Laura Buruiana and Alexandra Silocea are both Romanian so it is natural
for them to begin their recital with a work from that country. However, to
describe Enescu’s work, as Buruiana does in her contribution to the
sleeve-note, as ‘Enescu’s lost cello sonata’, is a bit misleading. It is in
fact the discarded and incomplete first movement of his first cello sonata,
which he completed in 1898 when he was still seventeen. It surfaced in 1988,
long after the composer’s death, when it was discovered by the composer
Hans-Peter Türk who also completed it. It is a vigorous piece in the
Brahmsian manner, more romantic and less rhythmic than the revision which
replaced it. It is despatched here with aplomb by the two players. It is
more than a curiosity but is of very much less moment than the other two
works here.
These are Russian sonatas which are well established in the repertory.
Prokofiev’s dates from his sad last years, after the notorious Zhdanov
decree of 1948 had accused him, along with Shostakovich, Myaskovsky and
Khachaturian, of formalism and banned a number of his works. A consolation
to him at the time was his friendship with the young Rostropovich, then at
the beginning of his dazzling career and very much in favour. Prokofiev
decided to write a cello sonata for him and Op. 119 was the result. However,
he was still mindful of the recent condemnation of his work. So he wrote it
in C major, the blandest of the keys, packed it full of tunes and went light
on the piquant dissonances which had been such a characteristic feature of
his work.
Shostakovich’s sonata dates from much earlier in his career. He wrote it
in 1934, during the short period after the successful opening of his opera
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and before its official condemnation two
years later. However, his personal life was in turmoil: his marriage to Nina
had ended, though he was soon to remarry her. None of this is reflected in
this work which is full of the sudden mood changes of the early Shostakovich
and the mordant wit which he was later to curb.
Buruiana is a mercurial player with a rich tone, a prodigious technique
and plenty of nervous energy. She throws off the more virtuoso passages in
the Prokofiev, in which Rostropovich may have had a hand, without
difficulty, and follows the changing moods of the Shostakovich closely. In
contrast to her Silocea is a less positive personality, though the rather
forward balancing of the cello may be partly responsible for this
impression. I felt she was more at home with the Prokofiev than the other
works – she is something of a Prokofiev specialist and has recorded several
of the piano sonatas. She responds particularly well to the glint of humour
he allows to appear in the central Moderato of his sonata. There was a
sudden slowing in the last movement of the Shostakovich just before she
launched into torrents of scales. Without a score I did not know whether
this was marked but it certainly had the feeling of slowing down before a
tricky passage.
There are many other couplings of the Prokofiev and Shostakovich, with the
Britten sonata often being the favoured third item. The Enescu on the other
hand is a rarity, and the only other recording, by Valentin Radutiu and Per
Rundberg, is on a two-disc Hänssler Classic set of all Enescu’s music for
cello and piano (
review), which is perhaps a more appropriate home for it.
On its own terms this programme succeeds and I should certainly like to hear
these musicians tackle the two Enescu cello sonatas.
Stephen Barber
