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My name is Ben Hogwood, editor of the Arcana music site (arcana.fm)

Wigmore Mondays – Behzod Abduraimov: Chopin Ballades and Brahms Variations

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Behzod Abduraimov (piano)

Wigmore Hall, London

Monday, 15 February 2016

Audio (open in a new window)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07032zw

Available until 17 March

What’s the music?

Chopin (1810-1849) – Ballades:

No.1 in G minor Op.23 (c1835) (9 minutes)

No.2 in F major Op.38 (1839) (7 minutes)

No.3 in A flat major Op.47 (1841) (7 minutes)

No.4 in F minor Op.52 (1842-43) (10 minutes)

Brahms – Variations on a theme of Paganini, Book 1 Op.35 (1862-63) (12 minutes)

Spotify

Behzod Abduraimov has not recorded this repertoire as yet, so in case you are unable to hear the radio broadcast the below playlist contains recordings of the Ballades by the legendary Artur Rubinstein – and an equally thrilling recording of the Brahms from pianist Julius Katchen:

About the music

As the name implies, the Ballade is a form that has a literary origin. Chopin seemingly opted to use this name in response to the writings of Adam Mickiewicz – and using such a name gave him freedom of expression and form. So it is that the four ballades for piano each tell their own story, sometimes deciding to apply rigorous structure but on other occasions letting their ideas run free.

More recently it has become a popular concert trend for the four to be performed together, as they span a good range of Chopin’s composing career (12 years) and because their key centres and emotional impressions are complementary. The first and fourth are the most substantial pieces and arguably the most difficult to bring off, while the second is rigorously structured and the third described as more of a ‘salon’ piece – which should not demean it in any way.

Brahms wrote two books of Paganini Variations, taking as his inspiration the composer’s very last Caprice for solo violin, which you can view below:

It was the composer’s last large scale work for solo piano, and was perhaps a surprise to those who had gotten to know him as a serious composer. Here he lets himself off the leash, writing music that seems to be for display purposes as it becomes ever more difficult – despite him referring to his writing as modest ‘finger exercises’. Brahms being Brahms, though, there is still that customary attention to detail throughout the fourteen variations.

Performance verdict

An ambitious program for a lunchtime concert, but one the Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov pulled off with aplomb. He clearly knows the Chopin Ballades very well, for the melodic phrases were invested with a natural instinct that gave him a deceptive amount of room. There were some passages of play that took the breath away, such as the end of the fourth ballade, while in contrast the quieter moments, such as the very private beginning to the third ballade, were equally involving.

The first ballade flowed beautifully, a stream of consciousness that felt instinctive and gained a lot of momentum in its tempestuous central pages.

On occasion the Paganini Variations were too loud, the really fast and firm bits given out with just a bit too much force. Yet that is perhaps the best criticism, for it shows the extent to which Abduraimov was really going for his shots, as it were – nailing most of the really tricky runs and dazzling especially in the right hand of the thirteenth variation.

What should I listen out for?

Chopin

2:54 – the first Ballade begins with a call to arms that soon dims down – where we hear the main theme at 3:25. For much of the first section the pianist appears deep in thought, but soon these thoughts come to the surface, and from 5:00 onwards we hear music of great feeling, rising to a tempestuous climax and a thoroughly convincing finish.

11:45 – the second Ballade has none of the brooding expression of its predecessor, and could almost be mistaken for a Christmas piece at the start, with its blend of grace and nostalgia. Things change dramatically at 13:41 with an outburst from the right hand, a sudden whirlwind of notes that will almost certainly make you jump on headphones! The two contrasting moods alternate through to the end.

18:46 – the third Ballade starts with a beautiful theme and then turns into a graceful, almost balletic triple time dance. A second section at 20:27 is also in the mood for a dance, turning gracefully but then becoming deeper and much firmer. This starts to dominate the ballade as Chopin moves it through increasingly distant key centres, before the main theme returns joyously at 24:40.

25:47 – the fourth and final Ballade does not begin in its ‘home’ key, approaching it by way of an introduction – before arriving at 26:19 with a new theme. The final flurry to the end begins at 34:49 and is brilliantly played.

Brahms

38:16 – Paganini’s theme is heard in some distinctive voicing – and it is not long until the first variation at 38:43, with what sounds like an incredibly difficult piece of writing to play! Other notable variations are the flighty third (39:37), a much quieter and sombre fifth (40:58), and a sixth (41:48) where Brahms’ characteristic rhythms of two against three take hold. There are then some inward looking, quieter moments where the music takes time for thought.

