Some Flawless Violin Magic from James Ehnes

JAMES EHNES IN RECITAL

Disc One

Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)

Tzigane [10:44]

Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré [2:50]

Sonata for Violin and Piano in g Major [18:40]

Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)

Sonata for Violin and Piano in g minor [13:26]

Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in d minor, Op. 75 [22:41]

Disc Two

Henryk WIENIAWSKI (1835-1880)

Polonaise brilliante No. 2 in A, Op. 21 [8:32]

Polonaise No. 1 in D, Op. 4 [5:30]

Mazurka (Obertass) Op. 19, No. 1 [2:01]

Scherzo-Tarantella, Op. 16 [4:36]

Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 15 [11:06]

Pablo de SARASATE (1844-1908)

Spanish Dances, op. 21 [9:42]

Spanish Dances, op. 22 [9:50]

Spanish Dances, op. 23 [8:21]

Introduction and Tarantella [5:00]

James Ehnes (violin)

Wendy Chen (piano, disc one)

Eduard Laurel (piano, disc two)

Recorded December 20 and 22, 1999 at the Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto (disc one) and May 20-21, 2003 (disc two).

CBC RECORDS MVCD 1177-2 Disc One [68:17] Disc Two [65:34]

James Ehnes is almost without question the finest violinist of his generation, and as his career grows and he adds maturity to his immense talent, will surely soon rank as one of the greatest in history. Possessed of a flawless technique (British violinist Jack Liebeck once told me that his playing was “bulletproof”) and peerless musicality, Ehnes has a remarkable ability to shift from style to style with complete ease and facility. Whether playing big romantic concertos with the world’s finest orchestras or in this recital with piano, Ehnes is totally in his element, pulling off challenge after challenge with utter ease, poise and control.

In this combination of French masterpieces and Spanish fluff, Ehnes shows off both his serious side and his penchant for flashy showmanship. He pulls both off with aplomb and good taste. Joined by pianist Wendy Chen for a collection of staples from the impressionist canon, Ehnes plays with spot on intonation and natural sound. Of particular merit is the Ravel Sonata, which flows from dreamy to sexy to almost raunchy with its blues movement. Ehnes plays with silky elegance while not eschewing a foray or two into pure cabaret sensuality. Saint-Saëns more classic harmonies make for a pleasant contrast to all the languid impressionism of Debussy and Ravel. A composer that should be far more respected than he is, Saint-Saëns never ceases to amaze as one of the true musical craftsmen of his era. There is nary a genre in which he is not completely facile. His writing is idiomatic, his sense of form and structure are all but flawless and his works have a way of sticking to your musical ribs in a way few other composers’ music can. Ehnes and Chen spin out line after seamless line to make this tuneful showpiece a thrilling ending to the first disc of this set.

Joined on disc two by his long time recital partner Eduard Laurel, Ehnes gives us a sizable program of virtuoso gems from two of the better nineteenth century musical circus acts, Wieniawski and Sarasate. If you are seeking depth and profundity here you won’t find it, but you will leave the room satisfied with some catchy tunes and amazed at how easily James Ehnes can execute every technical magic trick in the book. I confess that I am not really as in love with this music as I am the French, but one cannot help but sit back in awe of just how well this music is performed. Alas, Mr. Laurel, who has in other outings has proven himself to be a pianist of exceptional abilities, does not get to shine in the way that Ms. Chen does in the more demanding works of the first disc. Nonetheless he seems to have a good time and plays with panache.

To date, I have not found a bad recording in all the discs that Mr. Ehnes has released and this is no exception. Now that he has recorded a great deal of the classic repertoire, it would be great fun to hear him tackle some more modern works. Maybe Paul Moravec will compose a sonata or concerto for Mr. Ehnes. Good idea, no?

A New Piano Discovery

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)

Sonata quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight) [16:03]

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)

Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 [28:13]

Frederic CHOPIN (1810-1839)

Fantasie Op. 49 in f minor. [13:02]

Kevin Kenner (piano)

Recorded at the Opole Philharmonic Concert Hall, February 2008.

