Soyoung Lee / Ariane Jacob POEM

 

POEM

 

Melody Louledjian / Antoine Palloc FLEURS

 

FLEURS

Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama MON AMI, MON AMOUR

 

MON AMI, MON AMOUR

 

Nicholas Phan / Myra Huang CLAIRIÈRES

CLAIRIÈRES

 

Hiroko Ishimoto PIONEERS

PIONEERS

 

Erin K. Murphy / Kirstin Ihde DAY & NIGHT

DAY & NIGHT

Carolyn Sampson / Joseph Middleton FLEURS

FLEURS

Anna Ovsyanikova / Julia Sinani LES SAISONS FRANÇAISES

LES SAISONS FRANÇAISES

Juliette Hurel / Hélène Couvert COMPOSITRICES À L’AUBE DU XXE SIÈCLE

                                       COMPOSITRICES À L’AUBE DU XXE SIÈCLE

Cyrille Dubois / Tristan Raës LILI & NADIA BOULANGER Mélodies

                                                                        MÉLODIES

Alina Ibragimova / Cédric Tiberghien VIERNE - FRANCK Violin Sonatas YSAYE Poème élégiaque

While we’re not short of top-drawer recordings of Franck’s Violin Sonata, I’m still not sure whether I’ve ever encountered it sitting within such a musically and musicologically tempting programme as this one from Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien. Not, I might add, that the Franck Sonata should necessarily be seen as the main event here, despite its fame. Au contraire, one of the chief draws is the way it sits in equal balance within the whole, each work informing and being informed by its neighbours.

To deal first with the programming, all paths (or almost all paths) lead back to the great French violinist Eugène Ysaÿe: his Poème élégiaque of 1892, based on the tomb scene of Romeo and Juliet, followed by the Franck Sonata, which was a wedding present to him in 1886, and the 1908 Violin Sonata he commissioned from Franck’s fellow organist-composer Louis Vierne. Then a final petit four in the form of Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne, written only three years after the Vierne but ushering in a new era with its slightly leaner aesthetic and its final little quotation from Debussy’s L’après-midi d’une faune.

As for the actual sound, superb playing and ravishing engineering intertwine here to stunning effect. It’s a modern set-up – Ibragimova on a 1775 Anselmo Bellosio strung with metal, with Tiberghien on a very beautiful and relatively new Steinway D – and it serves as a reminder that you don’t necessarily need period instruments to bring a lightness and air-filled delineation to these densely textured late-Romantic works. (In fact, note here that if your personal taste is for something slightly lusher-textured or bigger-boned then you may wish to stick with Dumay and Pires, or perhaps Hadelich and Yang).

Still, listen to the sombre depth and steadily direct tone Ibragimova brings to the Poème élégiaque’s central grave et lent section, and the rich sonority of Tiberghien’s accompanying death knells. Or the gripping passion with which Ibragimova delivers both its soaring long lines and its virtuoso moments.

Moving on to the Franck, soak up the weightless, time-suspended softness with which they begin: from Ibragimova a sweet, even sound that’s light-toned without being lightweight, supported by a touch from Tiberghien at the keyboard that sounds like mellow, amber-hued raindrops, and all the while a gradual crescendo and strengthening of tone from both so subtle that it happens almost imperceptibly. Another joy is the expansive third movement with its succession of contrasts between crescendos to climaxes – which come long-spun, unegged and noble from Ibragimova – and the softest and sweetest of pianissimo dolcissimo interludes. Then after that, hear the further contrast provided by the final movement’s sunny-hued velocity.

The Vierne Allegro risoluto equally showcases sharper-edged energy, and yet more golden tenderness with its Andante sostenuto. Add the palette-cleansing Boulanger, and this is wall-to-wall wonderful. (Charlotte Gardner / Gramophone)

Antonii Baryshevskyi / Orpheus Vokalensemble / Michael Alber LILI BOULANGER Hymne au soleil

When Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) won the renowned "Prix de Rome" in 1913, she was the very first woman to be honored with this prize at all. Her far too early death led to her music always being in the shadow of Debussy and Ravel when talking about impressionist music. This CD with the Orpheus Vokalensemble is being issued in 2018, on the occasion of the centenary of her death. Due to her individual musical language, its diversity of color, its metaphorical content and its poetry, Lili Boulanger can be counted as one of Impressionism’s great artists. We would have liked to have heard more of her music. (carus-verlag.com)

WOMEN OF NOTE

Clara Schumann's recently recovered G-Minor Sonata['s]...bold gestures and the strong development of its ideas, especially in the substantial and stormy first movement, offer plenty of rewards, both emotional and intellectual... And while the excerpts from Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's The Year fit more comfortably into the orthodox parameters of music for (advanced) domestic use, they do so with exquisite polish... Highly recommended to anyone intrigued by the repertoire. (Peter J. Rabinowitz)

