Musica da Camera
Vladislav USPENSKY (1937-2004)
Musical Sketches on Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, for guitar and
chamber ensemble (world premiere) (1990) [17:39]
Niccolo PAGANINI (1782-1840)
Sonata Concertata for guitar and violin, Op.61 (1803) [12:13]
Astor PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992)
Histoire du Tango for guitar and violin (1986) [20:25]
Lily Afshar (guitar)
Timothy Shiu (violin: Uspensky, Paganini), Joy Wiener (violin: Piazzolla)
Daniel Gilbert (violin), Anthony Gilbert (viola), Leonardo Altino (cello),
John Chiego (bass), James Gholson (clarinet), Frank Shaffer (percussion )
(all – Uspensky)
Recording dates and venues not provided.
ARCHER RECORDS ARR-31957 [50:17]
Lily Afshar was born in Iran, studied in the USA and became
the first woman in the world to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Music
in guitar performance. In her recordings she always seeks out new territories
and favours world premieres over well-known standards. This is her sixth CD.
It opens with a world premiere recording of Vladislav Uspensky’s ‘Musical
Sketches on Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin’– the same
poem (actually a novel in verse) that was the source of Tchaikovsky’s
opera. This is an interesting work, well performed and really memorable. The
guitar permeates the entire musical canvas, with other instruments providing
various colouring.
There are four portraits of the main characters. Tatiana is shown as deeply
romantic, all yearning, all impulse, all impatient passion. Her sister Olga
is her opposite and is quite content with her life. Her music depicts a kind
of boring bourgeois happiness, with lengthy yawns and the drinking tea from
a saucer, while flies circle a dim lampshade. Onegin is also bored, but his
ennui has elegance and wit. This is a young man who observes and
criticizes the world, trying to fill his day with entertainment and not really
attached to anything (just like our new over-entitled generation). The music
for his friend Lensky is melancholic and plaintive, with feline intonations.
Lensky, in this portrait, is indecisive and languid, a bit feminine. And around
these four characters, the public is dancing. Dance was the main social activity
in the early years of the 19th century, and so, as in Tchaikovsky’s
opera, dances are the staples that hold the score together. The style is not
far from Prokofiev’s waltzes, especially that in War and Peace
or the great Cinderella waltz. The crowds seem to be happy –
why then does this music leave such a sad impression? It reminds me of the
Soviet film scores of the Eighties, with weary smartness behind the smiling
mask. Overall, this is attractive music, even though it does not stand up
well to repeated listening.
The guitar and the violin are equal partners in Paganini’s Sonata
Concertata. The first movement has a Schubertian grace and bounce. The
nocturnal slow movement sets a sombre tone, which is forgotten in the happy
dance of the final rondo. The performance is solid and expressive, the playing
is confident, but the result at times feels a bit messy, especially in the
first movement where I think a lighter presentation would be better. I especially
liked the mysterious tone created by the guitar in the slow movement, and
the finale has good drive. The dialogue is well balanced, in terms both of
performance and recording. The violin sounds clean and jovial. The guitar
has a good sonorous voice; the recording captures well its resonant sound.
Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango seems, these days, to be played
these in all possible combinations of instruments except for its original
one (which was flute and guitar). Here, Lily Afshar is joined by Joy Wiener
on violin, and I can’t say I really enjoyed his contribution. The voice
of the violin is wiry and often unstable. Maybe it is the fault of the recording
made during a live performance (though I don’t hear a big difference
in the guitar sound). The hand of Timothy Shiu in Paganini may have been too
steady, but Joy Wiener seems to glide across the surface on thin skate blades,
and instead of creating a feeling of lightness creates a feeling of unsteadiness,
like falsetto singing. It does not happen all the time, but it does at times.
Sometimes this creates an enthralling sensation of fragility, like the sound
of a glass harmonica, but mostly it is irritating. The music is as lovely
as Piazzolla can be - from the carefree, bustling Bordello, through
the dreamy, smoky Café and the rainy, troubled Nightclub
to the sharp, angular Concert d’aujourd’hui. I would
not recommend this as the best way to make a first acquaintance with this
work. Everybody these days does Piazzolla, so you can find a better version
elsewhere, though I must say that the guitar’s role is played perfectly
here.
Overall, this disc is a great showcase for the artistry of Lily Afshar; Uspensky’s
work may be minor but is memorable; and the Paganini is very fine. On repetitive
listening this album can be a tiring experience, though.
Oleg Ledeniov
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