Mischa Maisky and Martha Argerich in Concert = STRAVINSKY: Suite Italienne from Pulcinella; PROKOFIEV: Cello Sonata, Op. 119; Waltz from The Stone Flower; SHOSTAKOVICH: Cello Sonata, Op. 40

by | May 20, 2005 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

Mischa Maisky and Martha Argerich in Concert = STRAVINSKY: Suite
Italienne from Pulcinella; PROKOFIEV: Cello Sonata, Op. 119; Waltz from
The Stone Flower; SHOSTAKOVICH: Cello Sonata, Op. 40

DGG B0004047-02 72:22 (Distrib. Universal)****:

Recorded April 2003 in the Flagey Buiding, Brussels, this an electric,
riveting concert by two past masters of their respective instrument –
old colleagues collaborating in music they have long cherished without
having committed their thoughts on record. Gregor Piatagorsky’s 1932
arrangement of the suite from Stravinsky’s Pulcinella was recorded by
that artist (with Lukas Foss), but has yet to come back to CD format.
The odd mixture of refined, 18th century melos with quirky, pungent
20th century harmony still raises an eyebrow, especially when plied by
the sizzling combination of Miasky and Argerich, who apply all kinds of
orchestral effects, tremolandi double and triple stopping, and fierce,
broad glissandi. The Andante movements enjoy a limpid sincerity of
expression. The C Major of Prokofiev (1949), despite having been
written during troubling times for the composer (and others deemed
anti-populist), has the energy and blithe urgency of Prokofiev’s most
fertile period, especially with the spirit of his masterpiece ballet
Romeo and Juliet not far from his motifs in the sonata.

Less sentimental in character than the approach taken by the
sonata&Mac226;s dedicatee Rostropovich, Maisky’s razor-sharp
account has the lines pulsating with nervous energy. Argerich has
maintained her muscular devotion to Prokofiev, which revealed itself
early, in her account of the C Major Concerto with Abbado. Spiky and
impassioned, the Sonata makes a splendid centerpiece, followed as it is
by the ironic grotesques of the Shostakovich Sonata. Conceived around
the time of the gloomy, moody Fourth Symphony, the 1934 Sonata by
Shostakovich had as its early acolyte Gregor Piatagorsky. An urge to
stately lyricism, a suggestion of Jewish plainsong that haunts his
later style, and a bit of raunchy good humor in the drunken reel of the
finale mark the eclectic personality that was Shostakovich of the
mid-1930s. The encore, a little waltz from Prokofiev’s last ballet
(1948), its light delicacy seems to bequeath upon the entire concert
the homage of a Piatagorsky imprimatur who had likely been a source of
inspiration to these fastidious and ardent musicians.

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