Although his superb piano-writing combines contrapuntal dexterity and a rich vein of lyricism, much of Sergei Lyapunov’s output for piano has been neglected. This chronological survey, covering three decades of Lyapunov’s composing life, contains a number of first recordings.

REVIEW:

This is a highly successful recital which makes one hope for further volumes. The Op 1 pieces, the Scherzo, and the Sonatina are receiving their first recordings. The engineering is unfussy. Given the nature of the music there is no need for the widest or most dramatic of sound-stages. That being said the engineers have captured Glebov’s Steinway D piano with excellent natural presence. As mentioned, excellent liner-notes give real insight into both the life and music of this still too-little known composer. A wholly enjoyable disc.

-- MusicWeb International

WEINBERG Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes (arr. Weinberg). Violin Sonatas Nos. 2 and 5. Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin • Yuri Kalnits (vn); Michael Csányi-Wills (pn) • TOCCATA 0026 (70:58)

Mieczys?aw Weinberg’s output continues to emerge on CD. One of the more interesting features of the Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes is that the music has a certain Hassidic quality, meaning the use of minor keys and descending melodic passages with flatted 7ths and 6ths. Of course, much Eastern European ethnic music falls into this category, including Rumanian and Polish music, but these themes (the notes explain) were consciously chosen because Weinberg’s mother came from Kishinyov (now Chisnâu), where “Bessarabian musical folklore was strongly influenced by the huge Jewish population.” The exuberant and exciting way Weinberg manages his musical materials makes the piece more than just a trifle. The composer made this violin-piano arrangement from his original orchestral version (of which there is a fine recording by Vladimir Lande and the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra on Naxos 8.572779) with fingerings for the solo part provided in the published score by David Oistrakh.

The Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, composed in 1944, was not premiered until 18 years later, by Oistrakh and pianist Frieda Bauer. Its opening theme sounds very much like the Rhapsody, but its development is much more along the lines of Shostakovich’s music. Happily, Weinberg avoids—consciously or unconsciously—the crudeness of much of Shostakovich’s music and the streaks of self-pity. It is serious music, yet imbued by palpable energy in the first movement and wonderful lyricism in the second. The catchy but offbeat rhythm of the last movement rides the Sonata off into an almost ferocious Finale.

This is the first recording of Weinberg’s Second Sonata for Solo Violin. Composed in 1967, annotator David Fanning explains that its overall tone is “less confrontational in character and more of a suite in overall conception.” Indeed, the music is very quirky, its seven movements given titles descriptive of musical terms ( Monody, Rests, Intervals, etc.), and so diverse that one can very well imagine the individual movements being played alone in concerts. It is, however, well written and employs a great amount of contrast within each movement, short though they are (the timings range from 1:27 to 3:38, with most of them averaging around two minutes). In places, almost aggressively abrasive dissonances give way to fascinating in brief development sections.

Weinberg’s Fifth Violin Sonata dates from 1953, shortly after he was released following a harrowing 11 weeks at the Lubyanka prison on the charge of “Jewish bourgeois nationalism.” Like in his Second Sonata, and more so in the Rhapsody, Weinberg here “absorbs folk-like intonations” into his style, but the synthesis is now more complete, showing his marked maturity as a composer. There is a wonderfully plaintive quality in the first movement, for instance, where Weinberg simplifies his style harmonically and produces a simply gorgeous spun-out melodic structure. And here, particularly, Kalnits displays an almost otherworldly sense of pathos and lyricism, which then turns into lyricism combined with forward momentum in the rapid second movement. The third movement ( Allegro moderato ) is wistful and almost nostalgic in character despite its energetic tempo, as is the Finale (note, particularly, the diminuendo on the last high note). What excellent music this is!

Kalnits is a good violinist with strong emotion and wonderful empathy for this material, though his tone tends towards wiriness and a bit of whining in the upper range. Csányi-Wills is a fine, sensitive accompanist. Together they make a strong case for most of this music becoming part of the standard repertoire.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

The CD begins with one of Friedrich Cerha’s first surviving compositions, the Hindemith-like First Violin Sonata of 1947. Two later works, from almost half a century on, complete the stylistic trajectory. One of them, the Sechs Stücke für Violine Solo, was written for the violinist on this CD, Ernst Kovacic, a friend of the composer for many years. Cerha wrote the booklet notes, available in English and German.

REVIEW:

For those who wish to explore a cross-section of the violin music of what appears to be one of the most commanding voices among recent composers, not to mention violinist-composers, Toccata’s collection, with its brilliant and, seemingly, authoritative performances and lively recorded sound, should be a natural choice. In every way, it’s another winner from Toccata that can be very warmly recommended.

-- Fanfare

This recording presents the complete surviving chamber music and chansons of Philip van Wilder. The program sets him in a historical context: downstream from Josquin and Gombert, collaborating with Tallis and a formative influence on Byrd. Cantores is an early-music choir formed from graduates of Exeter University by Dr David Allison which meets several times a year for specific projects, specializing in the music of the Renaissance.

