Shostakovich’s Cello
Sonata has been arranged for viola by
Viktor Kubatsky (the work’s dedicatee)
and Yevgeny Strakhov. Annette Bartholdy,
who formed a duo with Julius Drake in
2002, has in effect collated the two
versions to make her own (or as David
Nice’s notes put it, she has definitively
established a viola version ‘from the
slightly different Kubatsky and Strakhov
versions’). Bartholdy’s passion and
dedication is, indeed, never once in
doubt. She utilises a warm, inviting
sound in the opening legato melody and
subsequently brings out the yearning
qualities inherent in this music, emphasising
the lyric warmth at the heart of Shostakovich’s
sometimes sparse lines. The last two
minutes of the first movement are particularly
impressive in their use of pianissimo
spectral whisper.
The second movement
Allegro is more effective on cello as
on that instrument it carries more depth
and power. Still, Bartholdy gives her
all to this spiky world (and the disc
is worth the minimal outlay just for
Julius Drake’s sterling pianism in this
movement). In Drake’s hands, in fact,
the ending is positively outrageous,
sounding like something from a silent
film score! The interior stillness hinted
at in the first movement dominates the
Largo. Bartholdy threads the espressivo
line expertly. The movement seems ready
to end about half way through (around
five minutes into its nine-minute duration)
– as always Shostakovich can elongate
this moment effortlessly, leading in
the present instance to a memorable
inner stillness. It is left to the finale
to attempt some sort of closing statement
and it does so by pitting the violist’s
insinuating line against a spiky piano
accompaniment, a tightrope between lighter
music that yet manages to preserve the
integrity of the exercise. Drake is
superb – again - here.
The Viola Sonata is
dedicated to Fyodor Druzhinin (violist
from 1964 of the Beethoven String Quartet,
the group that premièred 13 of
Shostakovich’s 15 quartets). It is music
that requires the utmost concentration
to fully realise its hypnotic appeal.
Although Bartholdy and Drake cannot
erase memories of Bashmet and Muntian
live at the Barbican in November 2003
(review),
their account shines with an integrity
and a rapport with the composer’s mode
of utterance that makes it an indispensable
part of any Shostakovich collection.
They are able to project the bleak yet
sure aura of the Lento (and note how
the ghostly effects around the 6’30
mark are given in an appropriately disembodied
manner).
The grotesque/sarcastic
elements of the Allegretto are nicely
conveyed by Bartholdy. But it is the
finale that fittingly forms the climax
of this emotional journey. Bartholdy
and Drake portray the music as the epitome
of desolation that eternally strives
towards some – or, more accurately,
any – hint of sunlight. The plangent
long lines of the viola are marvellous,
but it is Drake’s tonal variety and
his identification with the music that
is consistently gripping. This is intensely
moving music in an intensely moving
performance.
Required listening.
Colin Clarke
see also review
by Michael Cookson
Annette Bartholdy (viola); Julius Drake (piano).