Then at 47:58 we hear the thirteenth variation, and there are some frankly outrageous showboating with glissandi (very fast runs) in the right hand. Who said Brahms isn’t fun?! The end is pretty explosive stuff, and if you listen closely you might be able to hear Abduraimov stamping towards the finish.

Encore

51:49 – very much the calm after the storm, the encore is the pianist Alfred Cortot’s arrangement of the Sicilienne – originally composed by Vivaldi and arranged by Bach (3 minutes)

Further listening

The last Paganini caprice has sparked the imagination of a number of composers, each of whom have written variations on its melody – so at the bottom of the concert playlist you will find the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini from Rachmaninov, along with Variations from Lutoslawski and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Which one is best?

Meanwhile you can compare Chopin’s approach to the Ballade with that of Brahms, who published his set of four in 1854. The items are on the bottom of the playlist containing the music used in the concert:

In concert – Actress and the London Contemporary Orchestra at the Barbican

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Actress (above) and the London Contemporary Orchestra

Barbican Hall, London / Wednesday 10 February 2016

This intriguing collection of musical thought had three aims. The first was to draw on a long-held ambition of Darren Cunningham, to work with an orchestra under his Actress pseudonym, while the second and third celebrated – or rather illustrated – the ‘brutalist’ architecture of the Barbican and the data readings behind the LAGEOS (Laser Geodynamics) satellite. Into all of these blueprints, curated by Boiler Room, were fed the music of Actress – a potent blend of techno, soul and dark electronica that lends itself to classical structures and instruments. In new arrangements and pieces Actress and Hugh Brunt, conductor and co-Artistic Director of the London Contemporary Orchestra, found a meeting point of all these elements, presenting them to the Barbican with video artist Nic Hamilton.

They called the collision Momentum, a banner symbolised by a circular object that initially resembled a giant glitterball but was in fact the spacecraft used in the LAGEOS missions. In practice it rotated at a much slower pace, responding to Cunningham’s beats – if indeed there were beats at all.

momentum

There was an air of tension from the start of the performance, with a long period of silence before the music began. Even then it only gradually crept into the consciousness, and with the lights down low a feeling of forced ambience crept over the audience, restful but not relaxed in the way earlier Aphex Twin can work. Slowly Cunningham built through Lagos and Momentum, two new tracks, his set already clearly conceived on a larger scale.

Brunt’s arrangements for a string quartet of violin, viola, cello and double bass were striking, the instruments softly voiced to begin with but using a wide vibrato to make the centre of pitch far less certain. Oliver Coates’ cameo on a detuned cello was darkened by the use of a curious, semi-elliptical bow. The harp sprinkled planetary dust on the strings through the hands of Victoria Lester, while Hamilton’s astronomical backdrop helped create space in the closed environment.

As the audience began to fidget a breaking point was nearly reached, emphatically punctured by the volleys of Galya Beat, kick drums thrown from the pads of Sam Wilson’s machine. From here the music had greater power and caught the attention, the arrangements enhancing the beauty of Ascending, the harp and manipulated piano twinkling at the top of the sonic pile, while Piano Scrapes worked with subtle humour and more imaginative textures through the strings and the clarinet of Harry Cameron Parry.

Elsewhere Actress worked with claustrophobic backdrops, bringing the concrete maze of Hamilton’s Barbican video work to life. The strings provided essential colour to the largely grey backdrop of the thick but rather lush keyboards, themselves ambient but restless as before. The imaginative scoring included the creative use of a plastic bag in the percussion section.

Though it was a relatively small London Contemporary Orchestra on this occasion – much smaller than the forces used for Jonny Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood recently – it was used with imagination and flair by Cunningham and Brunt, the resulting music of substance and structure. Rather like the Barbican, in fact – together with a relative lack of pure emotion in the more calculated sections.

It would be great to see Actress flexing his muscles some more in the fascinating area in which he finds himself, bringing forms of music face to face with each other without anything sounding contrived. Future collaborations are surely inevitable; they are greatly anticipated!

Actress played: Lagos, Momentum, Galya Beat, Chaos Rain I-II, Ascending, Piano Scrapes, Surfer’s Hymn, Skygraff (Game Theory), N.E.W., Chasing Numbers, Voodoo, 5 Audio Track I-II, Hubble.

