings from Rilke, in French
translation, by Laurent Terzieff, the much admired French actor
who knew he was dying when he agreed to collaborate with the
violist on the project. The poems he chose are profound meditations
but make for a curious association with the suites. They will
also be difficult for Anglophones to put up with, listening
at a double remove: German poems, translated into French, read
by a dying actor to preface each suite. No translations are
provided.
Jonathan Woolf
Masterwork Index: Cello
suites
Gérard Caussé (viola) 