Schnittke Musica Nostalgica Leonard Elschenbroich
SCHNITTKE Cello Sonata No. 11. Suite in the Old Style1.
Madrigal in Memoriam Oleg Kagan. Musica Nostalgica1.
ELSCHENBROICH Shards of Alfred Schnittke1
Leonard Elschenbroich (vc); 1Petr Limonov (pn)
ONYX 410 (60:00)
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Is Schnittke’s music really nostalgic? I ask because
Leonard Elschenbroich has entitled his new CD Musica Nostalgica, and the idea permeates his every interpretation.
Admittedly, the title comes from one of Schnittke’s own works, which is
included, but in general, the composer’s attitude to the past seems more
complex than simply a lost Utopia. Elschenbroich explains in his liner note
that the Russian equivalent, nostalghia,
“is a feeling more painful, more severe, regarded with respectful fear.” That
translates, in these readings, as a deep expressive intensity, which works well
for all the chosen works. Some interpretive decisions are open to question, but
the coherence and commitment that characterizes Elschenbroich’s Schnittke are
not, and the results are stimulating and emotionally engaging throughout.
The First Cello Sonata begins with a simple,
unaccompanied monologue for the cello, which Elschenbroich delivers in a
whispered, straight tone—a beautifully eerie effect. He treats the movement as
a single dramatic arc, gradually increasing the intensity, although glossing
over some of the moments of repose in the process. The same is true of the moto
perpetuo second movement. Again, Elschenbroich begins at a whisper, and the
sudden left-hand interjections from pianist Petr Limonov are spectacularly powerful.
Both cello and piano are well recorded, with the bass of both instruments
particularly intense, giving a real sense of presence to these dramatic
moments. But, again, the contrasts towards the end of the second movement are
downplayed to emphasize the gradually building intensity: It’s a legitimate approach,
but not the last word. Speaking of last words, the obbligato figure at the top
of the piano at the end of the third movement is played with a wistful rubato
that completely changes the effect—that feeling of nostalgia creeping in again.
Suite in the Old
Style is
presented in nostalgic terms too. This is Schnittke at his most Neoclassical,
but Elschenbroich and Limonov take a more Romantic than Classical approach. The
first movement Pastorale is marked Moderato,
but is here presented at a very stately pace, with much expressive rubato. So
too the “Pantomime” finale, again at a slower pace than the Andantino marking suggests. But it is
not all sentimental indulgence, and the one discord in the work, a
double-stopped semitone clash held for nine bars, is presented with real menace.
The Madrigal in
Memoriam Oleg Kagan is a rarity on disc, at least in the cello version (it
was originally for violin, naturally), making Elschenbroich’s reading all the
more valuable. This is another heart-on-sleeve account, and one that makes no
concessions in terms of drama and intensity for the music’s apparent lack of
substance—just two pages of unaccompanied cello music, none particularly virtuosic.
But, as in the sonata, Elschenbroich makes a real statement out of every note,
fully exploiting the wide-ranging dynamic markings for his expressive ends. It’s
the highlight of the disc.
Musica Nostalgica may seem like overkill, given that it is derived
directly from the Minuet movement of Suite
in the Old Style, heard just a few minutes earlier. But Schnittke takes the
music in a different direction, adding queasy glissandos to the cello part and
making the previously unambiguous major tonality a little more complex.
The program ends with Elschenbroich’s own Shards of Alfred Schnittke, a pastiche
of several of the works already heard. We hear the Neoclassicism of Suite in the Old Style, the moto
perpetuo of the sonata’s second movement, and the high piano obbligato of the
third, all mixed together into the kind of the nebulously structured homage that
Schnittke himself often wrote on the music of earlier composers. But, again,
there is more nostalgia here than Schnittke would have brought to such a
project, at least in Elschenbroich and Limonov’s wistful, emotive reading.
An impressive album, then of Schnittke’s cello works.
With the exceptions of Madrigal
(currently only available on one other recording, from Torleif
Thedéen on BIS) and Elschenbroich’s own piece, all are well represented
on disc. But these are distinctive readings, deeply expressive and with often
surprising dramatic impact. That impact is also aided by the audio quality, which
is excellent throughout. There are enough cello works by Schnittke to fill
another disc, so a second visit by Elschenbroich to this composer’s work would
be welcome indeed.
This review appears in Fanfare magazine issue 40:4.
This impressive album has a dramatic effect on the listener. Cello and piano give a real sense of dramatic moments.
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