Volume 30 Issue 2 | October & November 2024

etween Beethoven’s

etween Beethoven’s very frequent sudden dynamic changes. Hamelin’s generous use of pedal further clouds the texture and results in the occasional disregard for rests and note lengths. Unsurprisingly, the wild fourth movement fugue of the Hammerklavier is dispatched with exciting technical security. More surprisingly, this does not conclude the album, but instead we jump back 23 years to continue with Beethoven’s third published sonata, Op.2 No.3 in C Major. This early work benefits from Hamelin’s crisp articulations and sparkling passage work – though again the reverberant acoustic blunts some impact. The first movement is suitably muscular, the second serene though with a marked agitation in the contrasting minor section, the scherzo is confidently playful and the finale sparklingly virtuosic. Caveats: The close recording results in a harshness of tone in the loudest moments, and purists may not approve of Hamelin’s adding of bass octaves not available on the pianos of Beethoven’s time. Stephen Runge Mahler – Symphony 3 Jennifer Johnston; Women of the Minnesota Chorale; Minnesota Boychoir; Minnesota Orchestra; Osmo Vanska BIS 2486 (minnesotaorchestra.org) Mahler – Symphony No.8 Soloists; Minnesota Chorale; National Lutheran Choir; Minnesota Boychoir; Angelica Cantanti Youth Choir; Minnesota Orchestra; Osmo Vanska BIS BIS-2496 (minnesotaorchestra.org) ! The final two installments of Osmo Vänskä’s ongoing Mahler cycle have landed and the box set is now on sale. (Caveat: the Cooke version of the fragmentary Tenth Symphony is included, but there is no performance of Das Lied von der Erde.) These two recordings were patched together from live performances from Vänskä’s final appearances in 2022 after 19 years at the helm of the Minnesota orchestra. Judging by the performance of the Third Symphony, this orchestra and its conductor have developed a fine rapport over the years and deliver some very lovely playing. Winds and brass are outstanding and the string section is extraordinarily supple, though Vänskä’s party trick of pulling back the orchestra to near inaudibility remains an annoying SACD inspired gimmick to my ears. Initially won over by the exceptional recording from the BIS recording team, certain aspects of the interpretation now strike me as less admirable. Beautiful though the recording may sound, there is an atmosphere of directorial micro-management that loses sight of the over-arching structure of the work. There are beautiful trees to behold indeed, but nary a view of the forest. Of the six movements of this, the longest symphony in the active repertoire, the performance of the short inner movements fare best. But as to the lengthy first and sixth movements, Vänskä’s reach is beyond his grasp. Nowhere is this more evident than in the final six pages of the concluding Adagio; from figure 28 preceding the reprise of the main theme Mahler writes “Langsam anschwellen” (slowly swelling); the effect in, for example, Leonard Bernstein’s landmark performance, is a thrilling, painful struggle to the summit of glory. Here we find a routine ritardando that somehow wanders into a pedestrian fortissimo. Amongst recent recordings I would suggest seeking out Manfred Honeck’s 2010 Pittsburgh performance on the Exton label instead, a fine example of what a true Mahler evangelist can bring to this score. I must confess to an abiding ambivalence about Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, the so-called “Symphony of a Thousand.” Teeming with what T.W. Adorno called “the ceremonial pretensions of the obviously fugal manner,” the two parts of the work are set to the Catholic hymn Veni Creator Spiritus and the closing scene of Goethe’s Faust, a pair of uncharacteristically crowd-pleasing choices from a man whose works are essentially about his inner self. It’s as if Mahler was saying to his carping, anti- Semitic critics, “Don’t you see? I am one of you!” Composed swiftly in the span of six weeks, he proclaimed the work his “gift to the nation” and dedicated it to his wife Alma. Successful performances of this monumental work depend very much on the casting of the seven vocal soloists and in this case they are well chosen indeed. Sonically however the massive choral forces, recorded at the height of the covid panic, are constrained by the wearing of masks. Despite discreet tweaking by the BIS recording team the softer portions of the work remain distinctly muffled. I was also disappointed by the woefully underpowered contributions from the organ. Within the context of this Mahler cycle it is one of the more successful