DUX 0633 [55:57]

The idea of the Fantasy (Fantasie, Fantasia, Phantasy…pick your preferred spelling) has been around for a few hundred years. And why not? What would be more tempting to a composer than to let his or her imagination run free, unrestrained by the rules of form? Works by some of the earliest keyboard composers in the early sixteenth century bear the title. The romantic composers had a field day with the genre, producing some magnificent and original works.

Beethoven’s two sonatas Opus 27, which bear the name “quasi una fantasia”, make use of this musical free-wheeling in their opening movements. The “Moonlight” so named by the poet Heinrich Rellstab when he commented that the first movement reminded him of the moonlight over Lake Lucerne, opens with what in other hands could have been a monotonous chord progression of broken traids, followed by a rather out of character and jaunty second movement, and ends with a c-sharp minor thunderstorm by which a pianist could easily sprain a wrist.

Robert Schumann’s collection of miniatures is intentionally programmatic, each with whimsical titles. Rapid-fire shifts of emotion mark these gems that can at one moment lull the listener into reveries and at the next send him bolting out of his easy-chair.

Chopin gives us a work on a far grander scale, a composition that runs the gamut of emotions from serenity to broad rushes of emotional turbulence.

It is all delivered with great finesse by the American Pianist Kevin Kenner, heretofore unknown to me, but who seems to have established a fine working relationship with the Polish Dux label. A musician of excellent pedigree, Mr. Kenner plays with great technical authority and with a fine sensitivity to structure, form, tonal shading and expression. Perfectly able to exhibit technical brilliance, Mr. Kenner chooses to disguise his prowess in subtleties rather than to blast us with unseemly keyboard pyrotechnics. His playing of the much over-recorded Beethoven sonata is governed with impeccable taste. Even the flashy finale is rendered with much elegance, with careful attention to inner voices, and with special care to make the perpetual arpeggios come across with clarity and precision.

His Schumann can be positively dreamy where allowed; powerful and authoritative where appropriate. The contrast between Evening with its serene melody and Soaring with its jet engine power is so pronounced that the shift between movements can be startling.

Finally, Mr. Kenner delivers a beautifully restrained account of Chopin’s Op. 49. It is so easy to romp through Chopin’s music just to show off, and somewhat rare to find a player who has discovered the poetry in the music. Kenner is just such a musician, and he is able, through carefully crafted phrasing and a fine singing melodic line to bring off this music in such a way as to never belie its technical sand traps.

As always, the highest compliment I can pay to a recording is that it left me wanting to hear more from the artist. This is just such a disc. Kevin Kenner is a fine discovery; one that I hope will come to even more international attention in the future.

Hit and Miss Korngold

Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD (1897-1957)

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 (1945) [23:43]
Overture to a Drama, Op. 4 (1911) [13:31]
Much Ado About Nothing –Concert Suite, Op. 11 (1918) [16:13]

Philippe Quint (violin)
Orquesta Sinfónica de Mineria
Carlos Miguel Prieto

Recorded at Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico City, August, 2007.

NAXOS 8.570791 [53:40]

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was a Viennese boy wonder who was admired by Strauss and was expected to be the next great European Musical Genius when his early works appeared in the first decade of the twentieth century. Alas, politics and the havoc wreaked upon the continent by Hitler and the Nazis changed the course of his life, eventually landing him in Hollywood and a respected career as a film composer. Now famous for having essentially invented the “swashbuckling” film score, it has taken a few decades for Korngold’s substantial output of concert music to make a comeback. Fortunately, interest in these works has revived and none is more popular than the tuneful Violin Concerto of 1945, inspired by Bronislav Hubermann, but given its first performance by Jascha Heifetz.

