The two violas are those of Peter Mallinson and Matthias Wiesner, and this, as the Pope might say, is a bit of a bugger to write about.
I perused a couple of reviews and they went on at length describing the pieces but less of the playing (which is mostly beautiful), so it’s not just me. The opening piece is by JS Bach (Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Minor, BWV 1029): the vivace (lively) lives up to its name and is very “Antiques Roadshow”, rolling along, optimistic and warming. The adagio slows things down, but it’s lovely, and the final movement, allegro, ends with a flourish.
It can only be downhill from Bach, but Sally Beamish’s “Prelude and Canon” (2005) holds up well as it channels Scottish folk music into a mournful, windswept air, though Orlando Gibbons’ first piece drifts into the background — a textured and rich background perhaps, but background nonetheless. York Bowen’s later piece also drifts by, pleasant enough but fading into the background a little.
This may be intentional, as the heart of the album is perhaps “The Pleiades” by Detlev Glanert, far more intense than the opening and actually challenging the listener. Stars over, we get “Three Shidaiqu Transcriptions” by Raymond Yiu, the first a jazz- based tune suggestive of an English drawing room in about 1910. All three of his pieces are jolly.
The album winds up with Alexander Wunderer — again a little background y — and then “Gershwinian Nostalgia”, Peter Letanka’s reflection on Gershwin and jazz, with some familiar melodies.
“The Wild Bears” from Edward Elgar sends the audience home smiling with a scampering feel and nifty playing from pianist Lynn Arnold as well as our viola boys. An entertaining and varied album. This is out on Meridian, CDE 84684.
JMC
