ENESCU: Impressions of Childhood, Op. 28; SCHNITTKE: Violin Sonata No. 1; R. STRAUSS: Violin Sonata in E-flat, Op. 18 – Andreas Buschatz, violin/ Tahmina Feinstein, piano – NCA Multichannel SACD 60179, 74:30 ***** [Distr. by Naxos]:
Wow, what a disc! At first glance you might not think that these three composers would ever be mentioned together at all, let alone share a disc. But Buschatz and Feinstein have pulled off a minor miracle—no, make that two miracles—in inspired programming and even more accomplished playing. The former is co-concertmaster of the German Symphony of Berlin, and a member of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2005. The latter is from Tajikistan and works with a number of singers, while giving her postgraduate recital only in 2004. Both are sterling players of the most advanced order.
Enescu completed his Impressions of Childhood in fairly advanced age, in Romania in 1940. These ten miniatures are of the highest caliber, a self-portrait of the young composer (and of course, during his time he was considered almost a second Mozart, so phenomenal were his skills, playing violin at the age of four, meeting Brahms at the age of 13 and counting Ravel as a fellow student), freely tonal, demanding of the listener’s attention, yet raptly apt in their descriptive prowess. If you haven’t heard them, then this piece alone makes the recording worthwhile.
The Schnittke and Strauss works are both the efforts of youngish composers. Many people who only know Schnittke by his later, haunted neo-classical pastiches are in for a surprise here. This is a work of great lyricism, though heated by the composer’s patented melancholy, feeling the influences of both Shostakovich and Webern, whose student Philipp Herschkowitsch was a companion at the Moscow Conservatory between 1953 and 1958. The piece is well worth knowing, though both sonatas have been recorded fairly often, most notably by Ulf Wallin (BIS), and my favorite, Mark Lubotsky on Ondine, with the wonderful Suite in the Old Style. But this one is special.
The Strauss is a work that has never made it into the top rank; it is diffuse, not particularly inspired, and pales in comparison to many other violin pieces being written at the same time. But it also has some soaring melodies, hefty passages that almost defy two-person scoring, and that typical Straussian flamboyance that was present even in the 23-year old composer when he penned this. He seems lost at times as to where he is heading; but with Strauss, as often is the case, it really doesn’t matter—the journey’s the thing. This is the best recording I have heard of this tricky work.
And that is in no small part to the clearly-defined violin playing of Mr. Buschatz and the crystalline pianism of Tahmina Feinstein, whose gorgeous tone is only aided by the wonderful sonic spread of this recording. I can’t remember a time when the recording process so vividly put the performers in the same room with the listener. I know this is somewhat of a cliché among reviewers, but sit a spell with this release in a fine SACD environment, and you will see exactly what I mean. Superb!
— Steven Ritter
