FRANK MARTIN: Concerto for Cello and Orch.; HONEGGER: Concerto for Cello and Orch.; OTHMAR SCHOECK: Con. for Cello & String Orch. – Christian Poltéra, cello / Malmö Sym. Orch. / Tuomas Hannikainen – Bis

by | Aug 3, 2012 | Classical CD Reviews

FRANK MARTIN: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra; HONEGGER: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra; OTHMAR SCHOECK: Concerto for Cello and String Orchestra, Op. 61 – Christian Poltéra, cello / Malmö Sym. Orch. / Tuomas Hannikainen – Bis CD-1737 [Distr. by Qualiton], 72:39 ****:
Cellists may not have anything like the number of great concerted works for their instrument that violinists can claim. However, they have quite a number of very good concerti they can add to their repertoire, including ones that may be new to non-cellists, as these three concerti are to me. They were written by three very different Swiss composers of the twentieth century. Honegger, the most serious of Les Six, created music that early on combined the motoric rhythms of neo-Classicism with popular influences, most prominently jazz. Martin’s best-known orchestral works—such as the Petite symphonie concertante and Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Percussion, and Strings—have some of the same rhythmic drive as Honegger’s, but his harmonic language is altogether different, highly chromatic, often verging on the atonal. The propulsive rhythms yoked to harmonies based on a study of Schoenberg make Frank Martin’s compositions something of a musical oxymoron. Finally, Othmar Schoeck: he studied with Max Reger and developed an early admiration for the music of Feruccio Busoni—so came under the influence of two of the most crabbed and long-winded of the late Romantics. Fortunately, Schoeck’s style evolved into a highly lyrical neo-Romanticism; his few orchestral works reflect his main preoccupation as a composer, writing for the voice.
That’s true of the Cello Concerto, cast in the classic (as far as concertos for the cello are concerned) key of A minor. Its scoring for string orchestra emphasizes the cantabile lines of the solo instrument. While the first two movements are predominantly lyrical and mostly inward, the third is an odd arabesque-like scherzo in which the cello bounces up and down the scale, tossing out a series of double stops while the orchestra pirouettes somewhat more sedately in the background. After an austere, somewhat troubled slow introduction, the last movement emerges as busy and buoyant.
The Martin Concerto starts with a Lento introduction that announces the chief melody of the first movement. That melody takes on a very different character in the Allegro moderato that follows, turning from mysterious and slightly anguished to mordant, in spots almost flippant, given the tart interjections of the winds, especially the saxophone. These acid comments from the winds return in the propulsive last movement, which is marked by a harmonic waywardness that gives it a deeply troubled air in places. But then Martin recalls the theme from the first movement, and the cello subsides into an introspective sort of cadenza before the movement finishes in a crescendo and a crash of cymbals. It’s music that elicits a strange mix of emotions.
Like Martin, Honegger uses cyclic technique in his Concerto, recalling the music of the first movement toward the end of the last. The writing for cello is more lyrical than in Martin’s Concerto, and there are pages of quiet languor that recall Honegger’s languid Pastorale d’été. But the last movement starts with a dance-hall kind of swagger that is very nineteen-twenties. After a bit, the cello waxes more lyrical while the orchestra bubbles along in the background with occasional hectoring outbursts from winds and brass. The music becomes more and more fevered, briefly interrupted by that reprise of the opening material. This is a wittily mercurial little concerto.
I’m glad that Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra saw fit to apply his ripe, singing tone and big technique to these worthy vehicles. They compliment one another very nicely and make for a program that’s richly varied, yet with interesting points of comparison as well. The orchestra under Tuomas Hannikainen gives colorful, spirited support, and the sound from Malmö Concert Hall is first-rate. Hear this one if you can; it’s not just for cellists!
—Lee Passarella

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