This disc of Penderecki's violin works encompasses
the earliest piece in his published catalogue and one of his most
recent large works. The composer only tidied up the First Sonata
for publication in 1990. Its three movements are over in eight
minutes, during which the language of Bartók, Hindemith
and Shostakovich is never far away. There is barely any sign here
of the Penderecki that would emerge only a few years later (and
which is most familiar to us today). Nonetheless, this is an engaging
piece with its fair share of challenges for both performers, which
are well met by Bieler and Tichman. Penderecki himself, who was
an accomplished violinist in his youth, played the violin part
in the premiere of the piece.
The Three Miniatures from 1959 are Webernian in their language
and also in their brevity (four minutes in total), and offer the
first hints of Penderecki's later fascination with unorthodox
playing techniques - and not just for the violin: the piano plays
pizzicato in the third piece. It is difficult to say more about
the performance, when it is all over so quickly - but similarly,
there is nothing to argue about.
The Cadenza for solo viola is derived from Penderecki's Viola
Concerto of 1983; itself a particularly adaptable piece, not only
existing in versions for cello or clarinet but also in two different
orchestrations. The Cadenza is made up of various passages from
the concerto, beginning with the long, rhapsodic solo passage
from the opening. As such the piece is highly challenging technically,
but also - as we would expect from Penderecki - highly expressive.
Bieler succeeds on both counts here.
For me, and I suspect for others, the main attraction on this
disc is the premiere recording of the Violin Sonata No. 2, composed
in 2000 for Anne-Sophie Mutter (for whom Penderecki also wrote
his second violin concerto, 'Metamorphosen'). This is a very substantial
work, not so far from the length of the two violin concertos themselves
(which are available in excellent recordings on another Naxos
disc). Its five movements weigh in at just under 37 minutes. The
music itself is an example of Penderecki's current style, where,
as in the first sonata, the influences of various late-Romantic
and early 20th century composers are clearly apparent. Unlike
the earlier piece this is unmistakably Pendereckian. The language
will already be familiar to those who are acquainted with other
recent works such as the Sextet or Credo: broadly tonal (most
of the time), though with plenty of unexpected harmonic movement,
extremely chromatic melody, highly polyphonic and rhythmically
flexible. This is best seen in the Adagio, the central movement
of the sonata and also the longest. This contains some of the
most beautiful music Penderecki has written, most notably in one
gorgeous passage. That passage appears three times in the movement
and ultimately comes to dominate the whole sonata, as it returns
in the final 'coda' movement. The Allegro which follows is a real
tour-de-force, highly demanding for both players. The piano part
is certainly no easier than the violin part, and it makes sense
to regard them as equal partners. Overall however, the piece seems
to just fall short of some unseen target; it never quite takes
off as Penderecki's best music does. Whether this is due to the
piece itself or to the performance I am not sure. I suspect a
combination of the two, but possibly more the former. Though more
than adequate, this performance occasionally feels a little self-conscious
and clunky, as though the two players are not quite sure of what
to do with the music. Some of Bieler's quiet playing is a little
unsteady at times. It would be very interesting to hear a recording
by Mutter herself to see how she handles it. But this is definitely
worth a listen, whether one is already a fan of this composer
or not. Naxos's disc of Penderecki's chamber music, including
the wonderful Sextet, would be an obvious next step.
Simon Smith
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Ida Bieler (violin); Nina
Tichman (piano)