This is the second volume in Cembal d’Amour’s Senofsky
series. All except the Fauré were recorded live. The earliest
– the Debussy and Stravinsky – come from a recital at Carnegie Hall
in 1949, the Prokofiev dates from a recital at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in 1958; the Fauré with pianist Vanden Eynden coming from
a Belgian recording in 1955, presumably at the sessions for the Phonic
label that produced the Brahms Op 100 and Strauss Op 18 sonatas.
Senofsky was born in Philadelphia in 1926 and died
recently. He studied with Louis Persinger, one of the first American
born teachers to further the cause of native-born fiddle players, and
afterwards with Ivan Galamian. He became the first and so far only American
violinist to win the Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition, which he did
in 1955 and we must be grateful to Cembal d’Amour for their promotion
of his legacy because Senofsky’s commercial discography was tiny; it
would certainly be a boon to hear him in the Walton Concerto which he
and the composer toured through Australasia should any broadcasts have
been made and retained.
Here we can hear Senofsky and pianists Boris Barere
(son of Simon) and Vanden Eynden in a Franco-Russian programme that
takes him from young manhood – he was twenty-three when he gave the
Carnegie Hall recital enshrined here - to his early thirties. What emerges
once again from these readings is how rich and individualistic a crop
of violinists America possessed in the early fifties and how Senofsky
was one of the most prominent of their number and certainly one of the
most distinguished of the opulent tonalists amongst them. It’s an enormous
pity that because of Isaac Stern’s hegemony more of them didn’t receive
their due as concerto soloists and recitalists but we can at least take
pleasure in discs such as these that celebrate their musicianship and
promote their legacy.
The Fauré is a youthful performance but certainly
not rushed in the opening movement. In the slow movement he manages
some soft pliable phrasing whilst retaining vibrancy at all times –
no on/off vibrato usage afflicts him – if sometimes the intensity of
his tone can become somewhat overpowering. The Debussy from Carnegie
Hall sounds in rather poorer sound than its companion, the Stravinsky
Suite Italienne. Senofsky sounds intensely engaged as well he might
be, a twenty-three year old relative unknown on stage at Carnegie Hall
but the sound in the Debussy tends to exacerbate a shrillness in his
playing which can and does mutate into aggression. This is again a youthfully
energised performance that retains some dervish attacks and heavily
vigorous accenting in the Intermède. Once more there is some
truly luscious and emotive phrasing in the Finale, with considerable
exotic depth of tone, but it does sound rather too emphatic and in the
final analysis the playing emerges as rather too externalized.
The Prokofiev receives a splendid performance. He varies
his tonal and expressive resources to excellent effect, stressing notes
in the Moderato opening to advantage. In the Scherzo second movement
he is vigorous and strong but he shines most in the Andante where despite
some wow on the tape his intense vibrato coils around the music, and
he unleashes some effulgent playing lavished with sovereign depth. The
finale is strongly projected, quick and athletic and lissome, Barere
proving an excellent foil with his rhythmic alertness and technical
address. The disc ends with the Stravinsky. There he’s on better ground
in this 1949 performance than in the case of the Debussy and he plays
with simplicity, affection and taut understanding not to mention sophisticated
tonal resources.
This disc charts the progress of an estimable talent.
Let’s hope Cembal d’Amour can keep us busy with many more such in the
years to come.
Jonathan Woolf
see Volume 1
AVAILABILITY
www.cembaldamour.com
Berl Senofsky, violin 