TANEYEV Violin Sonata in a. 1 Theme and Variations in C. Repose. Scherzos: in d; in g; in e?; in C; in F. Prelude in F. Quadrille. Andantino semplice. Prelude and Fugue in g?, op. 29. Romance, op. 26/6 (arr. Feigin) 1 • Olga Solovieva (pn); Ivan Peshkov (vn) 1 • NAXOS 8.557804 (72:41)


After several decades in the wilderness, Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (1856–1915) is enjoying somewhat of a comeback, with a number of recent recordings introducing him anew to audiences that may have known his name but have heard little of his music. With Nikolai Rubinstein as his piano teacher and Tchaikovsky as his instructor in composition, Taneyev graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with honors. He made his concert debut in Moscow in 1875 playing Brahms’s D-Minor Concerto, and the following year he toured Russia as accompanist to the great violinist Leopold Auer.


Unfortunately for Taneyev, a dyed-in-the-wool musical conservative who distinguished himself as a performing artist in the works of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and who, as a composer, cast his countenance ever further West and further back than Tchaikovsky, becoming an expert in the techniques of 15th-century vocal polyphony and 16th-century counterpoint, he ran afoul of his Russian nationalist contemporaries. No love was lost between them. Taneyev was disdainful of the “Mighty Handful,” publicly reproaching Balakirev, calling Borodin “a clever dilettante,” and remarking that Mussorgsky made him laugh. He was a bit more deferential towards Rimsky-Korsakov, respecting the composer of Scheherazade for his serious study of counterpoint.


Taneyev’s personality and outlook are perhaps a bit easier to understand when one realizes that he was, in his own mind, anyway, an unfairly untitled aristocrat. Coming from a wealthy family, he enjoyed the resources to pursue his interests in science, history, mathematics, and philosophy. Traveling extensively, he rubbed elbows with literary figures such as Zola and Flaubert, and with musical celebrities such as Franck and Saint-Saëns. Taneyev’s attitude towards the progressive composers and modern music of his day was not dissimilar from that of his older but longer-lived French contemporary, Saint-Saëns; both abhorred what they saw as unschooled, undisciplined dilettantism in any field of endeavor, but especially in music and the arts. When Tchaikovsky left his position at the Moscow Conservatory in 1878, Taneyev replaced him; during his tenure there, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Gliere, and Medtner, among others, benefitted from Taneyev’s teaching, though each went his own way once out from under his influence.


The five scherzos for solo piano on this CD, written between 1874 and 1875, are asterisked as being world premiere recordings. And grateful we should be to pianist Olga Solovieva and Naxos for outing them, for they are gem-like beauties, which, in melodic and harmonic vocabulary, are heavily indebted, according to note author Anastasia Belina, to Schumann and Tchaikovsky.


The major work on the program, Taneyev’s 1911 A-Minor Violin Sonata, carries the subtitle, “Of medium difficulty.” The piece was new to me, though there is another recent recording of it listed on the Northern Flowers label. Melodically, as well as in the close exchanges and echoing back and forth of material, the writing bears resemblances to the op. 12 violin sonatas of Beethoven, not surprising, given Taneyev’s Classical leanings and his touring with Auer. Based on the hearing of it—I don’t have the score—I’m fairly confident in saying that the piece is technically easier to play than the Beethoven sonatas. Filled with charming melodies for the violin and delightful effects in the piano part, Taneyev’s Sonata would make a wonderful work for any moderately advanced violin student.


Though Naxos is not claiming premiere recording status for the C-Major Theme and Variations, this is the only current listing I find for it. The piece is a student work dated 1874. Taneyev was 18 at the time and still under Tchaikovsky’s supervision. According to Belina’s note, Taneyev’s exercise was heavily influenced by Tchaikovsky’s “Thème original et variations,” the concluding number in his Six Pieces for Piano , op. 19, which appeared in 1873, the year before Taneyev wrote his work. Evidence in support of Belina’s contention comes in the form of a theme Taneyev borrowed from the finale of Tchaikovsky’s Second String Quartet as a counter-melody in the second variation. The transmigration from Tchaikovsky’s Quartet to Taneyev’s Variations must have happened at the speed of light, for both works were written at virtually the same time.