Names of Players:

Actress (electronics), London Contemporary Orchestra – Galya Bisengalieva (violin), Robert Ames (viola), Oliver Coates (cello), Dave Brown (double bass), Harry Cameron Penny (clarinet), Sam Wilson (percussion), Katherine Tinker (piano), Victoria Lester (harp)

Wigmore Mondays – Escher Quartet play Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’

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Escher Quartet: Adam Barnett-Hart, Aaron Boyd (violins), Pierre Lapointe (viola), Brook Speltz (cello)

Photo by Sophie Zhai

Wigmore Hall, London

Monday, 8 February 2016

Audio (open in a new window)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06zjbv2

Available until 10 March

What’s the music?

Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Andante and Scherzo for String Quartet, Op.81/1 & 2 (1847) (10 minutes)

Schubert (1797-1827): String Quartet in D minor D810, ‘Death and the Maiden’ (1824) (40 minutes)

Spotify

The Escher Quartet have made recordings of the music of Mendelssohn, but these are not currently available on Spotify. Instead you can hear the music played by the quartet’s unofficial mentors, the Emerson String Quartet, on the playlist below – including the off-broadcast encore of Haydn:

About the music

Schubert’s Death and the Maiden quartet is arguably the most famous in the string quartet repertoire. It is certainly one of the composer’s finest works in the form, and brings with it a steely tone and darkness that had only really been heard before in the works of Beethoven.

The reason for its nickname lies in the second movement, a set of variations on a theme from a song of the same name written by Schubert in 1817. It is the emotional heart of the work, but there is plenty elsewhere that leaves a lasting and deeply felt impression. The way the quartet leaps out of the blocks at the start is striking, as is the quick chase of the last movement.

Schubert wrote the quartet in 1824, after a serious illness – and when he realised, at the age of 27, that he was not going to recover. It carries a lot of resentment and anger, but also a deeper resolve.

Mendelssohn also wrote his Andante and Scherzo in the final year of his life. They were the start of a projected seventh string quartet, but in the event were the only two movements written. Two earlier movements were added to make a set of four that were published as his Op.81, but the four pieces are rarely heard together.

Mendelssohn was suffering at the time of composition from a series of strokes, heavily aggravated by the death of his sister Fanny. He, like Schubert, died at such a young age – 38 – but you would never know from the size and maturity of his compositional output.

Performance verdict

The Escher Quartet gave a superb account of Death and the Maiden, achieving remarkable clarity and unity of ensemble in the striking unison moments, but also reaching great emotional depths in the Theme & Variations second movement. This was the heart of their performance, but technically their fast playing in the third movement Scherzo, with its driving syncopations, and the fourth movement, with its quick fire string writing, were hugely impressive.

Despite the prevailing darkness this was a performance that offered hope in the lighter moments that come along – the sunny disposition of the third movement Trio and the brief major key excursions of the finale being two examples. The end was utterly convincing.

The Mendelssohn made an ideal contrast, the lightness of the Andante enhanced by the velvety tone of Pierre Lapointe’s viola in the first variation on the theme. In the Scherzo the quartet’s unity was again in evidence, but so was the furtive nature of much of Mendelssohn’s arguments, fading to the end with unsettling speed.

As an encore – unfortunately not heard on the radio broadcast – we heard the slow movement from Haydn’s String Quartet in F minor Op.20/5. First violinist Adam Barnett-Hart dedicated this to Haydn himself, ‘the father of the string quartet’ – without whom the form would not even exist! It was an appropriate and affectionate finish to a very fine recital.

What should I listen out for?

Mendelssohn

1:30 – an airy Andante theme, light of touch. The variations on it begin at 2:18 where the viola takes the lead, after which there is a sweet violin solo. Despite the sunny air there is a note of nervousness too, realised at 4:39 when the music switches to the minor key. The theme returns at 6:03 – and all is now well as the music finishes quietly.

7:32 – the Scherzo is also light of touch, though much quicker – and here the nervousness is right to the fore. There are moments of subtle humour, and the music is in the form of a quick dance, but it is a shadowy outline too. There is a hint of a more fluid waltz at 10:55, but the music becomes detached again, petering out at the end.