This CD documents a ten-year productive friendship between a composer and a performer. Many of Matthews’ quartets were written for the Kreutzer Quartet, and they’ve recorded two previous CDs of his complete cycle of music. This release features all world premiere recordings.

REVIEW:

Finally, there comes Hopeful Monsters of 2011 for string orchestra (the orchestra includes the members of the Quartet). Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street (a day in 1936 when, in East London, crowds gathered to protest against fascism), it is a fascinating canvas that includes references to Jewish music in its faster section. The title is borrowed from Nicholas Mosley and refers to biological mutations that hover on extinction. Lee Hallman’s exemplary booklet notes suggest this is reflected in Rose’s use of harmony, with its clear tonal references that it just as often seeks to negate—or at least toy with.

All pieces here receive their first recordings, and the disc was made in the presence of the composer. Unhesitatingly recommended.

-- Fanfare

The four works on this first CD of Komarnitsky’s music are all that remains of his copious output of chamber music. Featuring the London Piano Trio, they “audibly believe in every note, and their dedicated performances are set within a bold sound frame […]” (Gramophone Classical Music Guide).

REVIEW:

I was bowled over by the music on this record and sincerely hope that there is more to be discovered of this composer’s works, perhaps lying in some archives somewhere which is often where such things end up. It is tantalising to have heard this music and not to be sure of being able to explore further examples of it. I wait with bated breath and great hopes that more from him will emerge.

The members of the London Piano Trio play all of this music with passion, commitment and great skill making me want to seek out music where they play as a trio. Robert Atchison’s notes are a useful commentary on the background to the pieces.

-- MusicWeb International

REVIEW:

We are told that Luis Carlos Figueroa is one of the senior and much esteemed figures in Colombian music. As such this disc is very welcome as to most intents and purposes it serve as an initiation into the man’s music. Given his dates we might perhaps have expected a thornier style but it is warm and welcoming. This is attractive music that is well worth your ear-time.

-- MusicWeb International

Estonian violinist Kerem (b.Tallinn, 1981) is familiar as a performer in Britain as well as at home. He is also a prolific composer, with over 100 works to his credit, 3 symphonies among them. The three-movement 3rd Symphonny (2003) and the Lamento for viola and strings (2008–9) lie downstream from Shostakovich and Boris Tishchenko, and were inspired by the idea of the struggle of the individual voice against oppressive ideology.

The music of the Ukrainian composer Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895–1968) is familiar in his home country but sorely neglected abroad. Lyatoshynsky’s songs are neglected even there: this anthology of his best romantsiy for low voice and piano contains many first recordings.
The songs meld intense Scriabinesque expressionism with elements of Ukrainian folksong in a language that embraces both the lyrical and the dramatic. His setting of Shelley’s Ozymandias, with its warning of the impermanence of power, was a brave act in the Soviet Union of 1924. The booklet contains full sung texts, with English translations by Russian-music expert Anthony Phillips, who also provides an extensive introduction to Lyatoshynsky.

REVIEW:

Ukrainian composer Boris Liatoshinsky (1895–1968) studied with Gliere at the Kiev Conservatory and then became a life-long member of that faculty. Death, melancholy, dread, and grief over unrequited love are the subjects of his chosen texts by mostly Ukrainian poets Ivan Bunin, Alexei Pleshcheyev, Leonid Pervomaiski, Maxim Rylsky, and Volodymyr Sosyura as well as Heine and Shelley. The mood of his songs is consistently somber.

The program of works from 1922 to 1951 is ordered mostly chronologically. His earliest compositions show an evident love of Schumann, Chopin, and Borodin; but the works heard here show a Scriabinesque expressionist style that reflects the cultural chaos following WW I and the Russian Revolution. His 1924 setting of Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ with its image of the impermanence of power shows his courage and conviction in the face of Socialist Realism as Stalin was consolidating his stranglehold over the Soviet Union.

The performances here are broodingly powerful. Savenko’s lyric bass is a good fit for these songs, written specifically for bass (or low voice). With smooth legato singing and well applied dynamics, his performance gives full expression to their mournful nature.

-- American Record Guide

Grigoriu (b. Moldavia, 1926) is one of the major Romanian composers in the period after Enescu. His vast output is little known outside his own country, although it includes oratorios, symphonies, cantatas, chamber music, film-scores, and much more. His musical roots reach back to Romanian folk-music and the modal melodies of ancient Byzantium.

The music of Buxton Orr (b. Glasgow, 1924), was hardly over-exposed during his lifetime but has encountered even more neglect since his death in 1997. This CD takes a step in the right direction, presenting Orr’s mildly modernist, elegant and honest music in first recordings of four of his chamber works for strings.

REVIEW:

All of the performances are passionate, committed and of the highest quality as is the recording which does not get between the performers and the listeners. The music needs to be ‘Listened to’ and, more than once. It is not fashionable, it does not always come out to meet you half way but it is approachable and emotional and has its own strong rewards.

The reason why the disc has taken over a decade to emerge, and I do recall it being mentioned many years ago, is that the company which originally recorded it lost interest and abandoned the project. Well done Toccata for picking up these most valuable pieces

-- MusicWeb International