Of the remaining pieces on the disc for solo piano, the Quadrille is the most interesting and the longest at almost eight minutes. Careful listening reveals that Taneyev did not use the title flippantly or fancifully. He was too much of a stickler for correctitude. Technically and formally, a quadrille is an ancient and very complex dance that became all the rage, alongside the waltz craze, in 19th-century Vienna. If written according to the Viennese form, which Taneyev’s is, the dance is comprised of six sections: (1) an open rondo-form, the “Pantalon,” in 2/4 or 6/8 time; (2) the “Été,” always in 2/4; (3) the “Poule,” a closed rondo form, always in 6/8; (4) the “Trénis,” a mirrored binary form (A-B-B-A); (5) the “Pastourelle,” a modified rondo, always in 2/4; and (6) “Finale,” a double ternary form (AA-BB-AA) in 2/4 time in which each statement of the theme is eight bars in length. It’s fascinating to listen to the precision with which Taneyev adheres to the formal scheme in his whirligig Quadrille.


Finally, there is the Romance adapted for violin and piano from the composer’s song cycle, Immortelles . The appearance of the right-hand piano’s notes on the page is alleged to resemble the stalactites of the song’s title, “Stalaktitï.” While there is a static “dripping-tears” character to the piece, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the analogy, especially if you, like me, associate stalactites with the freakish icicle-like formations found in cold limestone caves. Taneyev’s Romance may be tearful, even sentimental, but it’s heartwarming in the same way that the fourth in the set of Dvo?ák’s Four Romantic Pieces , op. 75, is. In fact, Taneyev’s Romance bears a striking resemblance to the Dvo?ák.


This is a thoroughly winning disc. The more of Taneyev’s music I hear, the more I think he has been undeservedly eclipsed by the very dilettantes he despised. He wasn’t a Russian nationalist in the mold of the “Mighty Handful,” but his music may actually be better crafted than theirs; and, to me at least, it’s more appealing than that of some of his more renowned students. Ivan Peshkov is wonderful in the two violin works, and Olga Solovieva, as both soloist and accompanist, is one of the best advocates Taneyev has. Urgently recommended.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

Recording information: Studio 5, Russian State TV & Radio Company KULTURA, Mos (05/02/2007-05/03/2007); Studio 5, Russian State TV & Radio Company KULTURA, Mos (05/06/2007); Studio 5, Russian State TV & Radio Company KULTURA, Mos (09/13/2007).

The Carpe Diem String Quartet’s first volume of Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev’s string quartets gained critical accolades both for the revival of this important repertoire and for the ensemble’s sensitive and assured interpretations. A gift to musicians and listeners in search of rewarding new repertoire, Taneyev’s Second and Fourth String Quartets are masterfully crafted, the former piece possessing the inner energy of Beethoven, the latter being his most dramatic quartet. Both quartets impress with their unexpected harmonic combinations, wealth of ideas and mastery of form.

Unfamiliar scores played with great conviction. A real treat.

Taneyev may not be high on most people's list of 19th-century Russian composers but that could change as this Naxos series progresses. The First and Third symphonies with the Novosibirsk orchestra under Thomas Sanderling - son of the illustrious Kurt - certainly impressed me and, if anything, this new release has heightened my admiration for composer and orchestra alike.

Taneyev's only opera, based on Aeschylus's Oresteia, was recorded by DG and Olympia some time ago, but neither version is in the current catalogue. Curiously, the overture was composed and performed several years before the opera was completed. It's a substantial piece in its own right, lasting around 20 minutes, and listeners may be forgiven for thinking they've stumbled on a little-known piece of Wagner or Richard Strauss. That said, this is more than musical mimicry, revealing a rich supply of motile Russian melodies and a symphonic sweep that wouldn't have disgraced Taneyev's great friend and mentor, Tchaikovsky. From that first Stygian string theme through to its restrained finale this overture is full of lovely touches; and even though there is a whiff of Scriabin in those aromatic harmonies Sanderling ensures they never cloy or overwhelm the senses.