Schubert

13:39 – the start of this quartet is one of the most instantly recognisable tunes in all string quartet writing, hurled out as a unison by all four instruments. The mood is immediately fraught, and Schubert makes frequent references to two themes – the one punched out at the beginning and a second, quicker one at 14:11. These compete for space throughout the first movement.

At 16:55 the music sweetens for the first time, but by 20:18 the main theme returns. The movement ends in brooding fashion.

25:58 – this is the centrepiece of the quartet, a movement of theme and variations. The theme, a solemn and very sad tune heard from the outset, seems almost inconsolable, but as Schubert begins to work his magic it becomes more flexible in musical content and mood. The violin is sweeter, while from 30:33 the cello takes over expressively. From 32:31 the quartet are united in driving forward. The music spends some time briefly in the sunny major key, but from 36:47 is ploughed back into a mood of sombre uncertainty, and the emotional climax of the movement from 37:30.

The final minutes are plaintive but ultimately positive, falling into silence at 39:44.

40:27 – the third movement is a Scherzo – and finds us resolutely back in the quartet’s ‘home’ key of D minor. The music drives forward with grim determination, but the clouds part at 42:05 for the ‘trio’ section, where the textures are lighter and the tune much sweeter. The respite is all too brief, though, and we head back to the scherzo music at 43:31.

44:35 – the last movement is a quick dash, the four instruments chasing as a pack with a distinctive tune that seems destined never to stop. Because this is a ‘rondo’ it is written in a certain form that means the main tune recurs several times, interspersed by a grand ‘B’ section (46:16) and a ‘C’ (47:02)

Encore (not heard on the broadcast)

The slow movement from Haydn‘s String Quartet in F minor Op.20/5 – one of the composer’s ‘Sun’ quartets.

Further listening

You can watch the Escher Quartet in the slightly earlier Quartet movement (Quartettsatz) by Schubert in the clip below:

There are some very fine late works from Mendelssohn to explore, darker though they have become because of the death of the composer’s sister. The F minor string quartet, published as Op.80, is especially good, as is the late String Quintet no.2 in B flat major, Op.87. Both can be found on the Spotify playlist below:

Arcana at the opera: The Devil Inside

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Peacock Theatre, London, Thursday 4th February, 2016

Music by Stuart MacRae, Libretto by Louise Walsh

Sung in English with English surtitles

Ben McAteer (James), Nicholas Sharratt (Richard), Rachel Kelly (Catherine), Steven Page (Old Man/Vagrant)

Matthew Richardson (director), Samal Blak (designer), Ace McCarron (lighting)

Orchestra of Music Theatre Wales / Michael Rafferty

Written by Richard Whitehouse

As he nears his 40th birthday, Stuart MacRae can reflect on a transformation in his standing in that a reputation for orchestral and instrumental music has become one centred on opera. A decade ago, The Assassin Tree was a bold step that later stage-works – dance-opera Echo and Narcissus, TV opera Remembrance Day and music-theatre Ghost Patrol – consolidated prior to The Devil Inside, which assuredly takes its place next to Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek and Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face as the most significant British chamber opera from the past four decades.

Its seven scenes playing for 100 minutes, The Devil Inside takes its cue from a short story by master of the genre Robert Louis Stevenson. The Bottle Imp (1891) is typical of its author by being forward-looking in concept yet wholly of its time in content. Understandable, then, that MacRae and librettist Louise Welsh should have wished to update this latter such that it takes on an essentially 21st-century ambience of aspiring individuals both attracted and repelled by the trappings of what might be called late-capitalism. Whether such updating could have seen fit to dispose of the actual bottle in favour of a present-day equivalent (a social-media patent, perhaps?) is a moot point, but there can be little doubt that the present scenario works well on its own terms – the mundanity of its environs counterbalancing the otherness of its message.

Scenically the opera is a triumph. Matthew Richardson’s direction is fast-paced yet flexible in its delineating of character and circumstance, abetted in both respects by Samal Blak’s starkly immediate sets – the handling of scene-changes by a group of black-clad and masked figures a telling adjunct to the drama at hand – and Ace McCarron’s typically claustrophobic lighting. This performance took place at London’s Peacock Theatre – its stage well suited to chamber opera, with an auditorium where any lack of perspective is outweighed by its clarity and focus.

