Reviews

Your monthly critical round-up of performances, recordings and publications

THIS MONTH’S RECOMMENDED RECORDINGS

Our pick of the new releases

CONCERTS

Sunshine and shadows in the Chiaroscuro’s Beethoven PAGE 86

Scintillating Schubert from Mullova and Beatson PAGE 89

Matt Haimovitz’s thrilling journey through new solo cello music PAGE 91

New York

A much-anticipated Lincoln Center debut from the Cremona Quartet

COURTESY FRANK IMPELLUSO

CREMONA QUARTET, DAVID SHIFRIN (CLARINET) ALICE TULLY HALL 1 FEBRUARY 2022

Founded in 2000, the Cremona Quartet displayed outstanding tonal refinement in its local debut, sponsored by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The programme presented two quartets composed in 1930 and 1904–5 respectively, interspersed by Weber’s Clarinet Quintet with David Shifrin.

The first of Prokofiev’s two string quartets dates from close to the end of his decade-long Paris residence, and was commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, doyenne of American patrons of new chamber works in the mid-20th century. The first performance was by the Brosa Quartet in the Coolidge Auditorium in Washington DC’s Library of Congress in 1931. Each of the quartet’s three movements is replete with lyricism, alternating with scherzando elements and an exceptionally contemplative, expressive finale. The Cremona’s performance was distinguished by splendid balance, abundant colour and a relaxed mastery of all the musical elements. In Weber’s quintet (completed in 1815) the dedicatee Heinrich Baermann was very much the star turn; but Shifrin’s clarinet was supported with sympathy, even when the string textures became merely accompanimental.

Schoenberg’s First Quartet op.7 was always beautifully played, with understanding and sympathy. No matter how dense the texture, no hint of effort entered into the performance. Nearly a quarter-century of existence ensured a constant focus on expression and the ceaseless evolution of the musical materials. Shifrin rejoined the quartet for the Adagio from Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet K581, where equal partnership prevailed.

DENNIS ROONEY

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CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER ROSE STUDIO, LINCOLN CENTER 10 FEBRUARY 2022

The muted first movement of Françaix’s 1933 Trio for violin, viola and cello bubbled along lightheartedly, with Kristin Lee (violin), Matthew Lipman (viola) and Nicholas Canellakis (cello) making it sound as if it were the easiest music in the world; their impeccable technique and sparkling spiccato made the music seem to float. Frequent smiles were exchanged during the scherzo and the music sounded just as entertaining, while the many character changes in the final Rondo were expertly brought alive. Violinist Bella Hristova joined Canellakis for Kodály’s Duo for violin and cello op.7, and her rich sound was a perfect match for the work. The cellist’s sensitivity was a terrific contrast to the violinist’s intensity, and their Adagio was mesmerising. The final movement began with a dramatic violin solo, played with great commitment and gusto; while it could have had more playfulness, its power was impressive.

Clarinettist David Shifrin joined the string players for Coleridge-Taylor’s Quintet in F sharp minor op.10 and the energy of the artists was palpable. The opening to the Larghetto was exquisite and the entire movement unfolded with a lovely tenderness. Magnificent bow control and sound production from the strings matched the long lines of the clarinet and Canellakis’s cello melody about midway through was riveting. The scherzo was passionate without being too heavy, while the finale married soaring melodies and a rhythmic drive excellently articulated by the players.

LEAH HOLLINGSWORTH

CASTALIAN QUARTET WEILL RECITAL HALL, CARNEGIE HALL 15 FEBRUARY 2022

The Castalian Quartet brought an abundance of imagination and artistry to the Carnegie Hall stage in its New York City debut. However, while the thoughtfulness and investment in Mozart’s D minor Quartet K421 was impressive, the minute attention to every nuance could be distracting in the Allegro moderato, as could the tempo fluctuations. However, the group captured the mood of the Andante very well, with myriad colour changes, even if phrase endings could become ragged. In the final two movements, the variable bow speeds, together with the almost flautando playing from the first violin Sini Simonen, were at times distracting. Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E flat major followed, with the players finding a luscious depth of sound missing in the Mozart. The sparkling spiccato in the Allegretto was well played and the imagination and dexterity of Simonen’s playing in the Romanze revealed the depths of the music.

