Comparison recordings:
Taneyev Quintet: Vladimir Ovcharek, Grigory Lutsky (violins);
Vissarion Solovyev (viola); Josif Levinson, Beniamin Morozov (cellos).
Melodiya LP C10-16965-6
Arensky Op 35a (second mvt. orch.
only): Brusilow, Philadelphia CO. RCA LP LSC 3020.
There
are remarkable similarities between
these two composers. They lived at the
same time and same place. Both were
brilliant students who won many honors.
Both were teachers of Rachmaninov, Gliere
and Scriabin. Both were students and
close friends of Tchaikovsky. Neither
ever married or showed any interest
in women. Both had their lives cut short
by alcoholism - although Taneyev had
been a confirmed teetotaller in his
early life, and found himself the object
of embarrassing and unwelcome attentions
from Tolstoy’s wife. There is no direct
evidence of another possible similarity,
that they both might have been closet
homosexuals, the experience of living
in repressive Tsarist society having
partly fuelled their alcoholism, as
with Mussorgsky.
There are similarities
in the works also, in that they both have written parts for
two cellos, and both have their longest movements in theme and
variation form, and finish with an extensive fugue. A final
similarity is that these live recordings, made by different
artists at different times, are both excellent, of the highest
calibre of chamber playing in accuracy, verve, expressiveness
and ensemble spirit; the audience applause shows they were well
appreciated. In the Taneyev there are some noisy page turns
and even grunts from the musicians, but not to any obtrusive
extent. The technical quality of the recording is also of the
very highest calibre giving an unimpeded sense of being in the
presence of the musicians.
The exquisite polish of
this recording of the Taneyev is in part explained by the fact
that Teplyakov, Koptov and Shukaev are members of the St. Petersburg
[Russia] String Quartet and one may assume that they brought
the music for the Taneyev work in their luggage from Russia
since Taneyev’s music was all but unknown in the West. However
considering the generous spate of recordings recently, it appears
that Taneyev is going to be the Next Big Thing in classical
repertoire, and about time. A good thing it is for us, and all
the rest.
This Quintet has
always been one of Taneyev’s most popular and frequently heard
works and this excellent recording is very welcome. The original
wiry, bass deficient, Melodiya LP performance may have a slight
edge in panache, but certainly not in sound quality or presence.
Both performances are deeply committed. Both sets of artists
“get” all the musical jokes — witty references to works by Taneyev’s
friends such as Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov — and play them
up properly. The humorous aspects of the work are underlined
by the “laughter motif”, a descending marcato hexachord,
which is repeated at intervals throughout the work, at last
in direct prelude to some spooky “nachtmusik” which dissolves
into fragrant whiffs of Borodin at the finale. This is a work
which repays a lot of careful listening.
The Arensky work is also
known in a string orchestra arrangement of the second movement
only, as “Variations on a Theme from Tchaikovsky”, Op 35a, and
in this form it is probably Arensky’s most popular and frequently
played work, having been originally written for a Tchaikovsky
memorial concert in 1894. The Tchaikovsky theme in question
is from the children’s song, “The Christ Child had a garden
...”. The duplication in the cello register serves to emphasize
the somber quality of the texture. The final movement of the
quartet - not included in the orchestra version - is a fugue
on a popular Russian theme used by Mussorgsky in Boris Godunov
and by Beethoven in his “Rasoumovsky” Quartet Op 59, no. 2.
Paul Shoemaker
