On two previous BIS releases the Israeli husband and wife duo of
Ukrainian-born Vadim Gluzman and Latvian-born Angela Yoffe recorded
works by Lera Auerbach (BIS-CD-1242) and composers that originated
from the former Soviet Union (BIS-CD-1392). These performances have
received critical acclaim.
On this their third BIS release Gluzman and Yoffe return to the
young Russian-born composer Lera Auerbach (b. 1973). On this occasion
they have elected to record Auerbach’s solo violin score Lonely
Suite (Ballet for a Lonely Violinist), which is dedicated
to Vadim Gluzman, and the Violin Sonata No. 2. The Sonata is subtitled
September 11 and was written as the New York-based Auerbach’s
reaction to the terrible terrorist attack on the World Trade Center
in 2001. Auerbach has described the link between the attack and
the composition: Like the Phoenix, who dies in order to be born,
this piece was born from death.
Auerbach’s scores are complemented by two works from her great compatriot
and predecessor, Dmitri Shostakovich. The main score on this release
is the Shostakovich Violin Sonata Op. 134 which carries the inscription:
For the 60th birthday of David Oistrakh. Oistrakh gave the
first performance in 1969 in Moscow with Sviatoslav Richter. Its
New York premiere took place at Carnegie Hall in 1970 again with
Oistrakh and Richter.
In the Viola Sonata Op. 147, the final string quartets and the Op.
134 sonata written in the years immediately preceding his death,
Shostakovich revealed himself as a deeply troubled, intensely pessimistic
man and artist. No doubt he had complete justification considering
the extremely oppressive political circumstances of his life.
In the Violin Sonata Shostakovich commences the opening andante
with an extended twelve-tone row for the piano.
sample He then builds a long
music-drama upon variations of the opening theme. Some of these
episodes are brusque and violent, some melodic and some delicate.
The movement reaches a quiet close on an eerie tremolo ponticello.
Unmistakably characteristic of Shostakovich in this movement is
the prevailing lightness of its texture. The central allegretto
is a kind of tight-lipped scherzo and is the closest in character
to the composer’s more fervent earlier persona with its driving
rhythms and frequent hammered chords in both instruments.
sample The closing largo, andante was originally
described by Shostakovich as ‘a set of variations’. The movement
dies away in the same way as the opening movement; a strikingly
effective cyclical device. sample
The partnership of Gluzman and Yoffe persuasively convey a sparse
and austere atmosphere throughout. Their playing is intense in the
andante, powerful in the allegretto with a highly
emotional interpretation of the closing movement. This is a fine
performance, however, I continue to be impressed with the account
from Oleg Kagan and Sviatoslav Richter on Regis RRC 1128.
With Gluzman’s arrangement for violin and piano of Shostakovich’s
Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 the Israeli pair concentrate
impressively on the unorthodox rhythmic impulse of the score. Their
waltz is carefree, their polka amusing, providing
a reasonably amorous tango.
Excerpts
Waltz
Polka
Foxtrot
The solo violin playing of Gluzman in Auerbach’s Lonely Suite
(Ballet for a Lonely Violinist) makes a convincing case
for the score. He provides a mood of loneliness and fear with a
sense of fragmentation.
Excerpts:
Dancing with oneself
Boredom
No Escape
Imaginary Dialogue
Worrisome Thought
Question
I was impressed with Gluzman’s playing in the virtuoso passage No
Escape and the underlying sense of restlessness is aptly portrayed.
With the Violin Sonata No. 2 (September 11) Gluzman and
Yoffe mirror the tragedy and destruction that the composer was attempting
to illustrate. In the partnership’s hands Auerbach’s Sonata, a roller
coaster of emotions, comes across as moving music of high quality
and originality.
Sonata -opening
The release is well presented and the BIS engineers have provided
a decent sound quality.
Michael Cookson
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Vadim Gluzman (violin) 