Born in the Ukraine
in 1903, Piatigorsky’s international
career can be said to have begun when
he was appointed principal cellist of
Furtwängler’s Berlin Philharmonic.
He made his American debut in 1929.
As both chamber musician and soloist
Piatigorsky remained an important figure
thereafter; he died in 1976. He made
fewer concerto recordings than posterity
might have wished, and it is good to
have two of them available, well-restored
by Mark Obert-Thorn, on Naxos.
"Forget about
modesty. Be a show-off. There has never
been written a modest symphony, a humble
rhapsody. You must be able to say, with
great feeling, ‘I hate you’ or ‘I love
you’. Once you are able to say that,
you will find you can play the cello"
– the words of Gregor Piatigorsky. A
big man, with a big cello sound, Piatigorsky
was not one to short-change his audience
emotionally. What he wants to say, he
says "with great feeling".
Given a titular promise of a "chanson
triste" or a "valse
sentimentale", one can be
sure that Piatigorsky will deliver a
warm-toned and vibrant statement of
the emotion indicated. If Piatigorsky
– at least in the performances reissued
here – is a musical "show-off",
it isn’t in terms of empty technical
virtuosity. Most of these encores put
the stress on lyricism and in most cases
the recording so thoroughly foregrounds
the cello that there is little audible
sense of real musical interplay with
Ralph Berkowitz. Most of the shorter
pieces are, in any case, fairly slight,
musical bon-bons. The real substance
comes in the shape of the two concertos.
The composition of
Schumann’s Cello concerto was, in part,
inspired by a trip made with Clara to
Cologne in late September 1850, where
their encounter with the grandeur of
the cathedral and the beauty of the
countryside did much to lift Schumann’s
spirits. The concerto was largely written
in just six days; it seems not to have
been produced with any particular soloist
in mind. Indeed, it was not performed
during Schumann’s lifetime. The major
emphasis is on the lyricism and eloquence
of the cello, the orchestral writing
being subordinate. In this 1934 recording
– the earliest on the CD – Piatigorsky
is sensitively accompanied by the LPO
under Barbirolli. Piatigorsky enjoyed
working with Barbirolli – they went
on to work together in, for example,
New York in the 1937-8 and 1940-41 seasons.
In the latter of these Barbirolli conducted
the Elgar concerto with Piatigorsky
as soloist. In the present recording
of the Schumann concerto, it is the
meditative slow movement that comes
off best. Here Piatigorsky’s playing
has a pleasing nobility. Throughout
the performance there are, as was often
the case with Piatigorsky, a few problems
of intonation, but not so much as to
mar an interesting performance.
The 1950 recording
of the Saint-Saëns concerto is
particularly enjoyable. Composed in
1872, it is a passionate piece, the
stormy beginning of which is well handled
by Piatigorsky. Though generally satisfactory,
the orchestra at times sounds like the
pick-up band of freelances that it was.
A further problem is that the recorded
sound – particularly as regards the
orchestra – is less than perfect. Even
so, this is an enjoyable listen and
there are moments of valuable insight.
Recordings of Piatigorsky
are not easy to come by and this is
a very useful historical document. More
than that, it is musically rewarding
– especially where the concertos are
concerned
Glyn Pursglove
see also review
by Jonathan Woolf