Performed on historic instruments by Cullan Bryant,
piano, and Jerilyn Jorgensen, violin. Albany Records TROY 1825-28 (4-disc set).
By John J. Puccio
It’s music by Beethoven, so the merits of the source
material are a given. Then, too, it’s rendered by a pair of accomplished
players, so the performances are a given. And, what’s more, it’s extremely well
recorded, so the sound is a given. The “however” is that we already have a slew
of excellent recordings of this music in the catalogue, so what’s the real
advantage of this new set? The answer is simple: It’s good music played by good
performers in good sound, plus the performers play on historic instruments,
some of them actually used during Beethoven’s lifetime. There is, in fact,
nothing to dislike about this issue, unless you just don’t like Beethoven or
period instruments.
First, a word about the performers: Cullan Bryant is the pianist. The booklet note tells us he “is among the most active chamber and collaborative pianists in New York City, maintaining a schedule of over 50 recitals a year. Mr. Bryant made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1992 in recital with violinist Patmore Lewis.” Jerilyn Jorgensen is the violinist. She “is a member of the performance faculty of Colorado College and has been adjunct faculty in violin and chamber music at the Lamont School of Music of the University of Denver as swell as Visiting Assistant Professor Violin at the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. From 1980-2004 she was first violinist of the Da Vinci Quartet, as and a member of that ensemble she has performed throughout the United States, been a prizewinner in the Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition and finalist in the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition and appeared on PBS’s NewHour with Jim Lehrer.”
Next, a word about the period instruments. For Sonatas Nos. 1 and 4 Mr. Bryant plays an unsigned Viennese Style Piano, c. 1795. For Sonatas Nos. 2 and 8, he plays a Joseph Brodmann, 1800-1805, Vienna. For Nos. 3, 5, 6, and 7, he plays a Caspar Katholnig, c. 1805-1810. For No. 9 he plays a Johann Nepomuk Trundlin, 1830, Leipzig. And for No. 10 it’s an Ignaz Bosendorfer, c. 1828-1832, Vienna. All of the pianos were on loan from the Frederick Historical Piano Collection, Ashburnham, Massachusetts.
Ms. Jorgensen has it a little easier. She plays the same violin for all ten sonatas: an Andrea Carolus Leeb model, 1797, Vienna. However, she uses a variety of historical bows: a Francois Xavier Tourte (1748-1835); an Anonymous Cramer Head from the same period; a School of Tourte, c. 1830; and an Anonymous German bow.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote ten sonatas for
piano and violin between 1797 and 1812, the first three of them dedicated to
one of his mentors, Antonio Salieri. Yes, that Salieri, of Amadeus
fame. Interestingly, while people today most often refer to Beethoven’s Sonatas
for Piano & Violin as simply his “violin sonatas,” the composer’s own
notations show that he titled No. 9 "Sonata per il Pianoforte ed
uno violino obligato in uno stile molto concertante come d’un concerto."
Maybe “violin sonata” is simpler after all, and, in any case, most of the
sonatas put emphasis the violin.Now, about the performances. Here, I must confess I have
been living since the 1970’s happily and contentedly with the peerless set by
Vladimir Ashkenazy and Itzhak Perlman (Decca), and I have never really looked
or even thought about replacing them with anything else. Until now. Of course,
Ashkenazy and Perlman play on modern instruments, which makes this new set from
Bryant and Jorgensen such a revelation; they play with an easy charm and adept
virtuosity. Their set doesn’t displace Ashkenazy/Perlman, mind you, but it easily
finds a place on the shelf as a period-instrument alternative.
About the music: I have never really cared much for the first few sonatas. They seem to me a lot like Beethoven’s first two symphonies: firmly rooted in the classical period, rather brief and formalized in the eighteenth tradition. Yet Bryant and Jorgensen provide them with plenty of vitality, and they spring to life with commendable ease. Then, starting with the fourth sonata, things begin opening up. There’s a greater Romantic spirit to the music, and the fifth sonata, the “Spring” sonata, is a special favorite of mine for its lyrical beauty. In both Nos. 4 and 5 Beethoven suddenly sounds more imaginative, more dramatic, more creative, and in some cases even more operatic than he had sounded in the first three sonatas. Bryant and Jorgensen’s rendition of No. 5 is worth the price of the whole four-disc set.
By the time Beethoven reached Sonata No. 9, he had achieved the pinnacle of his mastery of the genre, and Bryant and Jorgensen play the piece with a commanding authority. Incidentally, for those of you worried that the performers might take these period performances at a breakneck, “historically informed” speed, they don’t. The tempos they adopt are relaxed and beautifully judged; they serve the music well.
