Mosaic
Wenting Kang (viola)
Sergei Kvitko (piano)
rec. 2021, Estudio Uno, Madrid, Spain
Reviewed as downloaded from press preview
BLUE GRIFFIN RECORDING BGR609 [71]
The repertoire of small pieces for a violinist is truly extensive, and cellists are also well catered for. A viola player, on the other hand, will be hard pressed to find more than a handful, and to fill a recital CD, she/he has to rely on transcriptions. When Chinese born Wenting Kang, principal violist of Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid at the Royal Theatre of Spain, wanted to record a programme focusing on French and Spanish music, the scope was narrowed further, but here she and pianist Sergei Kvitko have come up with a varied and fascinating collection of pieces under the spot-on collective title “Mosaic”. Timewise the compositions cover the period late 19th century – early 20th century, with one notable exception.
They begin with Debussy’s most beautiful song, Beau soir, in a transcription signed Jascha Heifetz. One is immediately struck by Ms Kang’s beautiful tone, dark, soft as satin. In Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie, originally composed for clarinet, she also demonstrates her excellent technical capacity. That the viola and clarinet have tonal similarities is well-known from Brahms’s clarinet sonatas, which he also presented in a version for viola. Legendary Italian violin virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci made a transcription of Tarrega’s popular guitar piece Recuerdos de la Alhambra, famous for the tremolo technique required. A string instrument cannot produce that effect, which means that the flowing legato of the original becomes staccato, which changes the character of the music. Technically it is impressive, and Ricci, who often played it as an encore, was always met with ovations. The melody is certainly attractive, and it has been arranged in various ways through the years. Both Nana Mouskouri and Sarah Brightman have performed it in vocal versions, and I once heard it played on marimba, which better catches the tremolo effects.
Ravel’s famous Pavane sounds exquisite, played here with cello-like tone, and the Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera is one of many examples of Ravel’s interest in Spanish rhythms.
Fauré seems to have had a special liking for the cello. Besides his two late sonatas he wrote several smaller pieces, some of which reached great popularity. Both Élégie and Berceuse are among his best-known works and they sound very well on the viola. In particular the Èlégie is a major work with a dramatic intensity that one doesn’t always expect from him. The fluttery Papillon is a charmer, Berceuse, gently rocking, is lovely, and his early song Après un rêve is a dream, especially in cello master Pablo Casals’s exquisite transcription.
Albeniz’s “greatest hit” Tango has also been the subject of many arrangements. This one, by M. Rummel, is nice with elegant double stops.
Back to Pablo Casals (or Pau, as was his Catalan first name). He had a long career as the world’s most famous cellist and later also as conductor. He was eagerly active to the very end and conducted his last concert in Jerusalem, only weeks before he passed away, aged 96. He was also a composer, and here we hear his arrangement of the Catalan Christmas song El Cant dels Ocells (Song of the Birds). It is a great favourite of mine since many years, and I do admire Wenting Kang’s warm and sensitive reading. It is preceded by Fantasia on Song of the Birds by Japanese Akira Nishimura, which is the exception I mentioned above. Music with a more contemporary sound. The melodic material is traditional, the same as Casal’s cello version but the harmonic language is spicier – but still very accessible. It is a valuable contrast to the rest of the programme. To my mind the order of the two works should have been reversed, but every listener can easily programme the order according to personal taste.
The grand finale is de Falla’s ever popular Seven Spanish Folk Songs, dressed up for viola and piano by E. Colón, very skilfully. This is the music that has the most obvious Spanish flavour in the programme, and several of the songs radiate images of Spanish sun, strumming guitars and castanets. A riveting conclusion to a lovely concert. Sergei Kvitko plays with admirable rhythmic abandon, and with recorded sound of demonstration quality this is a disc that should appeal to a wide audience.
Göran Forsling
Contents
Debussy
Beau Soir
Première Rhapsodie
Tárrega
Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Ravel
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera
Fauré
Élégie in c minor, Op. 24
Papillon, Op. 77
Berceuse, Op. 16
Après un rêve, Op. 7 No. 1
Albéniz
Tango in D major, Op. 165 No. 2
Akira Nishimura (b. 1953)
Fantasia on Song of the Birds
Casals
El Cant dels Ocells – Song of the Birds
de Falla
Siete canciones populares españolas:
El Paño Moruno
Seguidilla Murciana
Asturiana
Jota
Nana
Canción
Polo
