BaL 23.06.18 - Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano

[BBMmk2]

It’s a great BaL this morning. This woman knows what she’s talking about. Plus the right ways of say the plural for crescendo!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Pike; Roscoe.

[visualnickmos]

It’s a great BaL this morning. This woman knows what she’s talking about. Plus the right ways of say the plural for crescendo!

Fully agree with you. Excellent on all points.

[mikealdren]

It’s a great BaL this morning. This woman knows what she’s talking about. Plus the right ways of say the plural for crescendo!

Yes but.... Rather an academic study along the lines of the much missed Interpretations on Record. For Building a Library, where were the more modern performances. From my library Chung, Grumiaux, Jansen, Korcia, Midori and Repin would all have figured highly rather than the flawed Mutter, Bell and Perlman and there are several more fine recent recording that I don't have.

Also, as my grandfather would have said, 'She can't half talk'.

Interestingly Grumiaux/Castagnone, Repin/Berezovsky and Sitkovetsky/Gililov aren't on the list, the Grumiaux is in the recent mono recordings box but the others nla?

[Mal]

From my library Chung, Grumiaux, Jansen, Korcia, Midori and Repin would all have figured highly rather than the flawed Mutter, Bell and Perlman...

Yes, people are likely to have at least one of those you mention (I have Chung/Lupu) and it's always nice to hear a word about your library copy. There seemed to be too much dwelling on particular performances (e.g., Poulet/Lee, Perlman/Ashkenazy, Heifetz) and several more could have been mentioned.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

For Building a Library, where were the more modern performances.

Well, the Pike/Roscoe (the "winner") was recorded in 2010, and the highly-rated Waley-Cohen/Watkins in 2014. mike.

[BBMmk2]

Yes but.... Rather an academic study along the lines of the much missed Interpretations on Record. For Building a Library, where were the more modern performances. From my library Chung, Grumiaux, Jansen, Korcia, Midori and Repin would all have figured highly rather than the flawed Mutter, Bell and Perlman and there are several more fine recent recording that I don't have.

Also, as my grandfather would have said, 'She can't half talk'.

Interestingly Grumiaux/Castagnone, Repin/Berezovsky and Sitkovetsky/Gililov aren't on the list, the Grumiaux is in the recent mono recordings box but the others nla?

Yes I see you’re point there re interpretations on a Record format. I suppose it’s us more informed people appreciate his style as well.

[teamsaint]

Pretty good BaL as far as I am concerned, from which I learned a god deal about performance of the work.

Somewhat DON style approach to the analysis, which is fine by me, delivered clearly without nonsense hyperbole, if in a somewhat Open University TV lecture style.

[BBMmk2]

Can't find the Pike/roscoe on amazon?

[PJPJ]

Can't find the Pike/roscoe on amazon?

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010667

Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Franck-Debussy-Ravel-Violin-Sonatas/dp/B004Q2TWNE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1529764739&sr=1-1&keywords=pike+roscoe

complete with "review".

[vinteuil]

.

... perhaps cheaper available from France - and certainly more interesting reviews -

http://amzn.eu/9F37Url

.

[jonfan]

I had no idea about this piece even after 50 years of accompanying. The hero of this BAL is Caroline Rae, a name new to me. She is in the distinguished line of enthusiastic and knowledgeable reviewers, such as Gerald Northrop Moore, who convinces life is not worth it unless you get to know the work in question. Off to buy the Pike/Roscoe. More of this quality of review please.

[richardfinegold]

How did the new Capaucon recording rate? And was the Silverstein/MTT version mentioned?

[Bryn]

Also available for QOBUZ, £7.99 for CD rate, £11.99 for 96/24 high resolution.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I had no idea about this piece even after 50 years of accompanying.

jonfan: I'd like to develop that admission - it seems to me that it can be said that just about the whole world has no idea about this piece!

No, I'm not going to put myself forward as non-violinist and non-pianist as the only one in the whole world who really understands it. I bought it on a cheapo LP deletion (Stern/Zakin CBS) in the 70s and became pretty familiar with the noises it made without really feeling I'd grasped the work as a whole. A couple of CDs (Chung, Kang) and a good few live or broadcast performances haven't changed the picture much, and neither did this BaL. No criticism intended - I thought it was top-drawer on performance analysis.

Seemed to me this that Ms Rae and all her performers were not that much further forward than I am: no real consensus on the essentials of a top performance of this work. Is it about integrating all the disparate ideas and detailed markings into some organic unity ('proper sonata form', Schenkerian thematic unities?), or playing each individual theme/section/marking 'for all it is worth' and maximum contrast, and hoping that some integrated whole somehow emerges? To my ears Ms Rae seemed to favour maximum impact from each constituent part and hope for the best and she could well be right.

Not a very coherent 'analysis' I know, but it's true to my own experience of this work over nearly 50 years. Indeed, I might say something similar about the sonata for flute, viola and harp too - love the noises it makes but really couldn't say how it hangs together beyond the fact that one gets used to the same bits coming round in the same order every time... Somehow the cello sonata hangs together better though this might be just down to its Pierrot 'plot'(?).

Have I somehow stumbled across one reason why Debussy is still regarded as a radical??