DEBUSSY – Sonata for Violin and Piano; DEBUSSY arr. HARTMANN – The Girl with the Flaxen Hair; LILI BOULANGER – Nocturne; RAVEL – Sonata for Violin and Piano; POULENC – Sonata for Violin and Piano – Lin He, violin / Gregory Sioles, piano – Centaur

by | May 14, 2010 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

French Sonatas for Violin and Piano = DEBUSSY: Sonata for Violin and Piano; DEBUSSY (arr. by HARTMANN): – The Girl with the Flaxen Hair; LILI BOULANGER: Nocturne; RAVEL: Sonata for Violin and Piano; POULENC: Sonata for Violin and Piano – Lin He, violin / Gregory Sioles, piano – Centaur CRC 3009 60:09 ** [Distrib. by Naxos]:

This is an attractive program, featuring three extended works that often show up together on disc along with two short works as a bonus. Of those two, the Debussy is an encore staple, while the Boulanger is a welcome rarity. It unfolds in a long-breathed, sinuous melody for the violin over bell-like arpeggios in the piano. This accompaniment is apparently based on the third-act introduction from Aida. Nonetheless, the work is very French, very pretty, with subtle hints of Ravel and Debussy.
Both those gentlemen are represented by well-known violin sonatas, the Debussy one of six projected sonatas that he was working on toward the end of his life. (He completed only three: one for violin, one for cello, one for violin and  harp.) Early critics were surprised and disappointed that this literary-minded composer should turn to absolute music of a decidedly neo-Classical bent, even if he didn’t produce works in classic sonata form. Now, the Violin Sonata seems more of a piece with Debussy’s earlier compositions.
The centerpiece, literally, of Ravel’s stylistically varied Sonata is the bluesy second movement, which the violin starts off with strummed pizzicato notes, in imitation of a banjo or guitar. The Perpetuum mobile finale is bound to keep both performers on their toes.  Poulenc’s sonata has violinist and pianist scrambling busily in the outer movements, while the middle movement is as tender and heartfelt as the Domine Deus from the composer’s Gloria.
So, as I say, there’s some really attractive music here, all in a convenient package. If only the performances were as attractive. Since this is a live recording of a recital (given at Louisiana State University), we can excuse the occasional tuning problem, such as the quavery held double-stop at the end of The Girl with the Flaxen Hair or the less-than-secure slides in Ravel’s “Blues” movement. It’s harder to excuse the harsh, driven quality of much of Lin He’s fiddling or the overly detached style of playing he applies to some of this music. For example, the scherzo-like second movement of the Debussy sounds petulant or blustery when it should sound merely piquant. As a result of this almost constantly détaché style, the Debussy Sonata fails to hang together.
Lin He’s gentle legato playing in the slow movement of the Poulenc shows what he’s capable of, but that’s the high point of a recital with too many lows. A closely miked, overly analytical recording doesn’t flatter the performers either, and in the last movement of the Poulenc there is a constant shifting of perspective, as if the movement were spliced together from numerous takes. Since the recording was made over the course of three days, that’s probably the case. It’s awfully irritating anyway.
So despite what seems on paper like a winning recital, it’s pretty hard to recommend this one.
– Lee Passarella

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