Nilla Pierrou: Mina jubilee
Nilla Pierrou (violin)
Track-listing at end of review
OAK GROVE CD2030 [4 CDs: 77:45 + 76:09 + 78:30 + 67:49]
I reviewed the previous
set on Oak Grove devoted to the art of violinist Nilla Pierrou, and
now,
with gratifying rapidity, comes another box of four CDs with more
preserved
performances that are largely from live broadcasts.
The first CD explores her affinity with Bach. It’s accomplished
playing
as shown by the two solo concertos, both previously released on an Opus
LP.
She favours quite slow, elastic tempi, with lots of soft playing. The
Sonata
for violin and keyboard is with her sonata partner Eugène De Canck
in
1984, whilst from eight years earlier we can hear the Partita in D minor
with
the Chaconne. Again she pays considerable attention to dynamic
shaping
and whilst the Chaconne itself is relatively measured it is
thoughtfully
conceived.
The second disc is given over to three sonatas. I find her performance of
Brahms’s
A major (live, Brussels, 1984) rather undifferentiated throughout its
three
movements. It’s not just that she is quite slow again, as Grumiaux
and
Goldberg, two outstanding Brahms players, were equally so, but rather more
that
her accents lack bite. I don’t feel she is at her best here, nor in
Beethoven’s
G major sonata (live, Brussels, 1984) which is taken at an Aaron Rosand
tempo.
There are a few insignificant slips from both players and Pierrou’s
intonation
is not above reproach, but whilst this is a sensitively shaped
performance,
the finale is rather sluggish. The centrepiece of this disc is Albert
Huybrechts’s
1925 sonata. The Belgian composer shows the influence of Florent Schmitt
and
of Debussian harmonies, as well as Franckian late-Romantic residue. This
makes
it appear more of a compound than actually it sounds, and it sounds
fascinating
and even at points mystic. It’s been recorded before but this is a
really
excellent performance and stylistically truly apt.
More sonatas and smaller pieces take up disc three. Bror Beckman’s
c.1890
sonata is by turns lyrical and urgent. The Swedish composer’s sonata
may
be somewhat discursive, the finale particularly, but it certainly
doesn’t
lack for interest. However Grieg’s youthful 1865 First Sonata is
made
of clearly greater stuff; the energy level of the folkloric fiddling is an
apt
invitation to Pierrou who takes the opportunity gratefully. Both these
sonatas
were recorded in Swedish Radio studios in 1980 and released on Caprice CAP
1198.
They catch her tone’s breadth better than the live tapes and the
balance
between her and De Canck is better too. In fact these are the best
sounding
items and reveal more of her playing, and her secure ensemble with De
Canck,
than anywhere else. They play Schubert’s Duo most attractively, and
evoke
Stenhammar’s Romance with considerable warmth. Pierrou was a
student
of Hungarian fiddler André Gertler and she plays his compatriot
Kodály’s
Dances from Kállai, in the 1958 Feighin arrangement, with
considerable
excitement but also control.
The last disc reverts to concertos. First is Lars-Erik Larsoon’s
1952
Concerto with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jorma
Panula,
live in March 1982. A photograph reproduced in the outstanding booklet
shows
Pierrou sitting next to the composer on the occasion of that performance.
I’m
sure he was mightily pleased with her reading, which sounds first class.
Such
a shame, therefore, that she was too backwardly recorded, so that it makes
detail
difficult to hear at times. We can’t truly appreciate, for example,
her
full range of tone colours or subtle bowing in the slow movement. In the
first
movement she plays the cadenza by her teacher Gertler, who was so
instrumental
in helping the composer in this work. Is there no other surviving document
extant
of her playing this lovely concerto? In Amsterdam in 1973, live with the
Antwerp
Philharmonic Orchestra and Frédéric Devreese, she plays
Ysaÿe
Chant d’hiver and shows a fine sense of balance between its
romanticist
and impressionist moments. Finally there is the Berg Violin Concerto with
the
German Youth Orchestra under Georg A. Albrecht, live in March 1978. Tempi
are
extremely well judged and transitions are marked perceptively. Her rapport
with
Albrecht seems strong from this showing. It also reflects the strength of
Pierrou’s
intellectual understanding, fortunately preserved in this Bavarian Radio
tape
in fine sound.
This four disc set contains a large 44-page booklet in Swedish with
English
translation. It reprints a letter from Larsson to Gertler regarding the
latter’s
considerable help in its composition, and not just in the cadenza. There
are
also potted biographies on the artists who collaborate with her, about
whom
regretfully I’ve had little room to say much if anything. The story
of
the 1973 Vianna da Motta violin competition and the shenanigans amongst
the
jurors makes for eyebrow-raising reading, and the score card is
reproduced.
Nilla Pierrou was 65 when this box was released toward the end of 2012.
Her
jubilee has been admirably celebrated in this box, which pays due tribute
to
her thoughtful musicianship.
Jonathan Woolf
Track-listing
CD1
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Partita in D minor for solo violin BWV 1004 (1720) [26:41]
Live, Studio 4, RTBF Brussels, 1976
Sonata for violin and harpsichord in A major, BWV 1015 (before 1725)
[13:45]
Eugène De Canck (piano), live, RTBF Brussels, October 1984
Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 (c.1730) [16:51]
Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 (c.1730) [19:48]
Oskarshamnsensemblen/Claes Merithz, July 1980 ex Opus 3 8012 (LP)
CD2
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Violin Sonata No.2 in A major Op.100 (1886) [23:36]
Eugène De Canck (piano), live, RTBF Brussels, October 1984
Albert HUYBRECHTS (1899-1938)
Violin Sonata (1925) [22:20]
Eugène De Canck (piano), live, RTBF Brussels, February 1985
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Violin Sonata No.10 in G major, Op.96 (1812) [29:47]
Eugène De Canck (piano), live, RTBF Brussels, November 1984
CD3
Bror BECKMAN (1866-1929)
Violin Sonata in A minor, Op.1 (c.1890) [26:41]
Eugène De Canck (piano), Swedish Radio, Studio 2 March 1980, ex
Caprice
CAP1198 (LP)
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
Violin Sonata No.1 in F major, Op.8 (1865) [21:05]
Eugène De Canck (piano), Swedish Radio, Studio 2 March 1980, ex
Caprice
CAP1198 (L)
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Sonata for violin and piano in A major, ‘Duo’ D574 (Op. Posth)
[18:56]
Eugène De Canck (piano), live, RTBF Brussels, November 1984
Wilhelm STEHAMMAR (1871-1927)
Sentimental Romance in F minor, Op.28 (1910) [6:23]
Eugène De Canck (piano), VRT Brussels, 1976
Zoltán KODÁLY (1882-1967)
Dances from Kállai (1937 rev 1950 arr. Feighin in 1958) [5:07]
Eugene De Canck (piano), RTBF Brussels, May 1983
CD4
Lars-Erik LARSSON (1908-1986)
Violin Concerto, Op.42 (1952) [26:29]
Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra/Jorma Panula, live March 1982
Eugène YSAŸE (1858-1931)
Chant d’hiver, Op.15 (1902) [15:20]
Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra/Frédéric Devreese, live
August
1973
Alban BERG (1885-1935)
Violin Concerto ‘In Memory of an Angel’ (1935) [25:30]
German Youth Orchestra/Georg A. Albrecht, live March 1978
Pierrou’s jubilee admirably celebrated and due tribute paid to her thoughtful musicianship.
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