Joaquin
Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez shares at least one thing
in common with other favourites of the classical repertory:
within the recorded music catalogue there are copious examples
and new ones being added regularly. Given this oversupply one
may speculate as to why no one has made a commercial recording
of this concerto with guitar and piano. The combination sounds
marvellous when done well; the reduced score is readily available
and the relatively short length of the work makes it ideal for
adaptation.
Cellist
Jian Wang is a man after my own disposition: when offered an
opportunity to make a recording of his favourite repertoire
he took the initiative to depart from the predictable- and oversupplied-
cello and piano. Because of its very intimate sound the guitar
became Jian’s first choice.
Swedish
guitarist Göran Söllscher was invited to work with Jian Wang
on this project and was delighted to accept because the latter’s
musical sensitivity fits his own exactly. Söllscher is no stranger
to this type of collaboration having only recently made a recording
of music by Schubert with violinist Gil Shaham (DG CD 00289
471 5682).
The
very first thing one notices about the review disc is that the
cello sounds ‘different’- and with good reason. From the inception
of the project Jian Wang realised he may have to adapt his technique
to complement the guitar. He practised for a few months to try
and match the purity and simplicity of the guitar. There has
been a conscious effort to reduce vibrato and avoid overwhelming
the lack of sustain characteristic of the guitar.
Göran
Söllscher plays both standard six-string guitar and an eleven-string
version; the latter is particularly suited to Baroque music
although he has used it in such diverse applications as interpretation
of music by the Beatles. Which guitar is used is not nominated
by track and one must listen carefully to identify between the
instruments, the bass notes often being a guide.
The
title of the review disc, Reverie, is indicative of what
we may anticipate in the programme. The liner-notes remind us
that reverie can suggest melancholy as well as dream. There
will be those with musical adhedonia who cynically view the
programme as a marketing exercise to the masses, but I enjoyed
it.
It
is appropriate that the very last track is the most resent composition
– ‘Memory’ from Cats by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Other
selections encompass music from the seventeenth century to mid-twentieth.
The
disc was essentially a cello project and the guitar was invited
to participate. While the cello plays a dominant role it is
probably more than coincidental that track 14, Mazurka-Choro
by Villa-Lobos, is for solo guitar and the only solo item to
appear; a thematically apposite piece of music, it is played
to perfection.
I
did not find this recording the sonically sharpest I have heard,
but there are other sonic delights that more than compensate:
the gorgeous plucked cello notes in Piazolla’s Milonga del
Angel [9] will have strong visceral effect when played on
capable reproducing equipment and the last note of Tchaikovsky’s
Octobre: Chant d’automne [13] is the most sustained
I recall hearing on a recording - an irresistible urge to grab
for the rewind button and savour it again.
The
note attached to the front of this CD describes the contents
as ‘music to get lost in.’ This is an eclectic selection of
beautiful music superbly played by two modern masters.
Zane Turner
Jian Wang (cello)
