Scriabin/Rachmaninoff: First Piano Sonatas
Zixiang Wang, piano.
Blue Griffing Recording BGR 579
Total Time:  64:15
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Pianist Zixiang Wang’s debut release provides an opportunity to explore two different approaches to the piano sonata by two of Russian composers at different stages of their careers.  The music of Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) is perhaps less known here in the US.  His sensual orchestral music is a bit of that Symbolist-Impresssionist style from a distinct Russian perspective building on Wagnerian ultrachromaticism.  His first sonata (1892) was written earlier in his career and delineates his own personal struggle with damage to his right hand from excessive practicing!  Rachmaninoff’s music has tended to maintain itself well in the public concert hall though his solo piano music tends to demand great facility and virtuosic demands on the performer.  Written in 1907, his first piano sonata was written during the composer’s more mature period—a time that also saw completion of the second symphony.  Both pieces are still fairly rare, or at the very least, bear fewer overall current available recordings than other works in their oeuvre.

Scriabin’s sonata kicks things off with its grand romantic pianistic gestures in the opening “Allegro con focoso”.  In this four-movement work, we can hear more Chopinesque writing in a piece that can feel like we are sitting in a grand salon.  The music fits more into that traditional style of the period without some of the more outlandish chromatic writing Scriabin would later explore.  In that sense, the sonata is a bit of a departure point to hear his early style as it would then evolve.  The first movement structure is intriguing structurally, a hint at the composer’s experimental nature.  The second movement is a bt more spiritual in focus with a choral-like quality.  After a virtuosic display in the third-movement scherzo, we head into the funereal final movement, marked “Funebro”.  The march, with its echoes to Chopin, is perhaps the composer’s acknowledgment of the death of his own concert career.

The music of Liszt finds its natural connection to Rachmaninoff’s first piano sonata both in its inception and inspiration—supposedly the underlying connection is a musical essay on Faust.  A three-movement work with towering outer allegros to frame a romantic rumination on Gretchen, the sonata is an equally demanding virtuoso accomplishment.  The outer movements feature references to the “Dies Irae” plainchant that haunted so much of Rachmaninoff’s work.  It becomes a subsidiary idea within expanded textures and often shocking dissonances in the surrounding material.  The dramatic qualities are also important here and Wang manages to bring these out well.

As a bit of an encore, Wang has chosen a rarer prelude, the Prelude in F, which was reimagined for cello and piano and published as Op. 2, no. 1.  The choice here fits with Wang’s interest in bringing to light less familiar repertoire in his concerts.

Wang’s performance are quite excellently handled here and his virtuosity is not to be questioned.  He is able to shift gears well to help add more to the communicative quality of the music.  The delicate passages in the Scriabin are quite moving.  The Rachmaninoff allows for an even more admiration for his rapid passage work coupled with the gentle reposes.

Blue Griffin has captured the piano well in this studio recording.  There is just enough ambience to allow the sustains to die off well.  The piano sound itself is a bit bright and crisp which allows Wang’s passage work to shine.  Just enough pedal to help add what is needed in the big moments can provide the proper blurring that aids the darker, or more dissonant moments.  These are committed performances that bring a proper emotional balance to the music.  Certainly this is a good place to start to explore these rarer works even with some fine complete surveys of the Scriabin currently available.  For those who find the later Scriabin not to their liking, this will make a gentle introduction to his more traditionally romantic qualities.  The Rachmaninoff is equally stunning and more programmatic than one might at first perceive.  Both pieces sit well together on this release which is worth tracking down for those interested in Russian piano literature.

Judith Farmer Plays Favorites
Judith Farmer, bassoon.
Patricia Mabee, harpsichord. Andrew Shulman, cello.
Susan Greenberg, flute; Vicky Ray, piano; Wenzel Fuchs, clarinet.
VSIP Records 0001
Total Time:  33:58
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Bassoonist Judith Farmer’s new album brings together four diverse works exploring different musical aesthetics.  She currently performs with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony, and Long Beach Symphony as well as freelancing for film and studio work.  She has appeared in a number of music festivals both in the states and in Europe.  Currently she teaches at the University of Southern California.  Her current release shows off her skills quite well in an enjoyable recital.

The program opens with a work by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758).  Fasch was a well-respected composer who began his career as a choirboy in Leipzig and studied with Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt before finding his way to Prague.  There he would be Kapellmeister and court composer to Count Morzin.  He lost out to none other than J.S. Bach for the Thomaskantor position in 1722 after withdrawing from consideration.  Fasch’s music often shows a fine understanding of instruments and this is certainly the case for the Sonata in C which is among several early works for the bassoon that explore the different registers of the instrument in a way that moves it out of its continuo role.  Contemporaneous with the virtuoso Vivaldi concerti, it is likely Fasch may have found inspiration from his Italian models.  It is interesting though that the work is more like a sonata di chiesa in its slow-fast-slow-fast movement structure.  Farmer’s performance is excellent here with excellent articulation and shaping of the phrases.  It is also a good introduction to enjoy the timbre and richness of the instrument.

The Fasch turns out to be the gentle entry into the remainder of the album which focuses on contemporary music.  First is a delightful Duo for Flute and Bassoon (1992)by Gernot Wolfgang.  Wolfgang’s style is to combine elements of jazz with polymodal harmonies and these are used as a unifying factor in this work.  The music is mostly tonal and provides a brilliant counterpoint to the Baroque work with its syncopated rhythmic ideas and interplay between the two instruments.  An important repertoire work, Roger Boutry’s Interferences I (1972) provides listeners with an opportunity to hear the progressive harmony of the 20^th Century with its nods to French Impressionists.  There are some fascinating rhythmic ideas here that are coupled with quite expressive writing.  This work allows Farmer to showcase her technical facility and virtuoso performance abilities quite well.

The album ends with a recording made in 1990 with Wenzel Fuchs (when both he and Farmer were members of the Vienna RSO).  Poulenc’s work always shows a bit of wit within the modernist harmonic writing.  This is certainly the case here in the Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon (1922) which is equally populated with humorous musical interactions and joy that exploit the characters of the two instruments.  It too is excellently performed.

The collection of chamber music here showcases Judith Farmer’s abilities both technically and interpretively.  But it also shows deft programming as aspects of each of these works have connections that make them fine partners.  The Fasch and Boutry explore technique and lyricism within their own musical languages.  The Wolfgang and Boutry provide contemporary explorations of harmony and interesting rhythmic ideas that challenge the technique of the performers.  And, the Poulenc and Boutry have their roots in Impressionist and 1920s modernism.  This makes the album flow quite well over its brief playing time.  Certainly worth tracking down for bassoonists and those interested in fine chamber music performance.