70 GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 gramophone.co.uk
hisinterpretativegiftsasaperformer
ratherthanhisfullrangeasacomposer,
itsfocusonthedialoguesbetweenhis
ownmusicandthatofGyörgKurtág
(b1928)makesforabeautifullyrounded
doubleportrait.
Thatthisisanintenselyintimate
retrospectiveisclearfromtheveryfirst
item,Kurtág’sgentle,heartfelttributeto
Holliger’sharpistwifeUrsula,whodiedin
2014.Itspoignancyisallthegreatersince
itsoundsalmostlikeanimpersonationof
oneofElliottCarter’slateinstrumental
miniatures–andCarter,whowroteso
memorablyforboththeHolligers,had
himselfdiedjustafewmonthsbefore.
ButKurtág,likeHolliger,owesevenmore
totheastringentyetprofoundlylyrical
expressivenessofWebern,andthisquality
oftensurfaces,sometimeswithtouchesof
un-Webernianirony,inworkslike
Kurtág’sHommageàElliottCarterand
...(HommageàTristan),whichcondenses
Wagner’ssublimefive-hourportrayalof
deathandtransfigurationintoamere
40 secondsforoboeandbassclarinet.As
youmightimagine,everynotecounts!
Thetwomostsubstantialworksby
Holligerhimselfaresatisfyinglywell
contrasted.His 1999 revisonofhisSonata
forsolooboe(1955-56)remainsthework
ofaphenomenallygiftedstudent,spinning
outlonglinesexuberantlyandeloquently
toshowofftheplayer’svirtuosityofbreath
controlanddigitaldexterity.ButLecturefor
oboeandcoranglais(2015-16)isaltogether
morepowerfulinexecutionandoriginalin
conception.Basedaroundsevenpoemsby
PhilippeJacottet–thepoemsthemselves
areheardinreadingsbytheauthorbefore
eachofthemusical‘settings’–Holliger
packsawholeworldofrefinedand
inventivepoeticplayintoasequenceof
shortmovements,thelongestlessthansix
minutes.Theseperformances,byHolliger
andMarie-LiseSchüpbach,aresimply
astonishingintheirfluencyandrangeof
colour,andthedepictionofakindof
transcendentavianmayheminthefinal
movement,‘Oiseaux’,hastobeheard,and
reheard,tobebelieved.
FortheoppositeextremetoHolliger’s
sixminutesofdazzlinglydiversesound
patterns,youcanthenmoveontoKurtág’s
six-minuteKroóGyörgyinmemoriamfor
contrabassclarinet,inwhichonlyafew
barelyaudible,grief-strickensoundsdrift
pasttodisturbthesilence.Kroówasa
respectedHungarianmusicologistand
Kurtág’stributeseemslikeaverypersonal
farewelltoaneraofextremedelightsand
horrors,inwhichmusicofgenuinevision
anddeepfeelingsomehowfailedtobe
totallysuppressed.ArnoldWhittall
Molique
PianoTrios– Op27;Op 52
TrioParnassus
DabringhausundGrimmFMDG3032116 2
(64’• DDD)BernhardMolique
(1803-69)isoneof
thosecomposerswho,
reveredandhighly
respectedintheirtime,haveslipped
betweenthecracksintoundeserved
obscurity.HisViolinConcertoNo 3 and
FluteConcerto,forexample,whilenotthe
worksofagenius,certainlyjustifyGrove’s
(firstedition)estimationofMolique,
praising‘theseriouscharacterandthe
fineworkmanshipofhiscompositions’.
Markingthesesquicentenaryofhis
death,theever-enterprisingTrioParnassus
giveustheworld-premiererecordings
ofhistwopianotrios.TheOp 27 Trio
of1846,championedbyHansvonBülow
(whoratedtheworkabovethetrios
ofSchubertandSchumann),hasan
exhaustivelyworkedfirstmovement–
Ilovethewaytheplayersopenthedoor
tothiswork–followedbysecondand
thirdmovements(ScherzoandAdagio)of
auniqueconstruction:aftertheScherzo
andTrio,bothplayedwithalltheirrepeats,
ashortcellocadenzaleadsattaccatothe
Adagio,whichisfrequentlyinterruptedby
themainthemeoftheScherzo.Thefinale
isarondo.Lastingjustshortof 34 minutes,
theTrioisameatyadditiontothegenre
withappealingthemesandplentytokeep
themusicians(especiallythepianist)on
thequivive.
TheOp 52 Trio,completedinLondon
in 1855 andagaininfourmovements,is
amoreconventionalaffairwithsome
attractiveMendelssohniantouches.
Whatraisesthemusicaboveitssolid
Germancraftsmanshipandideaswhich
stayconsistentlyjustthissideof
memorableistheplayingoftheParnassus
Trio.Somehow,throughitsvarious
reincarnations(thepresentline-upis,
Ithink,thesixth),theensemblehas
remainedthesameintermsoftone,
balance,musicalrefinementandcharacter.
CellistMichaelGross,theonlymemberof
theoriginalensemble,isnowmatchedwith
youngercolleaguesJuliaGalic ́andJohann
Blanchard,bothalreadyfine,seasoned
chambermusicians,butyouwouldbehard-
pushedtotellthemapartfromthetriothat
gaveus,forexample,thebenchmark
recordingofHummel’scompletepiano
triosover 30 yearsago.MDG’srecording
andthedisc’sbooklet,thedelightfulconceitofwhichisintheformofan
interviewwiththecomposer,arefurther
bonusesfortheintrepidexplorerof
forgotten19th-centuryrepertoire.
JeremyNicholasMozart
‘TheJupiterProject:Mozartinthe
Nineteenth-CenturyDrawingRoom’
PianoConcertoNo21,K467(arrCramer).
SymphonyNo41,‘Jupiter’,K551(arrClementi).
Overtures(arrHummel)– LenozzediFigaro;
DieZauber löte
KatyBircher lCarolineBaldingvn
AndrewSkidmorevcDavidOwenNorrispf
HyperionFCDA68234(80’• DDD)David Owen Norris
plays a gloriously
resonant Broadwood
and his colleagues
play appropriate 18th- (or 17th-) century
instruments. The music is Mozart,
refracted through the prism of his
contemporaries. Orchestral and operatic
music like this was often arranged for
domestic performance; in the case of the
music on this disc, each of the arrangers
was a virtuoso pianist in his own right.
Naturally, therefore, the lion’s share of
the work falls to the tireless Norris. Flute,
violin and cello are largely confined to
colouring lines already present in the
piano part’s right or left hand. In fact,
one has the unfamiliar sensation of
wishing for more from the flute in the
two overtures (one of them, after all,
is named after it!). But the piano is the
star here, and it sounds as if these
arrangements would, for the most part,
be just as persuasive if the single-line
instruments were absent.
It’s true that arranging a piano concerto
for this ‘Jupiter ensemble’ irons out to
some extent the contrast between tutti
and solo. The two overtures, too, cannot
convey the nervous energy of the
orchestral versions. But the Jupiter itself
is an unmitigated triumph. This work
is tricky enough – especially in the
breathtaking counterpoint of the finale –
when played as a piano duet. Performing
it with only two hands, in an arrangement
that preserves nearly every polyphonic
strand, is a brilliant tour de force, with
the invaluable bonus of the finale’s second
repeat being taken, heightening the effect
of the work’s cathartic coda.
At this point in a review of this sort
of project it’s customary to add the caveat
that these arrangements can’t begin to do
justice to Mozart’s original conception ofCHAMBER REVIEWS