TOTAL IMMERSION

British violinist Rachel Podger tells Toby Deller why making her new disc of C.P.E. Bach with keyboard player Kristian Bezuidenhout was an intense and all-consuming experience

A t the end of the third variation of C.P.E. Bach’s Arioso con variazione Wq79, there is – spoiler alert – an almost Schubertian glimpse into the abyss, from which we are saved only by an exquisite last-minute swerve. The moment is impeccably executed by Rachel Podger and Kristian Bezuidenhout in their new release of music for violin and keyboard by the composer, but it is not the only foretaste of later musical styles on the album. While the Sonata in G minor H542.5, the first piece and the earliest chronologically, almost inevitably harks back to the music of C.P.E.’s father J.S. Bach (Podger thinks it could be a collaboration), the second, the Sonata in C minor Wq78, brings other names to mind.

‘I remember on first hearing thinking: what is this? Early Beethoven?’ she recalls. ‘I wasn’t sure what it was. It even has a sense of Sturm und Drang, I would say. There’s real pathos in that opening. Also just the length and breadth of the movement, with this stirring, swirling theme that keeps coming back, and very chromatic. Apparently Brahms loved that piece; he made an edition and performed it as well. I can imagine him loving it. It does feel quite Romantic.’

There is warmth and tenderness in the second movement, too, I suggest. ‘Absolutely. It’s such an experience to play it. There’s such poignancy and delicacy, and there’s also a sense of fragility. Some of it reminded me of Haydn – he, Mozart and Beethoven regarded C.P.E. very highly. Some of those incredible enharmonic turns you hear in Haydn’s slow movements: it has a sense of that in that slow movement. The sonata is also very virtuosic. Not just for the piano – he was obviously a formidable player – but also for the violinist. Especially that last movement: it’s quite playful but there’s also something terrifying about it, which goes with the key.’

PHOTOS COURTESY JARED SACKS

‘IF YOU’RE RECORDING A ONE-COMPOSER DISC, YOU GET SUCH AN INSIGHT INTO THEIR BEING, THEIR MUSICAL HEART AND SOUL’

These two works are mirrored on the album by the Sonata in B minor Wq76 (from 1763, like the C minor) and the 1731 Sonata in D major Wq71, with the Arioso (1780) as the centrepiece. Choosing pieces from different stages of Bach’s career meant that the performers were able to make use of either harpsichord or fortepiano, something they are not usually able to do when performing live. ‘It’s very interesting because of course it affects everything – the tempos, the idiom, the pathos. That was an experiment in itself.’ So the first and last pieces on the album are with harpsichord, adding another element of symmetry.

‘These early sonatas are very much in the high Baroque style, but there are already different tastes in there,’ says Podger. ‘For instance, in the slow movement of the G minor you get a glimpse of something else. It doesn’t feel like straightforward high Baroque. Then there are the later ones where he finds a more characteristic voice. In those sonatas there’s quite a difference, thematically, between what he writes for the keyboard and for the violin. It’s interesting to see how he brings them together.’

The opening of the B minor Sonata is a particular case in point. ‘It starts out with a quasi ritornello for the keyboard. It’s quite long, twelve bars, and very florid, with cascades of rapid figurations and beautiful arpeggios. You think it’s a keyboard sonata. But then the violin comes in with something completely different from what’s gone before, quite languid and soulful. It’s like someone looking out of a window slightly dreamily.’

The protagonists here, Podger and Bezuidenhout, are long-standing collaborators, although this is their first recording together. ‘It’s a complete joy to play with him, very natural. He’s so precise and delicate, especially with the fortepiano, because the touch is very different from not only the harpsichord but its modern piano counterpart. It’s not as solid, and actually very fragile. You don’t have to do very much but the sound just seems to appear.’ She describes how aware she is of Bezuidenhout’s responsiveness when he is in accompanying mode, anticipating any variations of timing she might proffer. Her other collaborators on the recording for Channel Classics have, however, been through the process with her many times before. ‘How many recordings have we done? Maybe 30? Every time we get together [recording engineer] Jared Sacks will say: this is number such-and-such, and I’ll say: really? So we know each other incredibly well.’ Podger describes her producer Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, who is principal of the Royal Academy of Music, as ‘a very good friend: he knows my musical mind inside out, and also what I’m capable of. He will make a comment and I’ll know exactly what he means. Sometimes he will push me to do another take, or to approach the piece in a completely different way. Often it will change something in me so I give more of whatever the piece needs at that moment: freshness, or swing, or more intimacy.’

The venue, St John the Evangelist church in a quiet part of the London suburb Upper Norwood, is a large late 19th-century red-brick church that was recently the temporary home of the London Mozart Players. It is a place Podger knows well from previous recordings. ‘I’m very used to the surroundings there and I’m used to playing there. Normally we get there a day before the recording and Jared comes and sets up all the microphones. I always complain that I’m standing too far away from the piano or keyboard – we have that discussion every time! But of course he needs to separate our sounds so we have the option to separate or to mix them on the recording, so I stand further away than I would in a concert.’

Podger describes the recording process beyond the refamiliarisation stage as immensely rewarding. ‘You forget everything else for a while. I don’t listen to the news, I’m completely immersed. It’s kind of feverish; I love the intensity. Some people don’t enjoy the recording experience so much but I love it. I love that sense of getting right inside something, under the skin of the style of a particular piece. Especially if you’re recording a one-composer disc, you get such an insight into their being, their musical heart and soul, in a very different way from how you would in a concert. Because in a concert you’re relating the music to a specific audience which is always different every night.’

Producer Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Rachel Podger and recording engineer Jared Sacks at the sessions

There is an intimacy about the experience as a result, and Podger admits that when she first started making recordings, it took her a little while to get used to the idea of revealing her most deeply buried ideas to people quite unknown to her. ‘It takes quite a lot of courage to do that, to show your innermost thoughts. It’s like anything creative, whether music, or visual art, or writing – poetry can be incredibly intimate. You have those thoughts at that particular time and then you have to let them go. It can be quite scary, but now I really love it. During a recording session you gain an intimacy with a particular composer, and it’s wonderful to share that. And afterwards I miss it terribly – I just want to go back in there. It’s like finishing a good book: I think, oh no, I want to stay with the characters!’

WORKS C.P.E. Bach Sonatas for keyboard and violin: Sonata in G minor H542.5; Sonata in C minor Wq78; Arioso con variazioni per il cembalo e violino in A major Wq79; Sonata in B minor Wq76; Sonata in D major Wq71 ARTISTS Rachel Podger (violin) Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano, harpsichord) RECORDING VENUE St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood, London, UK RECORDING DATE May 2022 CATALOGUE NO Channel Classics CCSSA41523 RELEASE DATE 28 April 2023