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Idylle
Sofja Gülbadamova (piano)
rec. 2018, House of the Radio, St. Petersburg
HÄNSSLER CLASSIC HC20047 [77:56]

On this CD Sofja Gülbadamova has chosen a selection of works that have personal meaning for her, works that “in a certain way make me particularly happy” as she says in her booklet notes. The CD was recorded in late 2018 but Gülbadamova finds it “gratifyingly serendipitous” that it should be released now, at a time when she needs the emotional support. It is a sentiment that many can agree with.

There are three actual Idylles on this disc. The opener is the grand example by Glazunov, an extended barcarolle-like work, highly chromatic in its writing and gloriously romantic in feel, from its lilting first theme to glorious swells of richly complex writing and its fragile little scherzo theme. Moszkowski's more modest Idyll has not been recorded before; its lightly tripping melody is accompanied by a syncopated left-hand. Elgar's Idyll was the first piece of his to be published and is the first of three pieces for violin and piano. This arrangement appears to be by Elgar though the notes do not say. It was written for a mysterious “Miss E.E, Inverness” who he met on a Scottish holiday in 1884 and would make a wonderful companion to the better know Salut d'amour. The arrangement of his Serenade for strings is by Malcolm Kenzie, about whom I can find no information. It is as effective as an orchestral reduction can be; Gülbadamova plays it sympathetically and I enjoyed it as a short piano suite. Others may miss the distinctive string sound too much. At over 9 ½ minutes the performance of Chopin's Barcarolle is the longest but one of the 36 in my collection but it does not seem overlong and comes across as a wonderfully expansive reading. Almost at the centre point of the recital is Liszt's transcription of Du bist die ruh. The occasional grandiloquence of Liszt's writing as the singer glimpses paradise can be forgiven and does not disturb the mood that Gülbadamova creates

I have really enjoyed pieces from Hahn's Le Rossignol éperdu before and keep promising myself to investigate the entire set. Any work titled “the bewildered nightingale” deserves a second glance and all these pieces attest to the fine quality and imagination of the writing. First up is La fête de Terpsichore, Terpsichore's festival, and naturally enough in a work dedicated to the Greek muse of dance is an elegant gavotte, full of lightness and delicacy with a humour in its flashes of staccato that Gülbadamova captures to a tee. I am not sure who Prince Eglantine was but Les rêveries du Prince Eglantine is a delightful little cradle song with a gently rocking left hand that slides through some sly changes of harmony; it suggests his dreams took some interesting turns. The frolicsome faune in Faunesse dansante appears to be an uninhibited and flightly soul. This is a rustic dance and imagination creates a clearing in a wood with this carefree sprite dancing as the mood takes her, poised and graceful one minute and somersaulting the next. Le réveil de Flore is a capricious arabesque with more than a touch of Fauré. Mirage is another cradle song and like the dreams of Prince Eglantine there are some gentle shifts of harmony and very mild dissonance though a constant throughout is a pedal C sharp note; all might be a mirage above but Hahn keeps us grounded and the work evaporates into thin air as we settle in the home key. A Parisian morning concludes the selection; a dreamy slow waltz with a nostalgic turn of phrase. The sinuous melody that opens the piece appears as a soprano/tenor duet at the end almost like a conversation and we even hear a snatch of someone whistling as they take their morning constitutional. It almost goes without saying that Hahn's tremendous gift for melody is to the fore in all these pieces. Listening to them just after I came across recordings of music by Louis Aubert and Lucien Wurmser I am reminded that there is a bounty of undiscovered gems beyond Debussy, Ravel and Fauré. This selection is the highlight of the disc for me.

The connection with Hahn is though Gülbadamova's teacher, James Tocco who had studied with the great Magda Tagliaferro. Tagliaferro recorded music by Hahn with the composer himself (recently re-issued on APR7312 Review) and later in life included Les rêveries du Prince Eglantine on an LP of French piano music (Erato EJA12, not on CD). It was hearing Tocco play Earl Wild's transcription of Embraceable you that sparked Gülbadamova's interest in this fine set and she closes the disc with three of the more lyrical of the pieces to bring this lovely collection to a serene and satisfying close. Everything here is played with great affection and there more than enough variety of mood to make this a very attractive recital, whether to dip into or to sit back, relax and find your own peace. I certainly did.

Rob Challinor

Contents
Alexander GLAZUNOV (1865-1936)
Idylle Op.103 (1926)[7:14]
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Barcarolle in F sharp major Op.60 (1845-46)[9:40]
Moritz MOSZKOWSKI (1854-1924)
Idylle - waterlilies Op.94 No.3 (1916)[2:15]
Edward ELGAR (1857-1934) arr. Malcolm KENZIE
Serenade for strings in E minor Op.20 (1888-92)[14:20]
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
Jeg elsker dig Op.41 No.3 (1884)[3:20]
Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Adagio from Cinderella Op.97 No.10 (1943)[4:43]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) arr. Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Du bist ide Ruh S.558 (1837-38)[5:24]
Reynaldo HAHN (1874-1947)
Le Rossignol éperdu (1899-1910)
No. 50 La fête de Terpsichore [3:51]
No.16 Les rêveries du Prince Eglantine [3:33]
No. 40 Faunesse dansante [1:38]
No.48 Le réveil de Flore [3:44]
No.26 Mirage [1:56]
No.28 Matinée parisienne [4:23]
Edward ELGAR
Idylle Op.4 No.1 (1884)[3:35]
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937) arr. Earl WILD (1915-2010)
Seven virtuoso studies on song melodies (1954 rev. 1973)
Embraceable you [2:48]
Somebody loves me [2:44]
The man I love [2:32]