Classical reviews: Nico Muhly, Sven Helbig, Zhou Long and Gioachino Rossini, Franz Anton Hoffmeister

Nico Muhly, Sven Helbig, and Zhou Long: Three Continents Concerto

Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No 2

Jan Vogler, cello; WDR Sinfonienorchester, conducted by Cristian Macelaru

(Sony 19439774942)

★★★★☆

Cellist Jan Vogler is German, lives in America, and is married to a Chinese woman. “My life is enriched by the inspiration I draw from these wholly different continents, and I want to turn that into musical expression,” he says. What more natural, then, than that he should unite them by commissioning a concerto with movements from composers on each of those continents? Enter Nico Muhly, musically garrulous as ever, but this time creating fey charm with a movement in which the cello weaves its way through a thicket of other instrumental voices. And it’s beautifully played, as is the slow movement by Sven Helbig, which starts as a slow threnody but winds to a frantic conclusion. Zhou Long is a seasoned hand at melding Western and Eastern influences, and here attempts, not entirely successfully, to transfer to the cello the sonority and spirit of the Chinese guqin zither. The performance of Shostakovich’s second violin concerto which completes this CD has majestic grace.

Rossini: String Sonatas Nos 4 to 6 – Hoffmeister: Solo Quartets Nos 3 and 4

Minna Pensola, violin; Antti Tikkanen, viola; Tuomas Lehto, cello; Niek de Groot, double bass

(Bis-2318)

★★★★★

This CD has both musical and musicological interest. When Gioachino Rossini was 12 he was asked by a rich Italian patron – who was also a keen double bass player – if he would write some chamber music for him. Six quartets and sundry other pieces were the quick result, scored for the specific instrumental combination to hand, with Rossini himself playing the second violin. In later life, he dismissed the quartets as “terrible” (and played down his own role in their performance as “doggish”), but the truth – as made plain by the excellent performances on this CD – is that this music is much more than a mere prentice effort. He already knows how to create drama. His slow movements suggest operatic arias waiting to emerge: this is the future composer of Il barbiere di Siviglia eagerly flexing his muscles.

Franz Anton Hoffmeister was a prolific contemporary whose chamber works recall those of Haydn and Mozart, but the chief interest of his “solo quartets” lies in the fact that they were designed to celebrate the emancipation of the double bass thanks to two technical improvements. The wound strings were easier to play than the gut strings they replaced, and the development of tuning pegs with a screw mechanism in the peg-box made a more stable intonation possible, permitting the instrument to perform as nimbly as the upper strings. A very enjoyable CD.