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Gerald Itzkoff is a
well-respected American orchestral player
who has made the occasional soloistic
foray and Philip Amalong is an experienced
chamber musician. They join forces on
this slightly odd CD to essay two late-romantic
sonatas and Prokofiev’s Five Melodies.
I say odd because it was recorded in
what’s described as the Crain Residence,
Cincinnati, which I assume is American
for a domestic house. It sounds like
a music room or studio but not one that’s
particularly sympathetic to recording
music or at least not here. But let’s
come to the acoustic in a moment.
The most arresting
thing here is the Busoni. I share Itzkoff’s
bemusement, as related in his liner
notes, as to why more violinists haven’t
taken up this work. Some have played
the Second – Szigeti was a fervent admirer
and left a recording – but you can count
on the fingers of one hand the number
of recordings this sonata garnered in
the eighty odd years since it was written,
up until the CD age. Things are little
better even now and I doubt there are
more than four recordings of it in the
catalogue. So it’s full marks to this
duo for disinterring it from the cabinet
of discarded scores and for playing
it with diligence and care. They catch
something of the sheer dynamism of the
outer movements but they are just as
careful not to overbalance the slow
movement. This has something of a funereal
tread, one that’s released with remarkable
lyricism and sweetness towards the movement’s
climax, and it unfolds here with a grave
gentleness. Elsewhere some more heft
and timbral variety would have paid
dividends.
The Elgar Sonata has,
like Mahler, come into its own. Gone
are the days when you never heard it,
or when it was written off as note-spinning
Brahms or when you had to dig out a
library copy because there was nothing
in print. Itzkoff has the right instincts
for this work. He’s no slouch when it
comes to tempi, unlike some droopy drawers
fiddle players I could mention, and
one senses he sees things directionally,
that he takes the long paragraphal view
rather than savouring incidental beauties.
That said he’s not climactic enough
at the end of the first movement. His
pizzicati don’t ring out in the second
and there’s an uncomfortable moment
at 2.20 when he switches from pizzicato
to arco and comes unstuck. There’s also
not enough colour in his tone and despite
his obvious affinities not much conveyed
intimacy. The tempo in the finale is
a good one, the reminiscence of the
second movement theme is not indulged
and one can hear a lot of piano detail
here and throughout.
The Prokofiev goes
well enough. That said there’s a certain
lassitude in his approach to the opening
Andante and the pizzicati in the lento
are surely too quiet; the Animato third
piece is a touch steady.
Which brings us to
the recording which is unfortunately
swimmy, swirly and ill-focused; the
violin seems to recede in the Elgar
and the piano is – or as recorded is
– clangourous and rather unattractive.
Amalong tends to bang in the Elgar too
often. So as a calling card this disc
showcases some stylistic affinities
and promotes a chamber duo who are attuned
to each other’s playing. The Busoni
should make others pay heed and for
that act of proselytising the Itzkoff-Amalong
duo earn respect.
Jonathan Woolf
Gerald Itzkoff (violin) 
