Cameo Classics have been stealing a march on the big players
in the classical market. If they continue in this vein they will
win the respect and loyal sales of a public increasingly willing
to chance its arm with new or revived nineteenth century repertoire.
Marius Stravinsky and the Belarussian State Symphony Orchestra
give Jadassohn's First Symphony a performance full of verve.
It brings leaping out from its pages the fire of Schumann's Fourth
Symphony and something of Dvorak 8 too. There is a Mendelssohnian
joy and effervescent quality to the
Scherzo which contrasts
with the long and sometimes sentimental
Largo e mesto.
Those striding, surging and shuddering Schumann lines return
for the invigorating finale. Wonderful stuff. The piece ends
with a degree of conventional bombast and received convention
but overall this is very attractive indeed. This is followed
by a starry
Andante from the Brull Violin Concerto of
1882. It seems a pity to appear by itself. However the music
is heartfelt and somewhat sentimental. The ensuring two movements
from the Brull Serenade No. 1 are taken from the complete recording
on Cameo CC9027CD. Brull’s overture
Macbeth has
a typically brooding character - in essence a tone poem in microcosm
in the manner of Schumann's
Julius Caesar overture. In
Jadassohn’s Piano Concerto we are treated to a stormy attack.
Heroic shrapnel flies every which way in repeated evocations
of the Liszt and Schumann piano concertos. Valentina Seferinova
is fully in charge and attacks the solo part with great romantic
flourish. Her stonily commanding tone is unmistakable. I did
wonder about the tuning once or twice though. This is one of
the romantic concertos recorded live in concert as part of a
Cameo Classics video documentary on German Jewish composers whose
music was suppressed. This single movement concerto as written
encompasses just over 16 minutes.
Marius Stravinsky was again the conductor in July 2007 for the
Cameo sessions in Minsk for two Brull works. This brings us to
the second CD - all Brull this time (
www.ignazbrull.com).
His First is a big symphony in four movements across 31 minutes.
It is a determinedly romantic work. It has a very slightly Brahmsian
accent with a Brucknerian tension in the brass. A steady Allegretto
has some nice pizzicato filigree. The Scherzo is jolly and has
a rustic tang which links with Beethoven’s
Pastoral.
Some lovely explosive pizzicato writing not to mention a revolutionary
and almost Tchaikovskian swooning takes the listener a step outwards
into the unknown. The stepping off point for this music seems
to be Brahms’ Third Symphony. The big final
Moderato deploys
a lovely dignified theme of ecclesiastical weight. Yet it also
has a yearningly passionate aspect. It’s a sort of ‘enigma’ theme;
a real corker with great dignity and lunging energy. This deeply
unfamiliar music is liberated with great passion by the Belarus
State Symphony Orchestra and Marius Stravinsky. It may not be
as lush in the string benches as we would want but the passion
in the performances goes a very long way. The big Serenade No.
1 is a lower key affair but with plenty of pleasing invention
though nothing to compare with the wonderful Symphony. In that
sense the Serenade is to the Symphony what Brahms serenades are
to Brahms symphony No. 1. The exception is to be found in the
movement at track 8 which is more interesting with echoes of
Mendelssohn's
Hebrides and in its more dramatic moments
of
Ruy Blas,
Athalie and
The Fair Melusine.
It’s a shame about the typos and impossibly small print
in the inserts but this is a small price to pay for discoveries
you might perhaps have expected first from CPO.
Rob Barnett
Valentina Seferinova (piano); Ilya
Hoffman (violin) 
