I won’t be the first to point out that there
are only two sonatas here but if we allow Britten’s early and
archly enjoyable Suite and Walton’s lovely Two Pieces, then we
can enjoy the two major works with their satellites, uninterrupted by
pedantry.
Howard Ferguson’s Op.10 Sonata is a splendidly compact work full
of incident. It was once performed by Isaac Stern, who took it up on
Myra Hess’s urging. Their 1960 Edinburgh Festival performance
has been preserved and released, and is an important document of, in
Hess’s case, ‘first generation’ musicianship, given
the close professional relationship between Hess and Ferguson: she famously
first recorded the Piano Sonata. The Chilingirian-Benson Hyperion (CDA66192)
and Lewis-Filsell Guild (GMCD7120) are both worthy recordings of the
Op.10, but seem to me to be outclassed by this Little-Lane entrant.
The Chandos pairing keep things moving, and are significantly faster
than Chilingirian and Benson, and on a par with the Guild duo - though
as is his wont Oliver Lewis is very fast in the slow movement. More
to the point, Little’s tonal resources are the most opulent of
the three and she is the most involved in the expressive intensity of
the Adagio. To cap things, she and Lane traverse the sonata’s
dramatic and lyrical paths with conspicuous excellence.
Walton’s Sonata will always be associated with Yehudi Menuhin,
for whom it was written and who premiered it in recital and on disc,
on both occasions with Louis Kentner. You can find it marooned in disc
24 of the vast 50 disc (and one documentary CD) EMI boxed set (
26413211)
which I reviewed on its release. Little and Lane are nearly two minutes
quicker than Menuhin and Kentner though Menuhin’s inimitable tonal
resources, his sense of the music’s fantasy and colour, infuse
the sonata from the very start. Little takes a rather less intensive
approach to phrasing, and she doesn’t replicate Menuhin’s
very busy accenting, and probing intensity. Lane tends to turn corners
with rather greater rhythmic speed than Kentner. The result is another
fine performance, less personalised than the Menuhin-Kentner but vividly
characterising the second movement variations to great effect. The exciting
Scherzetto was originally intended as the central movement of
the Sonata but was, sensibly, excised - there’s plenty of contrast
in the variations as it is. It’s heard here in Hugh Macdonald’s
edition, and so too is the delightful
Canzonetta, based on a
troubadour dance.
Britten’s ripe Suite was completed when he was 22 and in its full
form it was premiered by Antonio Brosa with Britten at the keyboard.
Little manages to vest the
Lullaby third movement in particular
with really touching refinement, and for all the work’s somewhat
knowing veneer this movement and the
moto perpetuo second movement
offer intriguing pointers as to the composer’s further development.
It ends a splendidly recorded and documented disc. It’s good to
see Little and Lane - Britain’s best ambassadors for native violin
sonatas - exploring ever further afield. Will they record Goossens and
Ireland in this series?
Jonathan Woolf
Britten discography & review index:
Suite
