Alfred SCHNITTKE (1934-1998)
Suite im alten Stil (1972) [15:06]
Polka (1980) [1:47]
Tango (1984) [3:01]
Sonata for Violin and Piano No 1 (1963) [17:53]
Madrigal in memoriam Oleg Kagan (1990) [9:13]
Gratulationsrondo [7:24]
Stille Nacht (1978) [4:47]
Daniel Hope (violin), Alexey Botvinov (piano)
rec. October & November 2019, Beethovenhaus, Bonn, Germany
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 483 9234 [59:11]
Daniel Hope’s sweetness of tone and impeccable musicality makes him a draw for any new recording, and the booklet anecdotes for this release amply illustrate his connections with Alfred Schnittke while managing to avoid telling us much about the actual music on the disc.
Schnittke became known for his polystylistic combining of past and present styles in the 1960s and 70s, but the Suite im alten Stil flips this into a work almost entirely lacking in avant-garde content. Perhaps as a result of this it has become quite popular and has been recorded frequently. Hope and Botvinov give a vibrant performance full of rhythmic verve, as well as charm and elegance in movements such as the gorgeous final Pantomime, which of course offers its own lemon-sharp surprise towards the end. This is followed by two brief pieces taken from larger scores. The Polka is an arrangement of music dubbed ‘The Overcoat’ from the Gogol Suite, and is the kind of music that could easily fit into something like ‘The Fiddler on the Roof’. The Tango is from Schittke’s music for a Elem Klimov film called Agony, and is another entirely approachable tune which may bring Piazzolla to mind.
Having been eased in gently, the Sonata for Violin and Piano No 1 is a more searching prospect, though by no means Schnittke’s most ‘difficult’ music. This comes from a period in which he was using serial techniques, and tonality is more enigmatic than entirely present here, though this takes nothing away from the expressive intensity built in the first movement or from some of the lyricism heard from the violin throughout the work. The punchy rhythms in the second movement set up a vehicle for interplay between piano and violin which is not without wit when the tensions briefly relax. The Largo third movement is striking in its sudden oases of tonality, an effect not entirely dissimilar to that created by, and is indeed an homage to Shostakovich in the slow movement of his Piano Trio No 2. The passacaglia is however an illusion in this case, the music restless and all repose discomforting. The final movement is distinctive in its syncopation, Schnittke taking his nervous energy almost into boogie-woogie, the whole thing laced with stabbing irony. Daniel Hope has been playing this work since his teenage years, and has also recorded a version with chamber orchestra on the Nimbus label. He clearly knows how to get the best out of every corner of the piece, from gentle caresses to slicing acerbity.
Oleg Kagan was a Soviet violinist whose remarkable career was cut short by cancer in 1990, Schnittke’s moving solo a spare, almost skeletal homage to an artist who had done so much for the music of his contemporaries. The Mozartean Congratulatory Rondo breaks the spell of the preceding work, and the programme concludes with Schnittke’s powerfully atmospheric adaptation of Franz Xaver Gruber’s Silent Night.
There are a few violin/piano Schnittke recordings around, but while you will find all of these pieces elsewhere and a certain amount of duplication in some programmes, many such releases are out of print, or are based around all three of Schnittke’s violin sonatas. Ulf Wallin and Roland Pöntinen’s album on the BIS label BIS-527 CD is still a very fine alternative, but with the Sonata No 2 (Quasi una Sonata) instead of the extras on Hope and Botvinov’s programme.
Superbly recorded, this is an excellent release that serves as a reminder of Alfred Schnittke’s range as a composer, as well as being an opportunity to hear two artists at the top of their game. As Daniel Hope says in his text, trying to describe Schnittke in a few words “would never do justice to him”, and nor can any single recital entirely represent his oeuvre. This is the kind of recording that can however serve as an excellent introduction to Schnittke, and one which will no doubt bring some renewed interest in his work.
Dominy Clements
