Yuri Bashmet
Posted by: stephenjohn on 15 April 2002
The Shostakovich Viola Sonata came today and made me late for work. Yes it is better than the other recording I have. There seems to be both more feeling [emotion] in the playing and more dynamic range. It also seems more Russian. Herm, I disagreed with you about this being depressing music. I still do, but I can now hear much more melancholy in it.
Thanks again.
Steve
Glad you like the Shostakovich sonata. I may have used the word depressing unthinkingly. There's not a whole lot of life affirmation there, but just the fact that Shos wrote this thing in his hospital bed is kind of beautiful.
This piece will stay with you for many many years. I did (does) for me. In fact, I'm going to get it out as soon as I'm done with this.
So did you get any other interesting music, recently?
Herman
Steve
So who's doing the Debussy sonata?
Herman
Steve
The easy thing to say is the Debussy should be done by French players, but by now this piece is well in the international domain (in fact one the most praised recordings is by Chung and Lupu, neither of whom is remotely French).
It's the disc with the Janacek, Nielsen and Ravel thrown in, isn't it? I bet Tetzlaff and Andsnes wanted to figure out a way to record the Nielsen, and came up with this wonderful collection. Don't you just love the finale of the Ravel, with those right-hand chords as if the pianist is throwing dice?
And yeah, the Debussy sonata is one of the most beautiful pieces around. A woman should look and be like that music. (I guess in some circles this makes it sissy music.)
Together with the Shostakovich disc you're going to have a hard time discovering any better 20th C violin sonatas. Anyone any suggestions?
Herman
Steve
there's two Prokofiev violin sonatas, Steve, i.e. one in D, the happy one, which was originally written for flute. The other one (nr 1) is a rather tragic work, on a par with the great piano sonatas 6 to 8. Both are pretty good, so I'd say give it another chance.
The Ravel piano trio is way up there among the best works for the genre (as you can say about virtually everything Ravel released - the man is unbelievable!). The Debussy trio counts as a apprentice work.
I'm sure you're already aware of this, but if you have Debussy's violin sonata and his cello sonata, all you need is the trio sonata for flute, viola and harp and you have his last chamber works, written in a sort of patriotic burst of inspiration during the Great War. (Same applies to Ravel's Trio: he could barely wait to complete the finale, and rush off to get traumatized.)
Basically these four works are about the only good things to come out of the War.
I know this is no chamber music, but are you familiar with Debussy's orchestral works, like the Images and La Mer - they're not really massivily orchestral, and they are vintage Debussy? There's a cheap Haitink / Concertgebouw disc, and an excellent Boulez / Cleveland recording you could try.
Herman
Yes the Ravel is fantastic, I had to listen to the Debussy thirty times before I could listen to anything else. Now I keep listening to the Ravel. I'm not a musician so I can't make out any dice throwing though, I'll keep trying.
If you had to restrict yourself to one, would it be the Boulez or the Haitink?
Steve
Steve, I'd take the Haitink recording: it's cheaper (Philips Duo), more comprehensive and most people like it better.
You do already have the Ravel and Debussy string quartets, don't you?
About the Ravel violin sonata: I recall a tv documentary, in which an old violinist was reminiscing about playing the sonata through with the composer, and praising Ravel with his wonderful ideas, and Ravel just shrugged and said "c'est du choix", i.e. it's a matter of choice - thereby dismissing the idea of divine inspiration, genius etc.
However, making every next bar a fork in the road doesn't lift the burden a whole lot, I'd say. Nonetheless, this formula has always stuck in my mind.
Herman
I now also have the debussy cello sonata, played by Britten and Rostropovich. It is wonderful. And the Britten sonata is magnificent.
Bye the way, what do you think of the sonata for violin and piano No 2 [1917] by John Ireland. It seems to have good recommendations. I don't think it sound in quite the same class as the Ravel or the Debusssy ones.
Steve