Arguably the Act III Entr'acte is even more seductive - it certainly has a Straussian amplitude - which is probably why this piece was so popular during the composer's lifetime. I was particularly struck by the sheer passion and unanimity of the playing and Sanderling's firm, clear-eyed view of the score. The recording is just as satisfying, deep when it needs to be and suitably grand in the splendid climaxes. Indeed, any misgivings I might have had about this band and their conductor simply evaporated at this point.

How very different that all is to the delectable Adagio in C major, written during the composer's final year at the Moscow Conservatory. As Anastasia Belina points out in her liner notes, much of Taneyev's youthful work was only discovered years later. The Adagio, published in 1950, is a real gem, especially when it's played with such elegance and refinement. And how different again is the Overture on a Russian Theme, written for the All-Russian Art and Trade Exhibition of 1882. Taneyev makes use of authentic Russian songs - as collected by Rimsky-Korsakov - forging them into a piece that has all the cut and thrust of a Cossack sword. It's virile stuff, guaranteed to please those who like their Russians to strut and swagger.

The style of the cantata, written for the opening of the Pushkin Memorial in Moscow, is echoed in the celebratory music of post-revolutionary Russia, used to great effect by the likes of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. That's not to suggest this is merely a patriotic prole-pleaser, because it isn't; it may be just 64 bars long but it has all the passion and splendour of those great choral numbers in Alexander Nevsky. As for the Canzona it's a frothy little confection, complemented by the bright-toned playing of clarinettist Stanislav Yankovsky. A slight piece, perhaps, but enjoyable none the less.

The Overture in D minor, like the Adagio, is an early work and this time it shows. It has a bluff quality - and a tendency to outstay its welcome - that the other pieces in this collection manage to avoid. (I wonder if other listeners can hear Brahms in this music?) Still, one mildly disappointing piece out of seven isn't bad, and it certainly isn't enough to dilute my enthusiasm for this disc as a whole. Factor in committed playing and full-blooded sound and you have one of the year's most entertaining releases so far.

Go on, treat yourself.

-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International

This is the fifth and final volume of Carpe Diem's highly acclaimed cycle of Taneyev's nine complete string quartets which are notable not only for the composer's famed meticulous craftmanship but for their attractive lyrical sweep. Infused with the spirit of Haydn and Mozart, the harmonically adventurous Eighth Quartet includes a beautiful and romantic Adagio. The Second String Quintet is a monumental work in every sense, standing firmly alongside the later quartets.

A pupil of Tchaikovsky, who called him the "Russian Bach", Sergey Taneyev is best known today for his four symphonies, although he also composed a sizable body of chamber music, including nine complete String Quartets.

Quartet No 9 is a memorably melodic work, while the beautifully crafted No 6, his last completed quartet, is rather more austere, though marked by a playful Jig, and even more masterful in construction. One of the most unique and sought-after chamber ensembles on the concert stage today, the Carpe Diem String Quartet are also involved in several most noteworthy educational and community outreach initiatives that bring music to those with limited access to it, or are otherwise unable to access it at all.

With assured playing and impressive unity from the Carpe Diem this disc is a valuable addition to the expanding discography of this still underrated composer.

Naxos continues to provide a tremendous service to international chamber music with an extensive variety of recordings. This year there have been several valuable Naxos sets that I have especially enjoyed: the string quartets of Schumann, Glazunov’s five novelettes and string quintet from the Fine Arts, Malcolm Arnold’s works for string quartet from the Maggini and his wind chamber music from East Winds not to mention three volumes of Arnold Bax’s violin and viola music.

Comprising members of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Carpe Diem are quartet-in-residence at the Conservatory of Music at Capital University. This disc is first volume of a projected complete cycle from the Carpe Diem of the Taneyev quartets.

In 1866 Russian-born Sergey Taneyev entered the Moscow Conservatory and later became a composition student of Tchaikovsky. He also received piano tuition from Nikolay Rubinstein and graduated with a gold medal for performance and composition. As a virtuoso pianist he was entrusted by Tchaikovsky with the premières of virtually all his scores for piano and orchestra. It seems that Taneyev was the only composer from his circle from whom Tchaikovsky sought critical appraisals of his scores. In 1881 he returned to the Moscow Conservatory to undertake teaching duties and in 1885 was appointed as Conservatory Director.