efforts, but Vänskä’s direction again strikes me as intrinsically unfocused. Daniel Foley Prokofiev: Piano Concertos 2 & 3, Piano Sonata No.7 Stewart Goodyear; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton Orchid Classics ORC100335 (orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100335- stewart-goodyear-prokofiev) ! Sergei Prokofiev began his musical career as a concert pianist, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that his extensive output would include six piano concertos and ten sonatas in addition to innumerable other piano works. This splendid recording on the Orchid Classics label presents the second and third concertos and the Sonata No.7 featuring Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear with the BBC Symphony under the direction of Andrew Litton. Concerto No.2 was completed in 1912, but was revised and not premiered for another 12 years when it was met with both praise and derision from the audience. Deviating from the traditional concerto form, the piece comprises four contrasting movements. Throughout, Goodyear plays with a polished assurance, demonstrating an impeccable technique particularly in the horrendously difficult cadenza concluding the first movement and the relentless Allegro tempestoso finale. The third and most famous of Prokofiev’s concertos was premiered by the composer in Chicago in 1921. Opening with a lyrical introduction, the piece soon launches into a brisk Allegro performed here at a slightly faster tempo than is sometimes heard. Again, Goodyear demonstrates immaculate virtuosity, emphasizing the work’s mischievous nature while under Litton’s competent baton, the BBSO is a solid and sensitive partner delivering a lively and joyful performance. The second of three sonatas Prokofiev composed during the Second World War, the Piano Sonata No.7 was very much a product of its time. The first movement is marked by a dark and angry tone, while the second is a calm respite before a strident perpetuum mobile brings the recording to a dramatic conclusion. Kudos to you, Mr. Goodyear – you indicated in the notes you had wanted to record Prokofiev since the pandemic and now was the right time. Most decidedly, it was well worth the wait. Richard Haskell 74 | October & November 2024 thewholenote.com

Songs for a New Century Jonathan Miller; Lucia Lin; Randall Hodgkinson; Marc Ryser Navona Records nv6623 (navonarecords. com/catalog/nv6623) ! Jonathan Miller, long-time Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist and founding artistic director of the Boston Artists Ensemble, commissioned well-established American composers Gabriela Lena Frank and Scott Wheeler along with Judith Weir, Britain’s current Master of the King’s Music, to bring Mendelssohn’s concept of “songs without words” into “a new century.” The disc opens with Mendelssohn himself, his Song without Words, Op.109 for cello and piano and five Songs without Words for piano, arranged by Mendelssohn’s friend, cellist Alfredo Piatti. Miller and pianist Marc Ryser find some dark drama within these graceful pieces, often considered lightweight. Miller and violinist Lucia Lin perform Frank’s duo Operetta. I found all five movements pervaded by agitated discontent. Operettas typically attempt to make people smile; this one doesn’t. Pianist Randall Hodgkinson joins Miller in Weir’s Three Chorales. In Angels Bending Near the Earth, the cello gently swings up and down over piano tinkles. In Death’s Dark Vale moves from gloom to hopefulness. O Sapienza, variations on a Hildegard von Bingen hymn, features long-lined lyricism from the cello amid irregular piano splashes. Miller and Ryser reunite in Wheeler’s Cello Sonata No.2 “Songs without Words,” composed, writes Wheeler, in his upstate New York woodlands studio. In Among the trees, abrupt piano discords punctuate the perturbed cello line. Unaccompanied pizzicati in the cello’s lowest register dominate Forest at night. The cello resumes its moody musings in Barcarolle before joining with the piano to conclude this CD with lyrical optimism. Michael Schulman Rooted Neave Trio Chandos CHAN 20272 (neavetrio.com/ discography) ! “Traditionrooted” folk music links this CD’s compositions, vividly performed by America’s Neave Trio. Bedřich Smetana wrote his 27-minute Piano Trio, Op.15 (1855) shortly after his fouryear-old daughter’s death from scarlet fever. Anguished outbursts fill the first movement, briefly interrupted by sweet, simple melodies, perhaps representing little Bedřiška. The second movement features folk-like dances, ranging from gently poignant to ponderously brutal. The finale alternates between a wild Presto, a precursor to the Furiant in Smetana’s Bartered Bride, and a heartbreakingly beautiful melody, an ambiguous conclusion to this emotional roller-coaster. The other works are shorter, each around 16 minutes. Josef Suk even called his piece Petit Trio, Op.2, completed while studying with Antonin Dvořák (Suk later married Dvořák’s daughter Otilie). Like Smetana, Suk composed a series of Czech folk-flavoured dances, less dramatic but cheerfully robust and sentimental. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor arranged Five Negro Melodies from his Twenty-four Negro Melodies (1905) for piano. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child leads the group; I was unfamiliar with the others. As with many works Coleridge-Taylor derived from African or African-American sources, I found these arrangements essentially European in style and feeling, with minimal ethnic authenticity. The two outer movements of Swiss composer Frank Martin’s Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises (1925) readily conjure images of Irish countryfolk dancing rumbustiously to the squealing of bagpipes. In the middle movement, the cello croons a love song over harp-like piano sparkles. A happy ending to a disc that began with tears. Michael Schulman Exodus The Orchestra Now; Leon Botstein Avie Records AV2713 (avie-records.com/ releases/exodus-walter-kaufmann-•- marcel-rubin-•-josef-tal) ! During the 1930s, some Jews able to make their own “exoduses” fled Nazism, including the composers on this CD: Walter Kaufmann (1907- 1984) went to India, Marcel Rubin (1905-1995) to France, Josef Tal (1910-2008) to Palestine. Recognition of Kaufmann has accelerated since my September 2020 WholeNote review of Kaufmann’s debut CD by Toronto’s ARC Ensemble. In the June 2024 WholeNote I reviewed the first CD of his orchestral works, praising his Indian Symphony (1943) for its “soulful woodwind solos, pulsating strings, dramatic brass and percussion.” Here’s a second recording of that symphony. At 17:32, nearly two minutes longer than the previous recording, conductor Leon Botstein’s performance enhances the music’s exotic atmosphere and grandeur. Conceived during wartime, Rubin’s powerful, 34-minute Symphony No.4 “Dies Irae” (1945, rev.1972) was revised when the disillusioned Rubin, reacting to contemporary events, replaced two optimistic movements with the grim Pastorale. The dirge-like opening Kinderkreuzzug 1939 takes its title from Bertolt Brecht’s poem (included in the booklet) describing “lost children” fleeing “the nightmare.” The four-note motto of the medieval Day of Wrath chant dominates the second movement’s sardonic march; the chant then underlines the Pastorale’s passacaglia, wandering through painful memories before ending meditatively. Tal’s 23-minute Exodus (1947), composed during the outbreak of hostilities prior to the UN’s establishment of Israel, employs biblical verses from Exodus and Psalms, emphatically sung in Hebrew by brawny-voiced baritone Noam Heinz. Botstein and The Orchestra Now generate brilliantly-coloured sonorities from Tal’s “Hollywood epic”-style score. Michael Schulman MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY Scelsi – Integrals des quatuors a cordes; Trio a cordes Quatuor Molinari ATMA ACD2 2849 (atmaclassique.com/en/ product/giacinto-scelsi-complete-stringquartets-and-string-trio) ! Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi wrote some of the most sublime music of the past century. It’s also some of the most radical. He was notoriously secretive, even forbidding photos of himself. Yet these string quartets, which span a forty-year period, are so personal that heard together they reveal much about this remarkable composer whose musical language was transformed by a profound spiritual awakening. This is the first complete recording of Scelsi’s five string quartets since the legendary Arditti Quartet’s from 1990. It’s a significant addition to the Montreal-based Molinari Quartet’s invaluable series of complete string quartets by key modern composers. The Molinari brings the precision and clarity required for the close listening Scelsi’s music demands, plus a contemplative soulfulness. ATMA’s stellar sound does the rest. You can already hear Scelsi pushing boundaries in the post-Schoenbergian String Quartet No.1 from 1944 – the gong effects, the pitch-bending. But after a devastating mental breakdown he came to reject its engaging rhythms, intricate counterpoint, complex harmony and delightful thematic developments. Immersing himself in theosophy and eastern religions, Scelsi spent months at the thewholenote.com October & November 2024 | 75