The cast could hardly be improved on. Ben McAteer conveys James’ doubt and vulnerability in full measure, his resonant baritone an admirable foil to the edgy tenor of Nicholas Sharratt who captures both the impulsiveness and vacillation of Richard in his fatal obsession with the bottle and its magic. The mezzo Rachel Kelly has eloquence to spare as Catherine, ostensibly a victim of circumstance who belatedly seizes fate by the throat, with baritone Steven Page bringing his customary authority to the ‘minor’ roles of Old Man and Vagrant which frame the drama in sound fashion. Whether the denouement as composer and librettist envisage it is an improvement on the terse original is debatable, but there is no doubting the conviction of Michael Rafferty’s conducting or commitment of the musicians from Music Theatre Wales.

The score itself bears all the hallmarks of MacRae’s lucid and perceptive take on a post-war modernism in which theatrical intensity goes hand with that musical cohesion as ensures the opera’s overall success. The orchestration, for an ensemble of 14 players, is as economic and resourceful as is to be expected from one who might reasonably be termed a seasoned opera composer, making one anticipate more keenly where his dramatic instinct may lead him next. The Devil Inside will be touring these next two months, and should on no account be missed.

Further performances take place on February 9th (Cardiff), 10th (Basingstoke), 16th (Manchester), 23rd (Aberystwyth), 26th (Huddersfield), April 3rd (Mold) and 18th (Birmingham)

For further information on The Devil Inside and Music Theatre Wales click here

An evening with John Cale

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John Cale (vocals/keyboards/guitar), Dustin Boyer (guitar/electronics), Nick Franglen (keyboards/electronics), Deantoni Parks (drums/percussion)

Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London; Wednesday 3rd February, 2016

Written by Richard Whitehouse

Opening with the pensiveness of First World War tribute Time Stands Still might not be every artist’s idea of a curtain-raiser, but John Cale has rarely, if ever, taken the road most travelled and this evening’s concert in the company of his regular touring band – launching what promises to be a busy year of performance and reappraisal – was hardly an exception.

Those expecting a run-through of new album M:FANS (itself the radical overhaul of 1982’s Music for a New Society), however, were to be disappointed, though Cale did find room for a handful of tracks: If You Were Still Around sounded the more fervent through the melding of its keyboards and guitars with a motoric rhythmic undertow, while Changes Made saw a partial return to its former rock incarnation and became the most upbeat number in the gig’s earlier stages, then Close Watch was poised between the opulence and starkness of earlier versions. Good that long-presumed lost outtake Back to the End was included, its restrained though ultimately uplifting manner placing it audibly within the ambit of Cale’s recent music.

Otherwise the set-list ranged widely over an impressive back catalogue such as its creator has never treated with undue reverence. Thus the pathos of The Endless Plain of Fortune yielded unexpected warmth, with the formerly obscure Coral Moon, an outtake from 1975’s Helen of Troy, fashioned into a ballad of real eloquence. Nor were old favourites in short supply: the easy eloquence of Buffalo Ballet, the skewed playfulness of Fear is a Man’s Best Friend – its chaotic outro now channelled into a burst of manic energy – and bittersweet irony of Ship of Fools delighting and provoking in equal measure. Reaching back even further, to 1970, was Ghost Story, an evocative item here taking on a fatalism as if admitting the distance in time and experience.

The more recent past was also acknowledged, 2005’s blackAcetate yielding an insinuating rendition of Perfect and the suitably slow-burning intensity of Wasteland. Bringing us almost to the present was a comparably probing take on Hemingway – among the richest and most intriguing of recent Cale songs – and a rendition of I Wanna Talk 2 U (both from 2012’s Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood) teasing and ominous by turns: proof, if such were needed, that Cale’s work in the 21st century has been among the most satisfying of his career.

Over the 100 minutes or so of this performance, Cale, whose attire was akin to that of a punkish elder statesman, cut a lively yet unobtrusive figure who only belatedly moved from his assemblage of keyboards and iMacs to take centre-stage for some arrestingly incisive rhythm guitar. He was supported by Dustin Boyer’s responsive guitar, Nick Franglen’s ground-shaking electronics and Deantoni Park’s inventive drumming. An energetic amalgam of Gun and Pablo Picasso brought the evening to its visceral close.

A pity so few made it from the bar to hear support act Rive, as this London-based duo from Switzerland (Natascha Polke on vocals and keyboards) and Wales (Ceri Jones on guitar and vocals) has a neat line in harmony and catchy hooks that made their brief set worth hearing.