Jacques LOUSSIER (b. 1934)
Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Percussion (1987-88)* [23:38]
Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Tabla (2006)* [14:19]
Ignacy Jan PADEREWSKI (1860-1941)
Sonata in A minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 13† (1882) [27:17]
Adam Kostecki (violin)
Piotr Iwicki (percussion)*; Gunther Hauer (piano)†
Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra/Adam Kostecki
rec. Star of the Sea Church, Sopot, Poland, 24-27 July 2011 (Loussier); Music University, Hanover, Germany, 22-23 September 2004 (Paderewski)
Loussier: world premiere recordings
NAXOS 8.573200 [65:14]
This is a disparate collection and we would do well to just accept that
rather than struggle to make connections that are not there. It’s
not just a matter of two concertos and one chamber piece. The Loussier
language has pretty much nothing in common with Paderewski but so what.
Loussier's two concertos are from a musician who found fame for
his Bach-meets-Jazz improvisations of the 1950s and 1960s. Few westerners
who came into contact with music in those decades will not associate Loussier
with that 'cool' world of black turtle necks and flowing
grace.
His Violin Concerto No. 1 is in four short movements as is the Second.
The music is very likeable in a neo-Bachian way. It’s kinetically
attention-grabbing and once grabbed holds on tight. The rushing toe-tapping
dynamism of the first movement (Prague) also finds time for some
Grappelli-like swoops. The other movements are equally inventive with
a second movement (L’homme Nu) that is almost Finzian in
its mixture of grace and repose. After this comes a Buenos Aires Tango
of delicacy and machined power. The finale (Tokyo) has a prominent
role for the percussion in a co-solo element. This taps, ticks and chugs
and generally links back very pleasingly to the first movement. This is
a very accessible and amiable work. There's nothing of the avant-garde
in it. Its jazzy panache and attack stands between the masterful William
Schuman Violin Concerto and Bernstein's Symposium alongside
the concertante works by Piazzolla.
The Concerto No 2 partners the violin with the Indian tabla. The score
was commissioned by the Menuhin Festival. It’s more jazzily louche
than the First Concerto and the style sometimes recalls Grappelli who
made several albums with Menuhin. The frozen-breath static qualities of
the second movement make way for more of the grace and clear-eyed beguilement
of its counterpart in the First Concerto. The third movement is a swoopingly
confiding Cadenza that also finds room for display. The finale is a helter-skelter
flight with an explosive sign-off. You can forget any obviously Indian
ethnic element. The tabla is used as a standard percussion presence; no
reason why not.
The Paderewski Violin Sonata dates from more than century earlier than
the Loussier First Concerto. The only natural link is that the admirable
soloist Adam Kostecki must have wanted to record all three works. Naxos
are right to have accommodated him ... and us. The Sonata is high-tide
romantic stuff with some succulent Tchaikovskian melodic material as at
3:08 in the first movement. The Russian composer must have made quite
an impact in Poland. Karlowicz's treasurable Violin Concerto is
in a similar idiom to that of the famous Tchaikovsky concerto. The Intermezzo
central movement - of three - is lovingly played and is just a touch sentimental.
Later it becomes quite forward-looking and at times reminded me uncannily
of the early violin sonatas of Herbert Howells. It’s a lovely piece.
The chirpy and flighty finale also flies on mellifluous wings and is only
briefly flecked with salon atmosphere.
Rob Barnett
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