Kept in the shadows for many years his music is rapidly gaining a large group of enthusiasts. Taneyev champion, the eminent Russian pianist; conductor and composer Mikhail Pletnev, interviewed for The Independent in 2005, expressed the opinion that Taneyev was, “…the key figure in Russian musical history… He was the greatest polyphonist after Bach. And look who his pupils were: Rachmaninov and Scriabin, and Prokofiev who said he learned more about composing in one hour from Taneyev than from all his other tutors at the Moscow Conservatory.”

Taneyev is best remembered today as the composer of four symphonies and his second cantata At the Reading of a Psalm (1914-15). The cantata was his final work, completed just two years before the Russian Revolution, and is receiving significant advocacy from Pletnev. Very active in the field of chamber music, Taneyev composed over twenty scores in the genre, including, according to Grove Music Online nine string quartets between 1874-1911, plus two incomplete quartets; two string quintets (1901 and 1904); a piano quartet (1906) and a piano quintet (1911).

I can highly recommend a superb version of the Piano Quintet, Op. 30 (1911) and Piano Trio, Op. 22 from a stellar cast: Vadim Repin (violin), Ilya Gringolts (violin), Nobuko Imai (viola), Lynn Harrell (cello) and Mikhail Pletnev (piano). This was recorded in Vevey, Switzerland in 2003 and issued on Deutsche Grammophon 477 5419. Another Taneyev release to receive considerable acclaim is the live 2003 St. Petersburg, Russia recording of At the Reading of a Psalm. This is conducted by Pletnev and performed by the Russian National Orchestra, the St. Petersburg State Academy Capella Choir, the Boys Choir of the Glinka Choral College and soloists on PentaTone Classics Super Audio CD PTC 5186 038.

Taneyev’s wrote his five movement Quartet No. 1 in 1890, the year after resigning as Conservatory Director to concentrate more fully on his composing and counterpoint teaching. It seems that the score was actually Taneyev’s fifth string quartet but the first to be accorded an opus number.

In the extended opening movement Andante espressivo the Carpe Diems emphasise the dramatic, dark and restless aspects with the writing showing only brief glimpses of beauty. The lengthy Largo is mournful and affecting. This is not love music but more evocative of heartbreaking pain and sadness after the death of someone close. In the short, agitated and nervy Presto the music scampers from corner to corner. One welcomes a mood change in the Intermezzo which has a wistful and restful quality with not a care in the world. I especially enjoyed the high spirited and good natured playing in the fifth and concluding movement.

The Quartet No. 3 was written in 1886 and underwent revision in 1896; a time that marked the recent blossoming of Taneyev’s friendship with the eminent writer Leo Tolstoy. The score is cast in two movements with the huge final movement being a theme and eight variations. Lasting over seventeen minutes in performance the closing movement must be one of the longest in the genre of late-Romantic quartets.

Played with considerable assurance, the first movement Allegro has an unsettling and uncertain quality with fascinating writing that meanders from one idea to another. In the second movement Taneyev has selected a light and attractive Mozartean theme. I have attempted to identify each variation commencing from point 1:01 where a broken love affair must surely have been the motivation for the sorrowful first variation. The serious and melodic second variation follows at 2:57 and from 4:14 the players impress with the hectic and robust quality of the third variation. The fourth at 5:13 has the character of a folk dance; from 6:16 variation five is interpreted with tense undercurrents of sorrow through the general good humour. The brisk and rhythmic sixth variation at 9:17 contains an abundance of pizzicato. At 11:31 the slow and gentle variation seven offers a memorable and heartbreaking melody. In the dark and rich eighth and final variation at 14:49 the low strings dominate with confident and urgent playing.

The engineers are to be congratulated for the excellent sound quality. I found the booklet notes, comprising two short essays, to be adequate but the playing time of just over one hour seems ungenerous.