Lasting a shade under twenty minutes, Zwilich's Third Symphony is large in scale. Sinewy, assertive and confident, it is very much in the tradition of the Great American Third Symphonies of the 30s and 40s. As is the case with some of her music from the past decade or so, Shostakovich is the muse in some of the symphony's timbres, rhythms, power, and intensity... Marked Largo, the third movement cyclically revisits the first. Its midsection is strikingly dark and somber... This CD is a release of a major importance. Top recommendation. (Benjamin Pernick)

The great find of this release, however, and reason to rush out and buy it, is Galina Ustvolskaya. Born in 1919, one of the most important students of Shostakovich, and longtime resident of St. Petersburg, her music is fiercely original. I find myself almost at a loss for words to describe it. Simple motives are reiterated and developed with a sort of hypnotic force, but the os.tinati are never “cheap.“ Every gesture seems won through a titanic struggle. This is deeply spiritual music, but informed as much by anguish as transcendence... [B]y the 1988 sonata, Ustvolskaya is completely her own composer. It is only six and a half minutes long, but its thunderous, relentless low clusters (brutal sound-masses, yet still full of harmonic meaning) make it unique among piano music I have heard over the last decade, and its intensity suggests a piece far larger than its real-time duration. Though I have heard some of her music over the radio, and though I know a boomlet of her music is emerging on CD, this is my first encounter with Ustvolskaya on disc, and it has been shattering, the type of discovery that adventurous listeners dream of. (Robert Carl)

Katharina Konradi / Gerold Huber GEDANKENVERLOREN

Once again, the collaboration between Genuin Classics and the German Music Council has resulted in a true dream: Katharina Konradi, the winner of the 2016 German Music Competition, has chosen songs from the Romantic period to the modern age for the Primavera Edition. They are set between day and dream, between moonlight and midnight, and their spectrum ranges from Schubert's Faith in Spring to Lori Laitman's tragic songs from Theresienstadt. The flexible soprano voice of the young singer is ideally suited for this literature, nestling in perfect harmony with the lost dreamlike sounds from Schubert to Trojahn – a magnificent debut CD! (Presto Classical)

Janine Jansen / Itamar Golan BEAU SOIR

Dutch violin virtuoso Janine Jansen turns her considerable talents to Impressionist and post-Romantic French repertoire in this album devoted to music evocative of the evening, night, and dreams. The recital includes the premiere recordings of three brief works by contemporary French composer Richard Dubugnon, and while they would not be mistaken for products of the early 20th century, their language and sensibility are very much linked to the works of Debussy, Fauré, Lili Boulanger, Messiaen, and Ravel that make up the rest of the album. Jansen has been a generalist, recording works from Vivaldi and Bach to Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Britten. French music has not been a large presence in her repertoire, although she played the premiere of Dubugnon's Violin Concerto, which he wrote for her. For the most part she avoids the wispiness that can afflict interpretations of "Impressionist" repertoire, a term Debussy hated. That delicacy is perfectly suited, however, to Heifetz's arrangement of Debussy's early song, Beau soir. She's entirely successful in Ravel's vigorous Sonata in G major, and she nicely captures the looseness of the music's vernacular elements. Dubugnon's character pieces are lyrical, lovely, and expertly scored. Pianist Itamar Golan provides a strong, nuanced, and idiomatically sensitive accompaniment. Decca's sound is clean and vivid. The closeness of the miking may be a problem for listeners who do not enjoy hearing a player's breathing as a significant performance element. The predictability of Jansen's sniffs as pickups to every phrase, with their volume a sure predictor of the intensity of the phrase, can wear very thin very quickly and mars an otherwise lovely performance. (Stephen Eddins)

Judith Pfeiffer KLAVIER

Judith Pfeiffer, born in Germany, holds five degrees in Piano Performance/Piano Education from three different countries.

Her CD, “Brahms and His Time,” features romantic piano works by Johannes Brahms,

Clara and Robert Schumann, and Frederic Chopin. A CD with piano works by women composers was released by Dreyer-Gaido Musikproduktionen (Germany) and acclaimed by critics and the general public alike.
Judith has performed throughout Germany, Austria, Cyprus, Italy, France, Portugal, and the United States. With her expertise of Brahms, she enthusiastically accepted the invitation from Friends of Goethe and the German Consulate in Atlanta to perform “Brahms and His Time” on a Southern tour. She also performed in several venues in Florida, including the Royalty Theater in Clearwater, Keene Faculty Center Recital Series at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and at the 7 th International Festival of Women Composers in Gainesville (recorded for National Public Radio).
An outstanding feature of her recitals is her illuminating commentary on the pieces, in which she draws from music history, philosophy, and psychology, thus allowing the audience to find new connections between the composer, the music, and itself.