August 7, 2014

  • Jacques Loussier Violin Concertos and a Beautiful Paderewski Sonata

     

    Loussier: Violin Concertos; Paderewski
    Piotr Iwicki, percussion. Gunter Hauer, piano.
    Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra/Adam Kostecki, violin.
    Naxos 8.573200
    Total Time:  65:14
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    In the 1960s and 1970s, there were many crossover albums that took the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and other Baroque forms, and began translating them in to new genres.  Jazz proved to be one particularly fruitful exploration of this music and perhaps the leader of this sort of melding of styles was Jacques Loussier and his Play Bach Trio.  One can see his influence certainly in those many Claude Bolling suites of the late 1970s and 1980s.  That mix of jazz and classical elements has continued to be an important component of Loussier’s style as he has now turned to larger-scale compositions later in life.  The present recording pulls together two concertos for violin recorded in the past decade and making their appearance here on Naxos coupled with a Paderewski sonata.

    The first violin concerto (1987-88) comes out of the 1980s fusions of jazz and classical music and it is quite easy to say that if one liked the Bolling suites in this style, they will certainly come to love this work.  At first glance the work feels unbalanced with the first movement equaling the length of the third and fourth movements; though perhaps one can take the four movements in pairs providing a better overall balance and structure to the work in what looks like a world tour.  The opening “Prague” movement has decidedly jazz syncopations in the strings with some percussion and a lyrical violin line that will float often over those textures and their somewhat nervous energy.  The accompanimental gestures are adaptations of Baroque motives which makes for an interesting modern dress against the more florid solo material.  The percussion set becomes more prominent as the movement moves along with pulses and solos feeling a bit more at home in pop rock styles.  Eventually the soloist and percussion material enter into a dialogue in the cadenza.  The second movement, “L’homme nu”, features a plaintive solo idea over tremolo strings that soon move into a very touching elegiac melodic idea.  This moves nicely into a tango movement providing nice contrast with a blend of rich string harmonics and rhythmic interplay (it sounds a bit like an Iglesias score for an Almodovar film).  The opening bars of “Tokyo” feature some aspects of Asian-like melodic impulses and harmonic ideas in its opening atmoshpheric style.  We are back to more comfortably jazz-influenced harmonies and melodic styles with more dialogue flashing between ensemble and soloists.  (Oddly reminiscent of Bolling’s similar approach in his Suite for Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Piano Trio—which would have made a great coupling for this release rather than the Paderewski actually).  The violin solo here, with its almost hoedown qualities, recalls Grapelli’s jazz violin style very well.  This is a rather interesting concerto and will certainly appeal to those who like this sort of blending of genres.

    The second concerto is a bit more recent and was a commission from the Menuhin Festival in 2006.  The inclusion of a table is one of the more world music aspects of this work indicating Loussier’s interest in Indian music.  The work is cast in three movements plus a cadenza that separates the last two movements.  The musical sound world certainly has a more world feel in its opening bars with a rather static harmonic pedal providing rhythmic punctuation to the solo line that feels very improvisatory in nature.  Jazzy harmonic progressions and rhythms also inform this concerto and the piece feels a bit more assured than the earlier concerto, though no less engaging.  A similar rhythmic pulse accompanies a beautiful jazzy slow lyric idea in the second movement with great songlike qualities and a tinge of melancholy.  It eventually moves into a more jagged melodic idea to provide a nice central contrasting section further elaborating on the thematic material.  The final movement is a whirlwind of virtuoso writing in a modern jazz furiant of sorts with plenty of chances for the soloist to show off.

    In an odd move, Naxos fills out this release with the near half-hour violin sonata by Paderewski.  The sonata, from 1882, is one of the composer’s better early works and will certainly gain some visibility here, but feels like a very odd pairing.  Still, it does allow Adam Kostecki to demonstrate his classical poise and virtuosity further, not that there was any doubt of this from the first two performances!  The sonata is cast in three movements and the opening sonata-allegro features a gorgeous theme with a fantasia-like development section.  The second movement focuses on interesting interchanges between the instruments with the piano getting a bit more chance to come to the forefront slightly.  The final movement provides the sort of virtuosic displays one would anticipate with an exciting opening that whisks the listener through the movement’s eventual fast tempi.  This is a wonderful sonata in grand late 19th-century style that is quite engaging.

    Noted violinist Adam Kostecki proves to be up to the task of the two Loussier works.  His performances are really quite exhilarating at times and the Polish orchestra does these pieces proud with deft rhythmic precision that often just bubbles along throughout both concerti.  His performance of the Paderewski is equally impassioned and brings to light one of the unjustly neglected romantic sonatas.  While the couplings here are on the surface quite strange, the bottom line is that one gets to be exposed to two different styles of music and period.  The real reason though to seek out this disc is Kostecki’s engaging performances.  Highly recommended.