Leos JANÁČEK (1854-1928)
Sonata for Violin and Piano [16:55]
Bedřich SMETANA (1824-1884)
From the Homeland: Two Pieces for Violin and Piano [11:09]
Sergey PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Sonata for Violin Solo, Op.115 [12:04]
Sonata for Violin and Piano No.1 in F minor, Op.80 [26:38]
Josef špaček (violin - Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, 1855) and
Miroslav Sekera (piano)
rec. Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague, December 2012
SUPRAPHON SU 4129-2 [67:18]
When I met a fellow reviewer recently one thing
we both agreed with wholeheartedly was our love and admiration for the
music of Janáček. Among my Janáček favourites
is his cycle for piano solo “On an Overgrown Path”, his
two string quartets, the 1.X.1905 piano sonata and his Sinfonietta.
Zdeněk Nejedlý, a Czech musicologist and later a Minister
of Culture during Czechoslovakia’s communist period, was highly
critical of Janáček, regarding him as a composer who accumulated
a lot of material but wasn’t able to do anything with it, calling
his style “unanimated”. You do wonder sometimes what kind
of ears some people have; certainly his were not the same as mine for
sure nor were they the same as the many who consider Janáček
as the greatest Czech composer of the twentieth century. I know very
little music that speaks as achingly as some of the pieces within the
“On an Overgrown Path” cycle. Therefore I was glad to have
this opportunity to get to know his Sonata for Violin and Piano
better for I always find that reviewing music forces me to listen more
intently. It dates from 1914-15 and followed two previous attempts at
writing one, both of which have been lost. How successful they were
we’ll never know but since Janáček was as fierce a
critic of his own work as anyone else could be the fact that this one
survived to be published gives it a stamp of approval from its author.
If people like Nejedlý couldn’t appreciate its value it
was their loss.
In 1923 it was first performed in Frankfurt with no less a person than
the composer Paul Hindemith playing the violin part. It is unmistakably
Janáček with his characteristically bittersweet and heartfelt
melodies and rather spare writing; neither a note too many nor a note
too few. What could Nejedlý have been thinking of! Some say that
the opening of the sonata is descriptive of the anxiety over the beginning
of the First World War and you can certainly hear the expression of
anxiety in the first movement. Janáček spent seven years
revising the work which was only completed to his satisfaction in 1921.
The second movement was the only one of the four to remain unchanged
and is a lilting and gentle depiction of pastoral calm - a complete
contrast to the restless nature of the opening movement with its uneasy
dialogue between the two instruments. The third movement is dominated
by a folklike theme that Janáček often employed. It’s
a common trait amongst Czech composers and with such a rich vein of
folk music to draw on who could blame them. The work closes with an
Adagio with some beautiful passages for both instruments. Of
the chorale-like theme the composer said it depicts “the Russian
armies entering Hungary”.
Another criticism made of Janáček by Nejedlý was
that his music did not conform to the style of Smetana. A strange thing
to say; why should any composer’s music conform to the style of
anyone else? The reason I imagine is that Smetana is thought of as the
father of Czech music but why should a father’s “children”
be expected to behave as their clones; sterility is the result if there
is no development.
As it happens it is Smetana’s music that follows on from Janáček
on the disc with what is sometimes described as the chamber equivalent
of his most well known work Ma Vlast (My Country) a work that
has always traditionally opened the Prague Spring Festival held each
May. From the Homeland: Two Pieces for Violin and Piano is a
charming and typical folk inspired work with dance themes that anyone
who knows the area will recognise.
The rest of the disc that makes up more than half the total is of two
works by Prokofiev - a complete contrast to the music of the two Czech
nationalist composers. The first is his Sonata for Violin Solo, Op.115
written in 1947 with the idea that it could be performed by one or several
violinists. It was inspired by his watching as 20 students at the Moscow
Conservatory performed Bach’s Partita No.3 in perfect harmony.
It is a sunny work full of joie de vivre with dancing rhythms
throughout and Prokofiev’s characteristically wry humour permeating
the proceedings. I imagine that it is quite tricky to ensure that all
the contrasting speeds are maintained as per instructions. It is a measure
of a violinist’s skill to produce a really convincing performance
which this certainly is. The final movement in particular is played
by špaček with huge bravura. The Sonata for Violin and
Piano No.1 in F minor, Op.80 is, by contrast, very dark but no less
thrilling in its own way with a beauty occasioned by its emotive power.
Prokofiev ensures that the piano plays as powerfully muscular a role
as does the violin and each is perfectly matched to produce a richly
rewarding sound that is deeply satisfying.
I’ve said before how much I love Prokofiev precisely because he
is not easy to anticipate where he’s going with a theme. He works
to his own logic and not to one that can be predicted - at least, I
should say, not by me. I have a particular love for the opening of the
third movement which is absolutely gorgeous as well as wistful; it’s
no wonder that, unlike what the adverts said about Heineken lager in
the 1980s and 1990s, music really can refresh the parts that other
(things) cannot reach! The final movement is not as dark as the
first two movements but is rather playful. In its closing moments seems
to be rushing headlong towards its exit only to put the brakes on to
finish in a restrained manner of little more than a whisper.
It seems that špaček has played the Smetana and the Prokofiev
sonata for violin and piano countless times, including for his successful
participation in the International Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels
(2012) where he was Laureate, and I must say it shows since he plays
with great maturity. He is partnered by an extremely gifted pianist
Miroslav Sekera and the two seem to have created a very effective duo
and they are totally in touch with each other at all times. I found
the disc enjoyable from start to finish.
Steve Arloff
