BRITTEN: Cello Symphony, Op. 68; Cello Sonata in C, Op. 65; Solo Cello Suites 1 – 3; Tema ‘Sacher’ – Alban Gerhardt, cello/ Steven Osborne, p./ BBC Scottish Sym. Orch./ Andrew Manze – Hyperion CDA67941 (2 CDs), 119:23 (1/2/13) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:
These pieces all bear the indelible stamp of Mstislav Rostropovich; his first meetings, performances, and influence with Britten began in 1960, and he remained perhaps the closest of all of Britten’s performing friends. Anything even remotely smacking of the cello from the composer’s hand can be attributed in one way or another to the Russian cellist. In fact, Britten himself as amazingly sympathetic to Soviet musicians of all stripes at a time when it was considered not only politically incorrect but also dangerous to do so. But his insistent correspondence with the Soviet authorities, many of them infamously brutal, kept the light on these artists and the circumstances under which they labored, and the world at large—especially the record world—would be a lot poorer without Britten’s efforts on their behalf.
Britten was never sure about these pieces, however. After hearing Rostropovich play the Shostakovich First Cello Concerto in 1960, he was overwhelmed, and the cellist immediately demanded a concerto from Britten. Britten acquiesced, and before long he sent the score to the cellist who declared “being in love with it.” After their first meetings to discuss the work, and a few drinks, they became fast and life-long friends. Being a precursor to the War Requiem the piece is leaner, more linear, and possessing a sparse quality to it that no way prevents it from being an apt reflection of the character of the man for whom it was written.
The Cello Symphony is so-called because it is much more of a concertante work that the normal concerto. Britten intended to write one immediately for the cellist but found himself over committed on too many fronts. Nonetheless, by the autumn of 1962 he was hard at work on it. The work was finally premiered—after a delay—on a trip to Moscow where the Moscow Philharmonic played at the Great Hall, to large acclaim, and repeated four days later in Leningrad. Britten had not written a sonata form piece for orchestra for over 20 years, and this is one of his few pieces of “pure” music that he ever composed. The piece is full of baroque constructions and has a kind of shadowiness to it that sounds a little spooky in parts, yet remains extraordinarily rigorous in its construction.
The three solo Suites were composed between 1964 and 1971, with the last one delayed because of the restricted movements of the cellist at the time in his home country, and only performed in 1974. Britten was attempting to revive a form that had really been neglected by most composers since the time of Bach. Britten pays tribute to Bach in the way that his music is also suggestive of harmony while not actually indulging in any extreme vertical activity, and even his fugues are ghosted in a way that we think we hear contrapuntal lines when they don’t actually exist. The movements are all short but avoid the dance forms Bach used, Instead they are much more declamatory, and actually quite serious in tone, though some of his most lyrical music is to be found here. The Tema dedicated to Paul Sacher is a very short piece, the last he would write for Rostropovich.
Berlin-born Alban Gerhardt was educated at the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Cologne Music Academy, and joined the Berlin Philharmonic in 1991. He has since toured the world and worked with many notable artists. I can’t say that his sound is distinctive in any manner that draws attention to itself which might make him ideal for this music. Technically he is quite secure and quite familiar with the music. In the Suites we get to hear a little more of his personality than we do in the other works, but again the nature of the music itself allows this. Manze and orchestra are excellent, as is the sturdy Steven Osborne in the Sonata. The sound is balanced and natural.
—Steven Ritter
