It is fitting that I pen this review just a few days after hearing and speaking with pianist Roger Vignoles (in concert with Kate Royal), surely one of the finest accompanists in the world, and one of the British trilogy of Graham Johnson, Geoffrey Parsons, and Vignoles who so set the modern standards of the art. Vignoles studied with Gerald Moore, and for anyone not familiar with that legendary name, he was simply the greatest the world had to offer during his lifetime, and the father of the modern accompaniment style. Vignoles glides in an out of these songs with nary a blink at the immense differences between these composers, guiding his young partner Iris Oja (lead alto in the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir) through the inherent landmines found in this treacherous musical field.
The hypercholestemia of the Rachmaninov songs are here book-ended by the simpler, more direct and even poetically pedantic verses set by Shostakovich. Though the poetry of Yevgheny Dolmatovsky does not read as such, the music that Shostakovich graces the lines with tend to pull one’s first impressions in another direction. These Five Romances were done during a time when the composer was being made to eat some nasty Soviet crow, and the disingenuous feeling of the music, wonderful as it is, makes you realize that as always with this composer, there is another message being offered besides the obvious. The Spanish Songs are a different bird—hot blooded lyrics from folk melodies set to Russian music, and quite nicely done.
Rachmaninov is not often thought of as a lieder composer, yet he did write over 80 songs, quite intimate and exceptional. These are taken from his Opuses 4, 8, 14, 21, and 26 collections, dating from 1892 until 1906. They are thick, earthy, sorrowful, and Russian! These artists do a very nice job of conveying the essences of the music, and Ms. Oja’s singing, while somewhat immature in expression, shows great promise and offers attractive tonal qualities. A fine release.
TrackList (Rachmaninov):
We shall find rest
Night
The Ring
I await you
Brooding
I beg you, stay, forget me not!
O, do not grieve!
All things depart
How it pains me
Within my soul
Morning
A Dream
In the silence of the secret night
— Steven Ritter
