Things in Pairs
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von BIBER (1644-1704)
Mystery Sonatas and Passacaglia: No 16 Passacaglia [10:05]
Rain WORTHINGTON (b. 1948)
Balancing on the Edge of Shadows [5:31]
Joseph BOULOGNE, Chevalier de St Georges (1745-1799)
Sonata for Two Violins in B-flat major [11:09]
Arvo PÄRT (b. 1935)
Fratres for Violin and Piano [11:02]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Sonata for Violin and Piano No 10 in G major, Op 96 [27:56]
Audrey Wright (violin), Yundu Wang (piano)
rec. 18-26 May 2021, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, USA
Reviewed as a digital download from a press preview
NAVONA RECORDS NV6392 [65:00]
This enjoyable release from the American violinist, Audrey Wright, comes with a rather overexcited commentary which I am very glad I read after I listened to the album! It seems to think there is something terribly innovative about the programme which there clearly isn’t. A bit of Biber is hardly cutting edge. Joseph Boulogne seems a popular and enjoyable way of showing solidarity with Black Lives Matter. And Pärt’s Fratres couldn’t be more ubiquitous. There’s even the inevitable middle of the road contemporary selection. So not in any way innovative. More a solidly conservative programme and I should end what will sound like a gripe by stating ‘Nothing wrong with that’! More importantly it is a well balanced programme that works.
Boulogne’s Sonata for Two Violins is expertly written and given luscious advocacy by Wright who overdubs the second part herself. I don’t personally think it does Boulogne any favours to make extravagant comparisons with Mozart or Haydn – he just isn’t in that league – and it is better to enjoy him on his own merits. The music is attractively melodic with a nice sensual quality to it which both Wrights (so to speak) capture well even if ultimately it lacks the depth needed to distinguish it from the herd of other neglected music of the late 18th century.
Something similar could be said about the piece from the American composer, Rain Worthington. Her Wikipedia entry likens her music to “a walk in a familiar but different park”. I would say, on this evidence, that the park is familiar but not all that different but a pleasant enough walk either way. As with all the less familiar material included here, Wright makes a persuasive case for the piece.
I’m not sure Pärt’s Fratres has been cutting edge since last century but it is without doubt a modern(ish) classic and Wright and Wang’s performance immediately cured me of any jadedness I felt toward it. This is a particularly well recorded album of what is, from the point of view of production, a tricky musical pairing. The natural resonance is exploited to the full by the performers. They manage to find something new to say about a score I thought had been overdone. Comparing it to Tamsin Little’s imperious version, this account seems more interested in the dark shadows that lurk at the edges of the music.
The sunniest and most laid back of Beethoven violin sonatas suits the mood of this recording perfectly and I liked Wright and Wang’s easy geniality an awful lot. This is the piece in which the title of the collection made most sense since there is a real sense of rapport between the musicians. There is a real crackle to the music making even if the mood is understated. This is an account of this work that can hold company with best of its recent rivals such as James Ehnes with Andrew Armstrong and Frank Peter Zimmermann with Martin Helmchen. The tension between easy going bliss and gently subversive humour in the opening movement is nicely held. The slow movement is one of those short Beethoven movements with great big long melodies that are meant to seem larger than their timeframe. Wright delivers the first half as one drawn out outpouring of tuneful inspiration and that is how it should be. I liked her unhurried approach here. It feels like an exhalation, a letting go of stress and angst. The little scherzo that follows is mined for lyricism which serves as a curtain raiser for the quixotic, playful finale. In this movement Beethoven seems to be playing tricks on both performer and listener at every turn. Storms threaten but just as quickly turn to sunshine, heroic Beethoven seems on the verge of flexing his muscles only to relax again into the Apollonian. I think Wang and Wright have the measure of this capricious mood holding the movement together with an insistence on the pastoral but alive to the naughtiness of Beethoven’s games. In the slow variation Wright points up the connection to the slow movement beautifully and both performers are alert to the afternoon shadows that cross the music from time to time.
The programme starts with a nimble, historically aware account of the Biber that demonstrates Wright’s range well.
The crucial task of a debut recital disc such as this one is to give a good impression of the soloist’s musical personality. What I learnt about Audrey Wright is that behind her unfussy manner lies a solid technique but also a gentle, coaxing way with the music. More subtle Susanna than prima donna Tosca if I can be indulged in an operatic analogy. Having begun this review being a bit of a grouch about the programming, I have to say Wright has done an excellent job of selecting repertoire to match her character as a performer.
David McDade
