August 13, 2018

  • Rare Music for Cello

    Unexplored
    Nada Radulovich, cello.  Cullan Bryant, piano.

    Navona Records 6171
    Total Time:  50:29
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Cellist Nada Radulovich’s new solo album is an interesting collection of rarer works for her instrument.  The release is bookended by transcriptions of 19th Century music but its main interest lies in the 20th Century pieces at the center of the album.

    Tchaikovsky never wrote a work for solo cello but here Radulovich has transcribed music that fits the instrument well.  Originally written for the mezzo-soprano Desiree Artot-Padilla, the Six French Songs, Op. 65 (1868) make for an enchanting work whose emotional content is still clear even with the poetry removed.  It has a bit of the salon to it.  The music allows her to explore the more lyrical aspects of the cello in these emotionally-rich pieces.  Wisely, though it is not in the booklet, the poems can be accessed as supportive material on Navona’s website.

    One of the more interesting works though is this 1924 Cello Sonata by Gaspar Cassado (1897-1966).  Himself a fine cellist and student of Pablo Casals, Cassado’s composition teachers (Ravel and de Falla) would leave their own indelible stamps on his music.  He was primarily known though as a cellist.  The exploration of folk rhythms and music of Spain is on display throughout this four-movement work.  The opening “Rapsodie” has a more Saint-Saens- feel in its opening bars before shifting into a style more closely aligned with de Falla with some rich Romantic gestures, especially in the piano.  The “Aragonesa” is quite delightful with a tune also used by Liszt for his own Spanish Rhapsody.  It is a necessary glimpse of light-heardedness before we head into the very moving “Saeta”, a sort of emotional heart to the work.  The sonata is wrapped up with a traditional “Paso-doble.”  Indeed, it is a bit puzzling why this piece is still fairly unknown.  But Radulovich makes a great case for making it part of the repertoire.  The sonata appeared on Crystal Records release some twenty years ago but this is the only other version since then.

    Even rarer is the Romantic Fantasy, Op. 43 (1966) by Ukrainian composer Antin Rudnytsky (1902-1975).  He was a noted pianist having studied with the great Artur Schnabel.  His composition studies were with two noted modernist composers of the day, Franz Shreker and Ferruccio Busoni.  It is rather fascinating that this work also has been somewhat ignored along with Rudnystsky’s many other compositions.  Though written later in the 20th Century, the music tends to be couched in more traditional harmonic language as it explores folkish idioms.  The music though is stunningly beautiful and perhaps the best performance on this album.

    As an encore, Radulovich has included a breezy rendition of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblee in a transcription by accompanist Cullan Bryant.

    This is a good introduction to Radulovich’s playing with a program that features music beyond the normal repertoire.  The choices here all work well to explore her lyrical side with flashes of technique along the way.  Bryant also proves to be an apt supporter with plenty of additional interpretive touches along the way.