After the release in 2012 of five separate volumes
offering Peter Maxwell Davies's first six symphonies (reviews of the
First,
Second,
Third,
Fourth
and Fifth and
Sixth),
this year Naxos have turned to the concertos, the present two CDs following
quickly in the wake of the Piano Concerto (
review)
and a disc that paired those for trumpet and piccolo (
review).
Hitherto, all discs have been reissues of 1990s-vintage Collins Classics
recordings of the composer's orchestral works. With the Collins originals
now only available second-hand or imported, Naxos have effectively rescued
these valuable recordings from obscurity - in most cases they remain
rather astonishingly the only documents of these major late-20th-century
works. The first of the two 'Strathclyde' CDs is something of a departure,
however - this is a relatively recent recording not previously available.
In fact, Concerto no.2 is one of two that were not done by Collins,
but rather by Unicorn-Kanchana (DKP CD 9085).
There are ten concertos in all, composed over a decade at an astonishing
rate of one a year until 1996. Ironically, the titular co-commissioning
body, Strathclyde Regional Council, was abolished that same year, although
the old kingdom name lives on in various institutions and elsewhere.
On paper at least, the concertos are all semi-pedagogic in character,
intended for analysis in Strathclyde schools. In fact, they stand up
supremely well as
bona fide concert works.
The Second Concerto is especially memorable, modelled with typically
Maxian harmonics in the grand tradition, and makes an ideal starting
point for a journey through 'Strathclyde'. Richard Whitehouse's notes
give a detailed description of what happens in the music; suffice to
say here that Italian cellist Vittorio Ceccanti gives a searing account
on this live recording, one which is every bit the equal of William
Conway's on Unicorn-Kanchana, even allowing for the occasional conspicuous
cough from the audience. There is applause at the end, incidentally,
although there are, happily, no Proms-style interlopers intruding on
the final silence.
Ceccanti has already recorded some Maxwell Davies for Naxos, as solo
virtuoso in the two chamber-scale Latin-titled works,
Linguae Ignis
and the massive
Vesalii Icones (8.572712). These were recorded
at the Valter Neri Studio in Montevarchi, Italy, like the remaining
three works on the present disc. The most important is the Cello Sonata,
bearing another Latin subtitle, 'Sequentia Serpentigena', and written
for Ceccanti. He and pianist Bruno Canino recreate their 2008 premiere
performance for this recording with style and feeling. Maxwell Davies
notes that the work is "inspired by the elusive and enigmatic nature
of the imagery of (rural medieval churches') stone carvings", particularly
the serpent, and "I took as a basis for the work the Gregorian chant
proper to Maundy Thursday, Traditor autem dedit eis signum, concerning
the betrayal of Christ by Judas." None of that really springs out at
the listener, it must be said - the fifth of six movements lapses briefly
between military march and foxtrot, for example! - but it remains an
engaging, attractive work whose absence from recordings and recitals
cannot easily be explained. The cello part in particular is overwhelmingly
lyrical.
Ceccanti's own arrangement of two dances (for violin) ultimately deriving
from Maxwell Davies's children's opera 'The Two Fiddlers', and the composer's
tribute to a favourite cellist bring the disc to a relaxing, tuneful
and Scottish end.
The most recent disc of the two, a straightforward replica of the original
Collins (1239-2), makes more demands on the listener. According to the
blurb, Concerto no.3 "stands in the lineage of works by Haydn, Mozart
and Bach's Brandenburg Concertos". This may be true in a theoretical
sense, but listeners reared entirely on those grand masters will struggle
to find any real similarities in the long atonal passages of Maxwell
Davies's work. Performed here, like the Fourth, by the full complement
of premiere-givers, including the two soloists to whom it is dedicated,
the single-movement Third Concerto provides a virtuosic canvas for two
instruments that have always featured strongly in the composer's output
- back in 1955 indeed his op.1 was a trumpet sonata. In some ways the
work is not unlike the Trumpet Concerto - moving fairly slowly on the
whole, inclining modernistically, brilliantly virtuosic, yet not without
a good deal of melodic lustre.
Dedicatee Lewis Morrison is soloist for the Fourth Concerto for clarinet
and orchestra. Once again, Richard Whitehouse rather fancifully draws
parallels with Mozart's great concerto. Critic and pianist Stephen Pruslin
is just as optimistic, claiming it "emulates the warmth and mellifluousness
of Mozart's two late masterpieces for the instrument". Maxwell Davies's
concerto is written for the standard A rather than basset clarinet,
but it does make use of an orchestral bass clarinet to effectively extend
its range at times. From virtually the same time and of a very similar
length, the Fourth Concerto has much the same kind of feel as the Third,
challenging audiences and appealing to them in similar ways. Morrison
is inspired, and relishes every minute of it. So he might: the concerto
is "a journey towards its theme", the theme being a tune by 19th-century
folk-musician called Morrison! Thus both Morrisons gently bring the
work to a close. Once more, Whitehouse's notes are very informative
in their description of each movement.
Sound quality on both discs is very good. In the track-listings and
elsewhere Naxos are still withholding opus numbers - the above are taken
from Maxwell Davies's excellent
website.
Byzantion
Contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
