Nicolai KAPUSTIN (b. 1937)
Trio Op. 86 [17:58]
Divertissement Op. 126 [18:59] *
Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 142 [19:11] *
Miguel Borrego (violin); José Miguel Gómez (cello); Juan Carlos Garvayo (piano)
rec. July 2012, Cezanne Producciones
* world premiere recording
NON PROFIT MUSIC NPM 1405 [56:28]
My first acquaintance with the music of Nicolai Kapustin came when a
piano student of mine chose the Toccatina Op. 36 as one piece in her Advanced
Certificate programme. Essentially it offered her the opportunity to play
a piece of structured piano jazz, exceedingly well. It’s evidently
written by someone with an intimate knowledge both of the genre and the
instrument – something challenging, yet fun to play, and enjoyable
to listen to.
So when the opportunity to get to grips with three of his works for piano
trio arose, I was obviously excited to see what Kapustin could achieve
with the added two string instruments.
Initially I wasn’t disappointed. From the start of the first Trio
the violin-playing is reminiscent of French jazz-master par excellence,
Stephane Grappelli. His typical swooping attack is fully in evidence and
within a minute both piano and violin get involved in a spot of boogie-woogie.
Indeed, in the opening few minutes, the piano, not unsurprisingly, gets
most of the action, which it shares melodically with the violin. The cello
part at times seems somewhat peripheral, although it does get to mimic
the string bass of the traditional jazz-piano trio. There’s also
a moment towards the end of the fifth minute – albeit short-lived
– where it comes to life. A rather unexpected piano flourish brings
the opening Allegro molto to a close.
The ensuing Andante shows a greater degree of interplay between
the two strings, and at times there is consequently an almost more classical
feel to the proceedings, though this is soon dispelled once the characteristic
driving rhythms kick back in. The music mingles the likes of Oscar Peterson
and Gershwin with a semi-Hollywood ballad style, before moving abruptly
into the final Allegro giocoso, with its once-more familiar motor
rhythms and cadences.
At this point a slight niggle starts to emerge, namely the increasingly
predictable nature of some of the rhythm patterns and harmonic progressions.
Yes, it’s all clever, great fun, entertaining and easy to listen
to, but will the remaining two pieces have something more or significantly
different to say?
The opening of the Divertissement didn’t seem too hopeful
in this respect. It appears almost to pick up where the first trio left
off, rhythmically, harmonically and even in the way the three instruments
are again deployed. True, there are some ‘cool’ cello-pizzicato
moments, but much of this music appears interchangeable with other tracks
on the CD. There is a pleasantly wistful feel to the opening of the Adagio,
especially when a gently ‘Latin’ mood emerges. However, a
greater sense of direction and thematic development could benefit here
in giving the movement a little more shape, with its occasional allusions,
intentional or otherwise, to Some Day My Prince Will Come, from
Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The Divertissement is blessed with four movements. In terms of
rhythmic design, there is contrast between the third-movement Allegretto,
and the Allegro vivace Finale. On the other hand there isn’t
really the feeling that the extra movement provides the same degree of
contrast as would be the case in a conventional four-movement piano trio,
with a fast opening movement, slow movement, minuet (or faster scherzo)
and a brisk finale.
The opening ideas and use of texture in the slightly slower Moderato
that opens the Piano Trio No 2, does, however, seem to smack of something
new in terms of composing style. A familiar lyrical section soon seems
to look back again to the kind of writing heard in the first trio. That
said, it would be harder to distinguish Kapustin’s by now fairly
recognisable musical language, in quite every bar of this particular movement.
Flattened sevenths add a little ‘bluesy’ element to the ensuing
Largo, which is still essentially eclectic in style, moving from
one genre to another with relative ease. Harmonically-speaking there is
definitely more to get your teeth into here, as a result of a greater
sense of inventiveness in terms of chord progressions. The finale, too,
has something more individual to say. Certainly, on an initial hearing,
Kapustin wouldn’t necessarily be the first name to come to mind
as the music’s composer, especially so in the last few bars before
the work’s rather abrupt conclusion.
The performance and recording are both first rate, and clearly Trio Arbós
pianist, Juan Carlos Garvayo, is a passionate exponent and aficionado
of Nicolai Kapustin’s music. The programme notes – in their
original Spanish, with a parallel English translation – very much
seek to extol the virtues of the music. At times they do seem a little
over-enthusiastic in this aim. There is the usual gripe that, while the
notes have apparently been translated into English by Gordon Burt, there
are still places where the original Spanish strangely shows through: ‘Kapustin
respira esas músicas como si fuera el aire que necesita para vivir’….
which becomes ‘(He) breathes these musics as if they were the air
he needs to live’… - a literal translation, but surely no
native English-speaker, as one would assume Mr Burt is, would ever use
‘music’ in the plural.
Garvayo concludes by saying that the second trio is, ‘perhaps less
outgoing than the two earlier Trios.’ This is surely the nub of
the problem: if you want purely to be entertained by this attractive jazz-fusion
composer, then the first trio is substantial enough to do the job. The
Divertissement, while interesting in itself, doesn’t really
add a great deal more to the equation. If you want to experience a seemingly
more profound side of Kapustin’s style, then the second trio is
the best vehicle, even if it might seem less familiar in concept, if you
have already been weaned on Kapustin’s works for solo piano.
This is not an expensive CD, so whether you buy it for the first trio
alone, or the second for a stylistic comparison – or simply for
all three pieces because you already like Kapustin’s infectious
style of writing, you shouldn’t be disappointed.
A good work-around, however, might be to consider a somewhat more expensive
offering by Trio Panta Rhei on the Ars Produktion Label (ARS38097). This
includes the first Kapustin trio, but here paired with companion works
for piano trio by Gershwin, Daniel Schnyder and Leonard Bernstein.
Philip
R Buttall
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