Wilhelm STENHAMMAR (1871-1927)
Piano Pieces
see track listing below review
Cassandra Wyss (piano)
rec. Siemensvilla, Berlin, 3-5 November 2011
CAPRICCIO C5117 [62:02]
A few years younger than their Nordic contemporaries
Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius none of the three leading Swedish composers
of this period, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Wilhelm Stenhammar and Hugo
Alfvén, managed to acquire an international standing of the same
calibre as the Dane and the Finn. P-B and Alfvén became, and
still are, household names in Sweden, the former through his piano pieces
and his songs, the latter through his colourful orchestral music - the
Midsummer’s Vigil in particular - and also some songs.
Stenhammar was more elusive and even today he is a bit exclusive. His
music was never ‘folksy’ but connoisseurs regard his G minor
symphony, the Serenade for orchestra, the second piano concerto, his
six string quartets and some very noble songs as la crème
de la crème of Swedish music from the first decades of the
20th century.
Though Stenhammar was a brilliant pianist he wrote comparatively little
for piano: five sonatas - the first completed in 1880 when he was 9,
and only the fifth and last from 1895 allotted an opus number - the
three fantasies and Sensommarnätter. In other words his
complete mature oeuvre is on this CD. Sensommarnätter was
published in 1914 but written considerably earlier, probably around
the turn of the century.
The fantasies are indebted to Brahms and Schumann though clearly individual
in utterance. The best known is No. 1, Molto appassionato, and
Cassandra Wyss’s reading is strongly impassioned with admirable
clarity and forward movement. In No. 2, Dolce scherzando, she
seems too relaxed, which the playing time also tells us. Wyss takes
6:05 while Mats Widlund does it in 4:07 without in the least feeling
rushed. Wyss seems to stress the dolce whereas Widlund, rightly
stresses scherzando. There is a marked difference also in the
third fantasy, Molto espressivo e con intimissimo: Wyss 6:08,
Widlund 4:40. Here, though, Wyss’s weightier approach pays dividends.
The playing is molto espressivo and this also includes heavier
rubatos than those applied by Widlund. I still feel that his playing
has a more natural flow but, by and large, Cassandra Wyss’s reading
is valid too.
Sensommarnätter (Late Summer Nights) are more impressionist,
maybe inspired by Grieg’s late piano works and Debussy. Though
not strictly speaking programme music - there are no extra-musical titles
- it is possible to imagine the approaching autumn storms in the Poco
presto (No. 2) while No. 1 and No. 3 are reflective and rather melancholy
wanderings through landscapes of ever-shifting harmonies, the flavours
of ripe fields of wheat. No. 4, Presto agitato, seems to allude
to flowing rivers. The concluding Poco allegretto, the best known
of the five, feels wreathed in smiles of delight at the mild winds that
still caress the cheeks but with a melancholy presage: the frosty days
of autumn are not too far away.
If the fantasies are modelled on the romantics, the sonata is more classicist
in outline. Of the four movements the nervously hastening second movement,
Molto vivace, has a youthful energy and wry humour, even a kind
of nonchalance that is compelling. The following Lento e mesto
is solemn and stately, like a Gothic cathedral, a noble interlude between
the scherzo and the joie de vivre of the finale, flamboyant but
with patches of reflections. It is a pity that Stenhammar gave up writing
piano sonatas, considering the quality of his mature orchestral works.
This sonata points forward to great things.
Cassandra Wyss is technically accomplished and sensitive to nuance.
With good recording and brief but informative liner-notes this is a
valuable addition to Capriccio’s rapidly growing catalogue of
piano recordings a little off the beaten track.
Göran Forsling
Track Listing
Tre Fantasier, Op. 11 (Three Phantasies)
1. I. Molto appassionato [4:51]
2. II. Dolce scherzando [6:05]
3. III. Molto espressivo e con intimissimo [6:08]
Sensommarnätter, Op. 33 (Late Summer Nights)
4. I. Tranquillo e soave [4:55]
5. II. Poco presto [2:15]
6. III. Piano. Non troppo lento [3:32]
7. IV. Presto agitato [3:42]
8. V. Poco allegretto [3:43]
Piano Sonata in A-flat minor, Op. 12
9. Moderato, quasi andante [7:44]
10. Molto vivace [7:08]
11. Lento e mesto [2:38]
12. Finale. Allegro [8:55]