Like the string quartets of Ravel and Debussy, Korngold’s violin concerto is often paired on recordings with Samuel Barber’s equally lush concerto. We have the happy fortune here of hearing a couple of Korngold’s purely orchestral works. The concerto however is the centerpiece, and although it is given a satisfactory performance by Philippe Quint, he stands against some serious competition. Chock full of Hollywood movie themes, this is still a substantial work, and requires a great deal of thought on the part of the soloist to keep it from sounding merely showy. Quint’s technical prowess is adequate for the task, but the sound seems a bit thin to these ears, lacking depth of tone in the lower register, and coming off as a bit reedy in the upper. By the end, I was left with a feeling that although his performance was certainly professional, it did not particularly inspire me. Compare this reading to James Ehnes’ brilliant performance (CBC 5421) or the equally remarkable reading by Gil Shaham (DG 439886).

Inspired by Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, the Overture to a Drama was the first work that the teenaged composer orchestrated without assistance. It was given its first performance by the Gewandhaus Orchestra under no less a luminary that Artur Nickisch. Although the influence of Strauss is obvious, particularly in the charming use of three-quarter time, there is much that is original and it is understandable that musicians of the day saw such great potential in the young composer. Carlos Miguel Prieto leads a taut performance, elegantly shaped and balanced. Special mention goes to the horn section of the Mineria orchestra for their potent yet never overpowering playing.

The incidental music to Much Ado about Nothing was composed for a 1920 production of the play in Vienna. Knowing that the orchestra’s musicians would not be available for the full run of the play, Korngold arranged the score for violin and piano, an adaptation that has won more favor then the original orchestral version. Marked by wonderfully clever orchestration, with deft use of the piano and the harmonium, Korngold makes extremely creative use of a modest yet diverse cadre of instruments. Although each of the movements is brief, there is much delightful music squeezed in, and Maestro Prieto gives us a perfectly paced performance, making this little suite the highlight of this all too brief disc!

Stunning Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)

Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 207 [20:07]

Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216 [22:29]

Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major for violin, viola and orchestra, K. 364 [29:56]

Renaud Capuçon (violin)

Antoine Tamesitt (viola)

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Louis Langrée

Recorded 17-20 September 2007 at the Perth Concert Hall, Scotland

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VIRGIN CLASSICS 502112 [72:56]

Although Mozart was himself a fine violinist, his five violin concertos, dashed off in a record eight month span in 1775, were most likely written for Antonio Brunetti, a virtuoso in the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg. Given that Mozart detested both men; it is no wonder that he never composed another violin concerto thereafter. They are of course perfectly crafted and tuneful and even poignant in the slow movements, but they do not hold a candle to the magnificent body of concertos for the piano that Mozart composed throughout his life for his own able use.

The Sinfonia Concertante, a form that Mozart discovered during his 1777 visit to Mannheim is quite the horse of a different color. Mozart composed three such works (if you count the Concerto for Flute and Harp which was written for a father-daughter pair of wealthy patrons). The example for violin and viola is without question one of his finest works, a masterpiece that stands with the late symphonies and piano concertos and the stunning Clarinet Quintet in its utter perfection of construction and its magnificent exploitation of the coloristic possibilities of the two solo instruments.

Virgin Classics continue to capitalize on the remarkable talents of the Brothers Capuçon whose remarkable musicianship has yet to fail in some two dozen recordings thus far. Violinist Renaud is featured here in these fine performances of the first and third violin concerti. Capuçon is noteworthy for being unafraid to be original. His tone, while always luminous and full throated, is not generically sweet like we so often hear on cookie cutter recordings of the standard repertoire. Indeed he is not afraid to risk a little aggression from time to time, and that tendency makes these performances of rather standard-fare concertos most refreshing.

It is however in the Sinfornia Concertante¸ joined by an artistic and emotional equal in the person of Antoine Tamesitt that the music springs to life. Like in the recent recording with brother Gautier of the Brahms Double Concerto (Virgin Classics 95147 see my review), the performers have a unity of purpose that is striking. Each musical gesture is of one accord, as best noted by some stunning octave work. The middle movement is as gorgeous as Michelangelo’s David, marked by breathtaking phrasing and a seamless legato. Round it all off with a joyous presto that brings you to the edge of your chair and you have one of the outstanding recordings of the year.

Hats off to youth and a brilliant new generation of performers. Classical music is a dying art form? Mmmm, I don’t think so.