Sofia Gubaidulina, the 80-year old Russian/Tatar composer, is
one of the most respected of living composers. She has composed
in a variety of genres, but her concertos have gained a wide
following and for good reason. As witnessed by the concertos
on this CD, they are indeed remarkable and glorious works. In
tempus praesens is her second violin concerto. The first
such concerto, Offertorium, was written more than twenty-five
years before this one. Both have received multiple performances
and are considered two of the finest in recent times. Gubaidulina
composed In tempus praesens for Anne-Sophie Mutter, who
recorded it with the London Symphony and Valery Gergiev for
Deutsche
Grammophon. The concerto receives its second recording here.
Gubaidulina’s Russian Orthodox faith is never very far away
in her compositions and they have religious significance. In
the case of this violin concerto the title refers to the present
time. More important, the work embodies the divine wisdom personified
in the orthodox religion by the saint Sophia. Since Gubaidulina’s
Christian name is Sophia and she composed the concerto for and
dedicated it to Anne-Sophie Mutter, the figure of Sophia has
a special significance in the work not only in her divine wisdom,
but also in the very creative power of God. This is reflected
throughout the work in the contrast between the dark as demonstrated
by the use of the low brass and strings and the light by the
violin solos. The concerto is in a single, long movement that
is sub-divided into five parts. It is a shame that neither Mutter’s
première recording nor this new one has more than a single track.
It would have made it much easier to assimilate the work had
there been separate tracks for the individual sections. As it
is, though, the concerto grips the listener from the beginning
and does not let go until it reaches ever upward in a spectacular
climax by the whole orchestra like a burst of light, only to
have the low brass (trombones and tubas) growl at the very bottom
of the orchestra. The solo violin, however, gets the final say
and ends the work on a high, sustained note. In tempus praesens
is one of those works that exhilarate the listener so that
you want to immediately go back and hear it all over again.
There is a DVD out titled “Sophia: Biography of a Violin Concerto”
with Gubaidulina and Mutter on this very composition. I haven’t
seen it, but it has received critical acclaim. One would imagine,
then, that Anne-Sophie Mutter “owns” the work, but here is a
challenger in Vadim Gluzman who has his own equally valid interpretation.
He is superbly accompanied by Jonathan Nott and the Lucerne
Symphony and the recorded sound is indeed stunning. One associates
Nott more with Schubert or Mahler, but it should be remembered
that he did yeoman service to the large orchestral works of
Ligeti in the Volume II of Warner’s Ligeti Project. To briefly
sum up my impression of the main difference between these two
recordings, Mutter’s is the more extrovert and Gluzman’s the
more inward. Certainly, Mutter with her larger-than-life tone
grabs the listener from the beginning and Gergiev’s orchestra
also makes more of an impact for most of the concerto. Part
of this is due to the recordings, where the DG seems to be somewhat
more closely recorded; that is not to say the BIS is by any
means distant. The balance on the BIS seems about perfect and
there are places where the subtlety pays off. For example, in
the last five or so minutes of the piece, there are tremendous
percussion effects by cymbals, gongs, and bells. With their
more distant placement down in the depths of the Lucerne orchestra,
they create an especially eerie effect that is somehow more
felt than heard. It plays right into Gubaidulina’s symbolism
of dark vs. light. Gergiev here is more obvious, but nonetheless
magnificent as well. The very ending of the concerto is telling.
Gergiev builds the orchestral crescendo so that the light is
almost blinding, but the following low brass and strings do
not make the same impact as they do with Nott. Nott’s light
may not be as blinding, but the low brass really growl and create
a very unsettling experience before the violinist completes
the work on the high, sustained note. Again that note is more
intense with Mutter, but Gluzman with his purer tone is also
convincing as he is throughout the concerto. I frankly would
not want to be without either of these different interpretations
of what is perhaps the greatest violin concerto this century
has produced so far.
With that said, the primary interest of this CD must be the
world première recording of Gubaidulina’s Glorious Percussion.
I am familiar with a number of percussion concertos, including
James MacMillan’s Veni, Veni Emmanuel, Toru Takemitsu’s
From me flows what you call Time, and Joseph Schwantner’s
Percussion Concerto. While all three of these possess
their considerable merits, they did not prepare me for this
extraordinary new work in the genre. As with the violin concerto,
this percussion concerto requires a very large orchestra. In
addition to the five percussion soloists placed at the front
of the orchestra there is the usual contingent at the back;
and the brass also plays a major role with the addition of four
Wagner tubas interchanging with horns, two bass tubas, bass
and tenor trombones, etc. Incidentally, Gubaidulina also employed
Wagner tubas in the violin concerto. The work is thus distinguished
by the percussion soloists who have seven sections in the work
where they improvise in contrast to the more static nature of
the rest of the orchestra. Again it’s unfortunate that the concerto
receives a single track on the disc where it would have made
a lot of sense to divide it into these sections. Glorious
Percussion begins with the lower brass and percussion playing
a chordal theme that lumbers like some behemoth in the depths
of the orchestra. This theme recurs in key places in the work
and at the end of it with the cymbals and tam-tam as they resonate,
having the final say. Contrasting with the rather static nature
of the orchestral part, the solo percussionists have a heyday
with a huge variety of instruments, including all kinds and
sizes of gongs, marimbas and xylophones, bells, woodblocks and
rattles, four bass drums, and a whole variety of Asian folk
instruments with such strange names as cabaza and darabuca.
At one point in the piece the soloists go wild with their mallets
on the marimbas and xylophones and later they do the same with
the bass drums, creating quite a racket. While one can get a
good appreciation of the concerto simply from listening to the
fabulous performance on this recording, I think the visual element
is of almost equal importance. Fortunately, you can “attend”
a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudamel
and the Glorious Percussion soloists by visiting the Philharmonic’s
website.
There is a free preview of the concert - also including a blistering
account of Shostakovich’s Twelfth Symphony - that will entice
you to buy a ticket to the concert well worth the modest cost.
Dudamel premiered the concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony
in 2008 and this concert took place not long after that première.
The percussion ensemble contributes a theatrical element — almost
balletic at times — that adds a whole other dimension to the
work. It really must be seen to be fully appreciated! The concerto
in fact was co-commissioned by Anders Loguin, whose ensemble
took their name from Gubaidulina’s composition, and four orchestras
including the Lucerne Symphony. “Glorious” of the title of the
work has its spiritual connotation as one would expect from
any piece by Gubaidulina, and the concerto does connect with
heaven and earth. If Mahler claimed to possess the whole world
in his symphonies, Gubaidulina would seem to occupy the universe
in this concerto. There is an interesting interview
with her on the Berlin Philharmonic website accompanying
the concert, where she talks about the concerto and her fascination
with the different tones of the percussion and the whole complex
of pulsating sounds in nature they depict. The interview is
free of charge.
Except for the lack of multiple tracks and notes on the two
works that could be more detailed, BIS has come up with a real
winner here. It will likely rank high on my list of best recordings
of 2012.
Leslie Wright
Vadim Gluzman (violin); Glorious Percussion: Anders Loguin; Anders
Haag; Mika Takehara; Eirik Raude; Robyn Schulkowsky 
