Latest CD releases reviewed
LACHENMANN: DAS MÄDCHEN MIT DEN SCHWEFELHÖLZERN
SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, SWR Sinfonieorchester / Sylvain Cambreling ECM New Series 1585/59 (2 CDs)
****
Helmut Lachenmann's The Little Match Girl is opera as a chill wind, the composer's signature instrumental sonorities of rushing air here conveying the grim winter exposure of Hans-Christian Andersen's sad tale. Paul Griffiths likens Lachenmann's music to the shreds of a garment ("the musical usages of three centuries have worn thin") and the often fractured and disembodied vocal and orchestral evocations in this libretto-less work are at times as touching as the fairy tale itself. The story is not so much told or enacted as shadowed. There's no conventional cast of characters - the soloists are two sopranos, two pianists, a player of the Japanese sho, and a speaker. The mood is the entirely appropriate one of what you might call empathetic alienation. Strange but compelling stuff. www.ecmrecords.com Michael Dervan
IAN WILSON: FROM THE BOOK OF LONGING
Catherine Leonard (violin), Hugh Tinney (piano) Riverrun RVRCD 65
****
This survey of eight works by Ian Wilson ranges from the often chunky piano solo BIG of 1991 up to Verschwindend of 2001, a more nervy and snatchy type of piano piece that sounds as if the composer is intentionally constraining the message trying to make its way out. Only one of the three violin and piano works - the tango-infused from the Book of Longing - is originally for that combination of instruments (though the impressionistic, obsessive Spilliaert's Beach, originally with alto flute, has transferred extremely well), and the longest work, Lim, is the piano part of Limena, minus the orchestra. In spite of the varied surface finishes, what stands out on this CD is the underlying romanticism and also the consistent sensitivity and polish of both performers. www.rvrcd.co.uk Michael Dervan
SUK: PIANO QUARTET; PIANO QUINTET; FOUR PIECES OP 17
Nash Ensemble Hyperion CDA 67448
***
Josef Suk (1874-1935), pupil and son-in-law of Dvorak and second violinist of the Czech Quartet, is best known for his orchestral music, particularly the Asrael Symphony of 1906. Don't expect the gravely monumental manner of that memorial work, written in the wake of the deaths of his father-in-law and then his wife, in the early chamber music presented here. The Piano Quartet (1891) and Piano Quintet (1893) are, after all, not the work of an accomplished master but of a gifted teenager testing himself in different directions. The latest and lightest music here, the Four Pieces for violin and piano, Op. 17 (1900), is deservedly the best known of Suk's smaller-scale work, and the Nash Ensemble's polished playing shows just how attractive it can be. Michael Dervan
CHOPIN: 7 ÉTOLONAISE NO 7UDES, 2 NOCTURNES, P; SCRIABIN: SONATAS 2 & 5
Sviatoslav Richter (piano) Praga PR 54056
*****
This is a reissue of one of the most desirable of the large number of live recordings issued from radio tapes of Sviatoslav Richter's concerts in Prague. The particular occasions captured here were clearly edge-of-the-seat experiences. The Chopin Études (Op. 10 Nos 4, 10 & 11, Op. 25 Nos 5, 8, 11 & 12) have the nerve-tingling drive and the often raw, unpretty tone that were characteristic in this repertoire. The two Nocturnes (Op. 26 No. 2 & Op. 72 No 1), by contrast, allow of honeyed cushioning, and the Polonaise-Fantaisie is conveyed with Richter's very special sense of controlled trajectory. The Chopin was taped in 1988, the two Scriabin sonatas in 1972, in performances that combine the most fearless of visionary impetuosity and unerring musical cogency. The recorded piano sound is as unsanitised as the unedited music-making. www.harmoniamundi.com Michael Dervan
