Igor Markevitch - Complete Orchestral Works Vols.7 and 8

 

Igor MARKEVITCH  (1912-1983)

Complete Orchestral Works Vol.7

Piano Concerto (1928) 

Cantate (1929) 

Icare (1932 rev. 1943) 

Martijn van den Hoek (piano)

Nienke Oostenrijk (sop)

Men's Voices of Nederlands Concertkoor (Amsterdam)

Rob Vermeulen

Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra

Christopher Lyndon-Gee

rec. Musis Sacrum, Arnhem, 14-17 Apr 1998, 12-13 Apr 1999.

Igor MARKEVITCH (1912-1983)/Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)

Complete Orchestral Works Vol.8

The Musical Offering (1747) (arr. three orchestral groups and solo quartet (1949-50)) 

Rémy Baudet (violin); Hans van Loenen (wooden transverse flute); Jeroen Reuling (cello); Dirk Luijmes (harpsichord)

Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra

Christopher Lyndon-Gee

rec. Musis Sacrum, Arnhem, April 1997. DDD

Complete Orchestral Works Vol.7

I wrote about the first three volumes in this Markevitch series back in 1999 and then, to my shame, rather lost sight of it. I now return at volume 6 - I will certainly request volumes 4 and 5 and review those as well when I can.

Markevitch, rightly renowned as a conductor whose inspirational dramatic inclination raged through the romantic repertoire was also a composer. Indeed he was a composer long before he was a conductor. The concerto and cantata on this disc are works of his teens when his creativity was moulded to the Stravinskian curve. The Concerto is tightly and insistently rhythmic in the indefatigable outer movement - very neo-classical. The central movement is a powerful andante in which world-weary uncertainty comes up against power-lofted tragedy which takes something from the portents and tension of The Rite of Spring. The Cantate is in four movements and sets a text by Cocteau. The massed choral work is provided by a male voice choir with Nienke Oostenrijk. The singing conspires with the orchestra in providing the constantly and quickly moving forward impetus. The style reminds me of early into mid-period Tippett, not dissonant, rippling with testosterone, full of gravelly buoyant speed - a touch of Orff perhaps or the Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms. The piece ends in the chaste glow of the soprano's singing.

Fifteen years on and this Icare in seven movements is a quite different work. It also differs from the dour original version of 1932 - recorded on Marco Polo 8.223666. Here Markevitch is determinedly modernistic with a plethora of percussion punctuation - an incessant counterpoint to the free-flowing melodic lines that rise in languid dawns. The final section Mort d'Icare fades magically into a niente then rises hesitantly grumbling before grasping one of those mellow glowing diminuendi. No wonder Bernstein rated this music so highly.

The words are sung in French in which language they are printed in the booklet alongside an idiomatic English translation by conductor, notewriter and guiding intelligence behind the whole project, Christopher Lyndon-Gee. I sense a labour of love here and his artistic choices seem to me to be unerring.

Markevitch as a composer was no late romantic. His muse tends to neo-classicism, Stravinsky, Roussel (though less clamant) and Mossolov.

Rob Barnett

__________________________________________

Complete Orchestral Works Vol.8

To reassure those fearing otherwise, Markevitch's Musical Offering is not a Stokowski-style orchestration/lushification exercise, although the opening Ricercar does start the work off in that direction. But Markevitch proves to be more sensitive.

Whether or not there is any real musical point to his reworking of Bach is a moot point - on balance probably not. Nevertheless, Markevitch was fond of this work, conducting it himself on several occasions - something he did not do with his original music! And there is no doubting the intelligence of Markevitch's reshuffling and tweaking of Bach's ten original Canons into a kind of symphonic arch, now entitled 'Theme and Variations' - nor the stroke of brilliance provided by the appearance of first the oboe, then the cor anglais and bassoon in 'Variations' V and VI.

The trio Sonata section is less successful - not in itself, but in the context of an otherwise orchestral arrangement, the chamber forces of the Sonata - almost pure Bach - seem out of place. In his notes Lyndon-Gee argues that the participation of orchestral strings in the Sonata - to amplify the solo violin - "cleverly integrates" this section into the composition as a whole. But the strings are so discreet, the harpsichord so obviously Baroque, that the Sonata sounds more like a separate piece. Still a very attractive one, though.

The orchestra returns for the final Ricercar, which Markevitch labels Fuga. Using mainly strings, he makes of this beautiful, enigmatic fugue a rich, dark, but ultimately uplifting finale. Overall, it is Bach's, not Markevitch's, genius that illuminates this Musical Offering - but probably that was what Markevitch expected and wanted.

The liner-notes, which include an extended essay on Markevitch and his music, a detailed chronology of Markevitch's life, and, for CD notes, a thorough discussion of Bach's original work and what Markevitch does with it, have all been updated and expanded from the Marco Polo original. It is a pity that many people will still require a magnifying glass to read the tiny, dense print!

Lyndon-Gee and the Arnhem Philharmonic, with the soloists drawn from its ranks, give another sterling performance. The sound quality is not the greatest. It is clear, certainly, and communicates the intentions of Markevitch's stereophonic arrangement of instrumental forces on stage. However, resonance and background rumble are more than evident in the quieter sections of the opening Ricercar and the Theme and Variations. The Sonata is far better recorded - presumably the microphones are closer to the performers and therefore pick up much less background noise.

Byzantion