Esa-Pekka SALONEN (b. 1958)
Cello Concerto (2015) [36:05]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Sonata in A minor for Violin and Cello, M.73 (1921/1922) [21:12]
Nicolas Alstaedt (cello), Pekka Kuusisto (violin), Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra/Dima Slobodeniouk
rec. 14 and 16 December 2018 (live), De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (Salonen); October 2019, Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin, Germany (Ravel)
ALPHA 627 [57:22]
Esa-Pekka Salonen wrote his Cello Concerto for Yo-Yo Ma. Some time later Nicolas Alstaedt was invited to play the Finnish première in Helsinki, with Salonen conducting. In the meantime, Sony released a recording of the first performance by the dedicatee, conducted by the composer. I have not heard that recording, so I could listen to this performance with “fresh ears”.
This is a fairly imposing piece in three strongly differentiated movements, and so with a considerable variety of moods. In his notes, Salonen says that he drew on a 2010 work for solo cello, …knock, breathe, shine…, because he had “always felt that the music of the solo piece was almost orchestral in scope and character”. I do not know that piece, so I will take his word for it. He also refers to notes made in his sketchbook about the opening described as “Chaos to line”. That must not be taken at face value, but the first movement partly reflects the idea. It begins with an indeterminate cloud of sound, a massive wave out of which the soloist embarks on long, sinuous lines. The music alternates faster episodes with the “cloud music”, gaining enough speed to move into fast music proper. The “cloud music” tends nevertheless to prevail throughout the movement.
Salonen writes that the second movement has a very simple form but a more complex texture. He describes the opening big gesture as a wedge-formed cloud. The movement ends with a similar gesture. In between there is a more or less traditional slow movement, with a notable duet between the solo cello and the alto flute in the middle section. The third movement starts with a cello solo, then the music becomes extroverted and dance-like, and later almost hectic until the rapid movement slows down and the cello climbs slowly “up to a stratospherically high B-flat”.
The Concerto is a virtuoso piece, for sure, but the composer does not consider mere technical virtuosity as an aim in itself. Nicolas Alstaedt’s impeccable technique and deep musicality serve the piece well, and his strongly committed performance is beautifully backed by the equally enthusiastic playing of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led by Dima Slobodeniouk. This is one of the great cello concertos of our times, and one hopes that many cellists will pick it up.
Maurice Ravel’s Sonata in A minor for Violin and Cello began life as part of Tombeau de Claude Debussy, the collective commission by Henry Prunières, the founder of La Revue musicale. In 1920, Ravel wrote Duo for Violin and Cello, and later added three movements to form a sonata. He chose the rather severe line-up of two string instruments. This put the emphasis more on strict counterpoint than sweet colours and melody that generally characterise his music.
The sonata, unquestionably one of his masterpieces, does not yield all its secrets and its rewards all too easily. The music runs a wide gamut of moods in the course of its four movements. The Allegro roughly corresponds in mood and style to what one might expect from Ravel’s pen: melodic charm, subtlety in contrasting the various elements of the whole. Très vif is indeed lively but with some grotesque gesturing (“clownish improvisation”, as Ravel had it). The heart of the piece, the beautiful Lent, is Ravel’s heartfelt tribute to Debussy. The sonata is rounded off by a joyful Vif, avec entrain with a delightfully rustic flavour.
This is great but difficult music. It needs repeated hearings to have a full effect. Alstaedt and Pekka Kuusisto play it with much intensity, sometimes verging on brutality. They do not necessarily look out for the nice sound, and they make quite a riotous outpouring in the second movement. They generally go more with tradition in the other movements, and they play the slow movement with refinement and feeling. The performance may not be to everyone’s taste but I think that this not always traditional rendition deserves to be heard.
This is a somewhat puzzling release. Some may feel that the two works do not necessarily sit well together. The red thread here is Nicolas Alstaedt’s impeccable technique and musicality. He shone in Sebastian Fagerlund’s splendid cello concerto – review. Doubts aside, a disc so superbly played and finely recorded is well worth a consideration.
Hubert Culot
