Ben-Haim: Evocations-Works for Violin
Itamar Zorman, violin. Amy Yang, piano.
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Philippe Bach
BIS 2398
Total Time:  65:00
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

BIS bring together a collection of music for violin by composer Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984).  Born in Munich, Ben-Haim would work as an assistant conductor with Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch early in his career.  He would emigrate to Tel Aviv in 1933 essentially escaping the horrors to come in Nazi Germany.  Among his most famous students are Elihu Inbal and Henri Lazaroff.  Ben-Haim would become one of the most important Israeli composers of his time.  His music is noted for its merging of European and Middle Eastern musical styles as it explored folk dances and rhythms from the region of Palestine.  This current release brings together his collected works for violin.  Three chamber works and three works for violin and orchestra round off this important release.

An inherent sadness casts its shadow across Evocation (1942).  Written in memory of the violinist Andreas Weissgerber, the piece opens with a mournful motif that becomes a unifying force in the piece.  Structurally, Ben-Haim sticks to a traditional sonata form and the music has its foot firmly in the world of Romanticism.  The solo line is truly gorgeous and explores this melodic structure expanding throughout its register with a blend of insistent virtuosic writing and nuanced lyricism.  More vigorous writing seems to hint at the evils of Europe trying to overwhelm the beauty.  The piece is really a remarkable work that eventually moves to a more personal expression of grief in its final bars with hints at Eastern-European Jewish music.

Three original chamber works are also included on the album.  The Berceuse Sfaradite (1945) is one of the early examples of Ben-Haim use of Sephardic folk song and is among his most popular pieces.  For contrast, there is the later Three Songs Without Words.  Written in 1951, these pieces provide some contrast to the earlier work.  Here one can sense Ben-Haim beginning to explore more Middle Eastern harmonies and melodic shapes as he incorporates Sephardic music here.  The title connects to the more familiar collections of piano music by Mendelssohn.  One can hear further explorations of Arabic traditions as Ben-Haim’s music continued to work towards a blend of East and West traditions in one of his last works, the Three Studies for Solo Violin (1981) composed for Yehudi Menuhin.  They are almost like little fleeting thoughts composed by an ailing composer looking back at his work.  As a bonus, Zorman includes a transcription of a “Toccata” from the 5 Pieces for Piano, Op. 34 (1943) arranged by his father.  It adds a personal touch to an equally moving album.

At the center of the release is Ben-Haim’s Violin Concerto (1960) written for Zvi Zeitlin.  The integration of Western and Eastern musical traditions is on clear display here in a work that adheres to traditional form and structure.  It is a well-balanced piece that opens with a sonata allegro movement, shifts to a touching song-like central movement, and concludes with an exciting folkish dance.  Into these Western structures, Ben-Haim applies more Middle Eastern musical approaches with attempts to incorporate quarter tones, long melismatic writing, and the use of a Sephardic-like melody in the third movement.  These are all part of what would be identified as the “Mediterranean Style” developing in Israeli music.

Ben-Haim’s music is a blend of the modern and romantic.  Echoes of his approach can be heard in composers exploring musical material outside of the serialist academic worlds.  There is a very deep emotional quality to his music, even when it is at its more cerebral, that helps communicate his ideas clearly.  This is aided by the use of traditional structures which allow for an easier entry point for listeners.  The performances here are really superb and committed.  Zorman is able to walk that line between the Classical violin style and the necessary folkish nods that appear in the music.  It is clear he loves this music and that emotional connection comes through in the performances.  BIS’s release is a perfect way to begin to acquaint oneself with this music.

Rihm: Music for Violin & Orchestra, Volume 2
Tianwa Yang, violin. Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Darrell Ang
Naxos 8.573667
Total Time:  76:24
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Lat year marked the first release of Tianwa Yang’s survey of violin music by composer Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952).  That album introduced listeners to three creative periods of the composer’s style.  Here we get a chance to hear one of the composer’s most fascinating works from the 1990s and two more contemporary pieces.  These latter are essentially the sole choice on disc so they would make this album recommendable for Rihm completists at least

Anne-Sophie Mutter premiered Gesungene Zeit (1991-92) and subsequently recorded it for Deutsche Grammophon with the Berg Violin Concerto.  It remains a touchstone for both of these works.  Rihm’s piece has become one of his more popular performed works.  The work begins in nothingness with the solo violin slowly emerging from quiet string ideas and moving into its upper register.  As this arching line continues, the orchestral texture begins to subtly grow adding harmonic support that intensifies as the piece continues.  The close, dissonant qualities have the sense of diffusion about them that allows the soloist to move through them as they shift slowly.  One can begin to discern specific fragments that are used to help bring connections to the piece as it unfolds.  Most striking is the way the work has this sense of stillness even when the line feels like it is moving forward.  The music becomes more agitated at its center with other instrumental colors appearing until a percussion entry moves us to a more visceral, and dramatic interplay of fits and starts.  All dissipates though as we return to where we began.  Her performance overall is a bit longer than Mutter’s original release.

Lichtes Spiel (2009) was also premiered by Mutter and is a slightly shorter work for violin and chamber orchestra.  As the title suggests, Rihm here explores a sense of transparency and “lightness”.  Here the violin line has a semi-Romantic quality that is a stark contrast to the more diffuse approach of the earlier piece on the release.  Here, the gestures seem to be recalling a past of ideas seen through the haze of Rihm’s more advance harmonic dissonance.  It is a rather striking piece with the orchestra seeming to be rooted in contemporary orchestral discourse while the soloist floats around it almost disconnected in a wistful way.  The piece sometimes feels more finely attuned to atonal writing but with these bursts of romanticism that seem somewhat out of place.  Overall, though the music has this quite engaging quality that is perhaps among Rihm’s more accessible works with its different episodes creating a variety of moods and even some rather musically-humorous moments.

The final work on the album, Coll’arco (2007-2008) is an indication of the primary method of playing for the soloist (bowed).  It is a fitting companion to the previous work as it demonstrates how Rihm is exploring these ideas of drama and intricate writing.  The piece is among his longer concertante works running around 30 minutes in length.  Motives and gestures in the work are used to help unify the larger structure as they become referenced and further developed.  The soloist is stretched to their virtuosic limits as well which suggests this may also become more popular as time goes on.  In many respects, this piece is more like a single-movement concerto in the traditional sense.  The first listen allows one to consider this most while subsequent listens will reveal some of the larger ways Rihm is structuring the music.  Fortunately, the performance here will encourage frequent returns.

Tianwa Yang manages to draw out an often stunning lyrical quality in these pieces.  Her tone quality, so important in this sort of music, really adds another level of beauty to a piece that requires a different virtuosic approach, one that requires intense concentration and centered tone.  Her performance of Gesungene Zeit is striking and quite engaging with the orchestra proving to serve the music well.  The other two works here help demonstrate her interpretive approaches while building towards more traditional virtuosic writing.  Her approaches here move beautifully as Rihm’s music shifts in tone or requires subtle shifts in articulation.  The orchestra handles this music excellently.  The sound sometimes brings the violin a bit far forward, but that is a small issue when the performances are so engaging.  Perhaps this is the volume for those just beginning to explore Rihm’s music should start.