Schubert’s last quartet, the G major D887, was an excellent choice to conclude the concert. Here, the group’s creativity and imagination made for a delightfully vibrant and engaging performance. Simonen’s ability to produce an exquisite sound at speed was truly impressive. The Andante featured some fabulous cello playing and the warmth of the Trio amid the hair-raising Scherzo was delightful too. To the closing Allegro assai they brought humour, intensity and stamina.

LEAH HOLLINGSWORTH

Live stream

SAM MAGILL, DEBORAH DAVIS, ELI KAYNOR (CELLOS) DMITRI SHTEINBERG (PIANO)

WATSON CONCERT HALL, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS 22 FEBRUARY 2022

As former principal associate cello of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Sam Magill has spent his career performing the likes of Mozart, Verdi and Wagner. But his curiosity extends far beyond those well-known names. This adventurous recital began with the 1892 Requiem for three cellos and piano by David Popper.

Popper’s luscious harmonies take full advantage of a trio of cellists – in this case, a reunion of alumni from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, with Magill joined by Deborah Davis and Eli Kaynor along with pianist Dmitri Shteinberg. Based on this warm, reverent reading, it should appear in the recital hall more often.

Magill has recorded Franco Alfano’s Sonata in G minor (1925–6), and the chance to hear it live was welcome. Alfano is perhaps best known for completing Puccini’s Turandot, and the sensuous phrases of this engaging sonata echo that drama. Magill’s instrument has gorgeous resonance, especially in some of the work’s cavernous lower registers.

Refreshingly unorthodox programming from the Escher Quartet

ANNA KARIEL

After the interval came Orpheus for solo cello by Eugène Bozza, published posthumously in 1993. It opens with a barrage of double-stops, followed by a meditative middle movement sprinkled with left-hand pizzicatos and some treacherous harmonics. The rhapsodic finale thumps with vigour and challenging stretches in the strings’ upper reaches, coupled with other special effects.

To close this ambitious programme came John Ireland’s 1923 G minor Sonata for cello and piano. As with the best collaborations – between Magill’s haunting strains and Shteinberg’s alert pianism – the whole seemed greater than the sum of its parts.

BRUCE HODGES

London

ALEXI KENNEY (VIOLIN) DANIEL MÜLLER-SCHOTT (CELLO) FRANCESCO PIEMONTESI (PIANO)

WIGMORE HALL 31 JANUARY 2022

Schubert himself may well have met the only half-full Wigmore Hall for his 225th-birthday concert with a weary shrug, yet the low turnout did feel distinctly wrong in the light of such wall-to-wall perfection. First, the Arpeggione Sonata had Daniel Müller-Schott displaying a weightlessly singing lyricism rarely heard from cellists in this work. Equally striking were its dynamic extremes and even the odd tweak to the score. For instance, the marked rallentando and accelerando inserted into the first movement’s whispered closing phrases are not what’s written, but were inarguably effective.

Perhaps the evening’s most beautiful surprise was the Violin Sonatina in D major D384, a work that can sound a little inconsequential, but which here was shot through with both youthful optimism and vulnerable beauty: from Alexi Kenney, a crisply articulated, light, dry sound of a bewitching grace with the barest hint of vibrato; from Piemontesi, a shared sense of purpose and impeccable balance.

To end, Schubert’s Second Piano Trio, a perfect mix of darkness and light, fragility and power; here Piemontesi was notably light on the sustaining pedal, his pearly brightness a beautiful foil for the drier string sound. The whoops that met their final chord were richly deserved.

CHARLOTTE GARDNER

ESCHER QUARTET, ANDREAS HAEFLIGER (PIANO)

WIGMORE HALL 17 FEBRUARY 2022

The Escher Quartet opened this concert with Beethoven’s last quartet, the F major op.135. Its playing was mostly light and gentle in the first movement, with a flowing line underpinning its many changes of character. The lower strings drove relentlessly in the second-movement Vivace, and the Lento assai had profound, hushed eloquence. In the finale there were fierce contrasts; the return of ‘Muss es sein?’ was grim and remorseless.

