Fanfare Magazine Review of Russian Viola Sonatas
RUSSIAN VIOLA SONATAS Eliesha Nelson (vla); Glen Inanga (pn) SONO LUMINUS 92136 (71:02)
GAIGEROVA Suite for Viola and Piano, op 8 WINKLER 2 Pieces for Viola and Piano, op. 31. Sonata for Viola and Piano in c, op. 10. JUON Sonata in D for Viola and Piano, op. 15
Ingratiating, unfamiliar repertoire and bravura playing by both Eliesha Nelson and Glen Inanga make “Russian Viola Sonatas” a very enjoyable disc. To be sure, only two of its four selections are sonatas, and one of the composers, Paul (Pavel Fedorovich) Juon (1872-1935), though born in Russia, grew up in a German speaking family, made his career in Berlin, and later retired to Switzerland. Nelson and Inanga might have anchored the program with a standard work, as Wendy Warner and Irina Nuzova do with the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata on their recent Cedille disc, “Russian Music for Cello and Piano”, but based on the extroverted quality of her playing and the music that she has chosen, my guess is that Nelson may not necessarily identify with the somber, despairing Shostakovich Viola Sonata, the only Russian sonata for viola and piano that I can think of that might be termed a masterpiece. The recital is a pioneering effort and Nelson take can take pride in having unearthed several very satisfying late Romantic pieces that violists may add to their relatively small solo repertoire. Not only are the works by Varvara Gaigerova (1903-1944) and Alexander Winkler (1865-1935) recorded here for the first time, these appear to be the only existing recordings of any of their music.
The disc’s most interesting discovery is the Suite for Viola and Piano by Varvara Adrianova Gaigerova, a prolific composer who studied composition at the Moscow Conservatory with Catoire and Miaskovsky, and piano with Heinrich Neuhaus. In the 1930s, she began a far-reaching study of the folk music of various Soviet ethnic groups, material that she incorporated into symphonies, suites for orchestra, piano sonatas and over 150 songs. Her viola suite’s four brief movements have an ardent, impulsive feeling, lively rhythm, and rather adventurous, though entirely tonal harmony. It’s a showpiece for the viola, with a wonderful piano part.
Paul Juon’s music resembles Brahms’ in many ways— its harmony, its scoring, the shape and feeling of many of his melodies—yet his attractive, three movement viola sonata sounds nothing like Brahms’ op. 120 sonatas in their viola versions. Juon’s sonata is more open-hearted and less ruminative, with pleasing melodies and a nice range of character, perhaps more like earlier, less self-conscious Brahms mixed with a pleasing dose of Dvořák. A distinctly Slavic side to Juon’s style emerges in the faster middle section of its slow movement, and its third movement opens with what sounds like Russian folk material. In Nelson and Inanga’s eager interpretation, Juon’s opening movement, marked Moderato, sounds more like an Allegro moderato. A more relaxed tempo would enhance the music’s spacious character, perhaps along with more pedal to add resonance to the piano part.
A native of Kharkov, Alexander Winkler received his training in Paris and Vienna, studying piano with Duvernoy and Leschitizky, and composition with Karl Navrátil. As a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1896-1924, he was associated with Blumenfeld, Glazunov, Lyadov and others and was one of Prokofiev’s teachers. In 1924, he emigrated to France where he directed the Besançon conservatory. Winkler’s Sonata in
c reflects the sophistication of his cosmopolitain background and shares a dynamic, colorful manner of writing for both instruments with the other works on the program, but not the virtue of their conciseness. Each of its three movements is in c minor, each strives for big effects and each takes its time, with occasional flagging inspiration. The sonata’s final movement is a set of Variations sur un air breton. The second piece. La toupie, is a charming virtuoso exercise in sixteenth notes, something like Popper’s Elventanz, not as fast, but a workout.
In all of this music, Nelson’s playing is bold, fluent, and musically sensitive. She has the accuracy and fine intonation that one would assume goes along with being member of the Cleveland Orchestra, but also the compelling musical personality of a soloist. Glen Inanga, who holds one of the more exotic piano teaching positions that I have ever heard of— Senior Lecturer at the University College of the Cayman Islands— is an ideal partner, providing excitement and solid support in the complex piano parts. Sono Luminous provides excellent sound and miking that creates an ideal balance of sound between the two instruments. Paul Orgel