Recent Releases, No. 35 (CD reviews)

By Karl W. Nehring

Brahms: Cello Sonata No 1 in E minor; Clarinet Trio in A minor; Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor. Yuja Wang, piano; Andreas Ottensamer, clarinet; Gautier Capuçon, cello. Deutsche Grammophon 486 2388.

This is one of those recordings that is nearly self-recommending, featuring as it does three excellent pieces of chamber music performed by three of today’s finest young musicians who actually have experience in playing chamber music together rather than just being brought together ad hoc for marketing purposes. (And did I mention that this CD times out at more than 80 minutes? There’s a lot more chips than air in this bag, folks!) The program begins with a pair of cello sonatas, both of which are big and bold, but in different ways. As those familiar with Brahms might expect, his first sonata for cello and piano is a blend of the classical and romantic styles, traditional in form but rich with emotional expression. Wang and Capuçon bring out the deep emotional resonance without exaggerating or overdramatizing.The Rachmaninoff sonata is in four movements rather than the traditional three like the Brahms; moreover, it has less sense of formal structure, although it certainly feels carefully crafted, chock full of energetic phrases and melodic inventions that the two players navigate with seeming ease. Presenting the Rachmaninoff together with the Brahms sonata is an interesting bit of programming that gives this release extra appeal. To make things even more appealing, for the final selection on we are back to Brahms, but now as a bonus adding the sound of the clarinet to that of the cello and piano as Andreas Ottensamer joins Capuçon and Wang to perform Brahms’s Clarinet Trio. Ottensamer has an especially lovely tone, light and clear and pure, never sounding forced or strained. The trio is a delightful composition that is given a fine performance by these three young stars and the recorded sound is top-drawer. If you appreciate chamber music, this is a release well worth your attention.

Face à Face. Beyond; The Under Zone; Two by Two; Across the Aisle; Algobench; Chosen Spindle; Extended Circumstances; Bunch; Sharpen Your Eyes; Ruptured Air; Stand Alone; Forest Shouts. Barre Phillips, double bass; György Kurtág jr., live electronics. ECM 2735.

Although the veteran bass virtuoso Barre Phillips (b. 1934) might be an unknown quantity to most, many classical music fans will no doubt assume that György Kurtág jr. (b. 1954) must be the son of the Hungarian composer György Kurtág (b.1926). As things sometimes happen in life, the way these two musicians from different backgrounds came to play and eventually record together was based on a related but mistaken assumption, as recounted by Kurtág the younger: “Our musical relationship, which is one of the most important of my life, was born of a misunderstanding. In 2013 a director who was preparing a film on Barre suggested incorporating a duet with György Kurtág. In the mind of the director, it was obviously my father under discussion – they are of the same generation – but Barre, who had heard me at the Le Havre festival a few months earlier, thought it was me. So he called me to suggest a meeting at a brasserie near Paris’s Gare d’Austerliz. As I knew and appreciated his work, I immediately accepted.” The two immediately hit it off, wound up playing some live gigs together, and now nine years later the pair have come together in the recording studio under the watchful eye and adventurous ear of legendary ECM producer Manfred Eicher to record their improvised music for all to hear. The music is a combination of the acoustic sound of Phillips’s bass and the electronic sounds produced by the synthesizers and electronic percussion devices played by Kurtág. There are stretches where the music wanders a bit “out there,” but other stretches that feel tender and intimate. To hear these two veteran musicians interact as they react to each other in real time is a fascinating experience. This music is not quite jazz, not quite classical, but it is certainly engaging music no matter how you might choose to label it. The sound quality is up to the usual ECM standard, clear and spacious, a spellbinding blending of electronic and acoustic sounds.

KWN