Next came Britten’s Third Quartet, and the players revealed an unsettling mystery in the opening ‘Duets’ movement. In the third movement, ‘Solo’, first violinist Adam Barnett-Hart worked his way to an almost improvisatory cry of anguish. The central Quasi ‘Trio’ of the fourth-movement ‘Burlesque’ was a spectral waltz before its fierce ending. After the gentle rocking of the cello in the final movement, second violinist Brendan Speltz and violist Pierre Lapointe imbued their solo lines with a contained power. There was warmth of sound, but the end of the movement was bleak and implacable.

Pianist Andreas Haefliger joined the Escher after the interval for Brahms’s Piano Quintet, which he performed as high Romantic drama, impetuous and passionate. The first two movements were relatively speedy, and in the second they touched some schmaltzy heights. To the scherzo they brought great impetuosity, and the quintet ended in a state of demonic energy.

TIM HOMFRAY

BENEDETTI–ELSCHENBROICH–GRYNYUK TRIO

WIGMORE HALL 24 FEBRUARY 2022

In her introduction to this concert, violinist Nicola Benedetti described their programme as ‘deeply connected’. Schumann, whose D minor Piano Trio came first, was a friend and mutual admirer of Brahms, whose B major Trio occupied the second half. In between was Wolfgang Rihm’s Fremde Szene III, which looks back to the harmonic world of the earlier composers. The opening movement of Schumann’s trio pulsed restlessly, with supple melodic playing. The dotted rhythms of the second movement pressed urgently onwards, and in the third-movement Langsam there were exquisite extended melodic lines from violin and cello, fragile and spellbinding. The energy of the finale was punctuated by stabbing accents and balanced by tenderness, with a tremendous gallop to the finish.

Connecting the musical dots: the Benedetti–Elschenbroich– Grynyuk Trio

TRIO PHOTO COURTESY WIGMORE HALL. LOZAKOVICH PHOTO STEFAN HOEDERATH

The string players negotiated the slow held notes at the opening of the Rihm with exemplary bow control and all three produced ferocious playing in the wild, insistent rhythms that followed. In the midst of this sometimes harsh music, little Schumannesque snatches peeked curiously out. In Brahms’s trio they deftly negotiated the complex landscape of the first-movement exposition, mingling surety with questing uncertainty. Pianist Alexei Grynyuk, superb throughout, produced limpid arpeggios over the dry staccato of the strings in the Scherzo. The bleak mystery of the Adagio was well conveyed and the finale emerged from B minor into radiant D major before exploring the emotional complexities at its heart.

TIM HOMFRAY

DANIEL LOZAKOVICH (VIOLIN) LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA/ ALPESH CHAUHAN

ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 26 FEBRUARY 2022

Some unease to the first-half account of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto was understandable given the short-notice withdrawal of the scheduled conductor Klaus Mäkelä. Nevertheless, Alpesh Chauhan soon established a vivid sense of the concerto’s glinting, balletic sound world with some pungent and pointed wind solos.

By contrast, Daniel Lozakovich never quite settled to his task. A self-effacing stage presence is one thing, but he drew a large, generically Italianate sound from his 1727 ‘Baron Rothschild’ Stradivari and played either to himself or the audience rather than engaging in quicksilver dialogue. There is something to be said for playing a straight bat in music so often fraught with major-minor ambiguity, and he drew in the audience with a withdrawn, Juliet-like pianissimo to launch the second movement, before tracing out the second theme with admirable modesty.

Time and again, however, he drew the concerto’s laces too tightly, pushing unmercifully through the Spanish episodes of the finale, sailing over any potential irony in the score and leaving the orchestra to fill in colour and play catch-up. He dispatched the climactic solo with an accelerating momentum that caught the LPO off-guard – the final chords were frankly a mess – and leaving little more than a vaguely French-accented impression of the concerto’s harmonic and stylistic tensions.

Chauhan’s cellist background came to the fore in the Second Symphony of Rachmaninoff, always taut and assured in its phrasing. The slow movement’s noble clarinet melody had room to breathe, and some odd discrepancies of vibrato within and between string sections did not compromise an opulent collective sonority. If Chauhan and the LPO were working on the fly, they hid it well.

PETER QUANTRILL

Unassuming Prokofiev from Daniel Lozakovich