Anyway, by comparison to Ashkenazy/Perlman, Bryant and Jorgensen sound a bit heavier and more sedate, but a lot of this we may attribute to the instruments they use. The period violin is not as light or polished sounding as a modern instrument, and the period pianos have not quite the same vibrancy or golden, mellifluous tone of modern grand pianos. Nevertheless, the uniqueness of the period sound is well worth the listen, and the playing is easily up to the task.
Producers Lolly Lewis and Hector Milete and engineer Christopher Greenleaf recorded the sonatas at Ashburnham Community Church, Ashburnham, Massachusetts in 2016-2018. The sound is fairly close, so the instruments loom a bit large; but the sound is not hard, bright, or edgy. In fact, it’s quite smooth, while being well defined. The acoustics of the church are warm and mildly reverberant, providing a realistic setting for the presentation.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
By John J. Puccio
First, a word about the performers: Cullan Bryant is the pianist. The booklet note tells us he “is among the most active chamber and collaborative pianists in New York City, maintaining a schedule of over 50 recitals a year. Mr. Bryant made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1992 in recital with violinist Patmore Lewis.” Jerilyn Jorgensen is the violinist. She “is a member of the performance faculty of Colorado College and has been adjunct faculty in violin and chamber music at the Lamont School of Music of the University of Denver as swell as Visiting Assistant Professor Violin at the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. From 1980-2004 she was first violinist of the Da Vinci Quartet, as and a member of that ensemble she has performed throughout the United States, been a prizewinner in the Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition and finalist in the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition and appeared on PBS’s NewHour with Jim Lehrer.”
Next, a word about the period instruments. For Sonatas Nos. 1 and 4 Mr. Bryant plays an unsigned Viennese Style Piano, c. 1795. For Sonatas Nos. 2 and 8, he plays a Joseph Brodmann, 1800-1805, Vienna. For Nos. 3, 5, 6, and 7, he plays a Caspar Katholnig, c. 1805-1810. For No. 9 he plays a Johann Nepomuk Trundlin, 1830, Leipzig. And for No. 10 it’s an Ignaz Bosendorfer, c. 1828-1832, Vienna. All of the pianos were on loan from the Frederick Historical Piano Collection, Ashburnham, Massachusetts.
Ms. Jorgensen has it a little easier. She plays the same violin for all ten sonatas: an Andrea Carolus Leeb model, 1797, Vienna. However, she uses a variety of historical bows: a Francois Xavier Tourte (1748-1835); an Anonymous Cramer Head from the same period; a School of Tourte, c. 1830; and an Anonymous German bow.
About the music: I have never really cared much for the first few sonatas. They seem to me a lot like Beethoven’s first two symphonies: firmly rooted in the classical period, rather brief and formalized in the eighteenth tradition. Yet Bryant and Jorgensen provide them with plenty of vitality, and they spring to life with commendable ease. Then, starting with the fourth sonata, things begin opening up. There’s a greater Romantic spirit to the music, and the fifth sonata, the “Spring” sonata, is a special favorite of mine for its lyrical beauty. In both Nos. 4 and 5 Beethoven suddenly sounds more imaginative, more dramatic, more creative, and in some cases even more operatic than he had sounded in the first three sonatas. Bryant and Jorgensen’s rendition of No. 5 is worth the price of the whole four-disc set.
By the time Beethoven reached Sonata No. 9, he had achieved the pinnacle of his mastery of the genre, and Bryant and Jorgensen play the piece with a commanding authority. Incidentally, for those of you worried that the performers might take these period performances at a breakneck, “historically informed” speed, they don’t. The tempos they adopt are relaxed and beautifully judged; they serve the music well.
Anyway, by comparison to Ashkenazy/Perlman, Bryant and Jorgensen sound a bit heavier and more sedate, but a lot of this we may attribute to the instruments they use. The period violin is not as light or polished sounding as a modern instrument, and the period pianos have not quite the same vibrancy or golden, mellifluous tone of modern grand pianos. Nevertheless, the uniqueness of the period sound is well worth the listen, and the playing is easily up to the task.
Producers Lolly Lewis and Hector Milete and engineer Christopher Greenleaf recorded the sonatas at Ashburnham Community Church, Ashburnham, Massachusetts in 2016-2018. The sound is fairly close, so the instruments loom a bit large; but the sound is not hard, bright, or edgy. In fact, it’s quite smooth, while being well defined. The acoustics of the church are warm and mildly reverberant, providing a realistic setting for the presentation.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