With assured playing and impressive unity from the Carpe Diem the disc is a valuable addition to Taneyev’s expanding discography. For those new to the rewarding and accessible sound-world of Taneyev this makes an excellent and inexpensive introduction to his chamber music.

-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

Sergey Taneyev was a pivotal figure in Russian musical life. A student and later close friend of Tchaikovsky, he was the teacher of Rachmaninov and Scriabin. Taneyev’s chamber music is some of the most distinguished music of its time, expertly crafted and revealing a masterly control of form. His quartets are especially notable. No 7 in E flat major is an early work whose classicism recalls Mozart and Beethoven but whose expressive power is concentrated in its lovely slow movement. No 5 in A major, Op 13 is a melodically appealing work, at times energetic and dramatic, at others playful and exuberant.

The multifaceted and multi-award winner Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music. The Symphonic Poem on Three Notes describes an evolutionary arc from nature through industry and back to nature, the traditional orchestra augmented with a range of unorthodox sound sources such as wind, stones and car brake drums. The drama of Orchestral Theatre centres on memories of ritual from the composer’s childhood, linking folk music styles to Western atonality, while the Concerto for Orchestra describes the exoticism of Marco Polo’s geographical, musical and spiritual journeys.

Selections recorded June 29-30 & July 1, 1992.

Selections recorded at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in June, 2001 and St. John Chrysostom Church, Newmarket in August, 2001.

Naxos' Takako Nishizaki Plays Suzuki Evergreens albums feature acclaimed violinist Takako Nishizaki who, as a child, studied with her father, Shinji, and with Shinichi Suzuki himself.

At the age of nine, Takako Nishizaki became the first student to complete the (then new) Suzuki method, which her father Shinji Nishizaki helped to develop and subsequently taught. This seven-disc series of "Suzuki Evergreens" is thus a touching tribute both to her father and to her famous teacher, and it would be difficult to imagine a project like this realized with more obvious affection or lavished with more care. Given the fact that most of the material on these discs consists of short works, transcriptions, and arrangements of both familiar favorites and unfamiliar pieces, it will appeal first and foremost to young violin students, who surely will find much to emulate. Nishizaki demonstrates that there is no piece so simple or technically unchallenging that does not benefit from being played beautifully.

This third volume, however, sustains a level of interest well beyond the didactic. The two "learning" concertos by Friedrich Seitz (for violin and piano) are delightful, and certainly reward repeated listening. It's easy to imagine young violinists playing them with pride, and Nishizaki's singing tone and unaffected phrasing ensures that the music's melodic charm really shines. Terence Dennis accompanies with all the necessary sensitivity and discretion.

Next come two lullabies, Schubert's D. 498 and Brahms' famous Op. 49 No. 4. In each case the vocal original is immediately followed by Nishizaki playing a transcription for violin and piano. The opportunity to compare the two versions offers students (and ordinary listeners) the chance to hear how the violin realizes an aesthetic ideal: approximating the expressive qualities of the human singing voice. Sopranos Birgid Steinberger and Mitsuko Shirai make fine soloists in the two songs.

The program ends with the outer movements of Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 3 No. 6, followed by the first movement of Bach's Concerto for Two Violins (twice--initially just Violin II plus piano, and then with both solo parts plus orchestra; Violin I plus piano appears on the next volume in this series). Once again Nishizaki turns what easily could have sounded like a thankless chore into a remarkably absorbing listening experience. It's fun hearing Bach's solo parts disentangled and then reunited.

Given the highly varied provenance of these recordings and the very different forces required, the engineering is consistently good. Violin students, whether Suzuki trained or not, certainly should collect this series. Regular listeners with an interest in this repertoire should start with this third volume, and move on to the other discs at will.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Naxos' Takako Nishizaki Plays Suzuki Evergreens albums feature acclaimed violinist Takako Nishizaki who, as a child, studied with her father, Shinji, and with Shinichi Suzuki himself.

Naxos' Takako Nishizaki Plays Suzuki Evergreens albums feature acclaimed violinist Takako Nishizaki who, as a child, studied with her father, Shinji, and with Shinichi Suzuki himself.