Another opportunity comes around for me to discuss
some of Antonio Janigro’s Bach recordings. A Forgotten Records
[FR494/95] release (
review)
includes the same Bach sonata performances with Robert Veyron-Lacroix
that Doremi presents in this 3 CD set. To recap, briefly, Janigro (1918-1989)
diversified as a conductor, directing I Solisti di Zagreb, and recording
for Vanguard, as well as being a fine cellist. His name is still remembered
because he had a wide ranging career, partly also because of the longevity
of some of his LP recordings and their reinstatement - some of them
at least - on CD.
His recording of the Cello Suites is tentatively dated to c.1954. Whilst
at the time Casals would still be strongly in one’s mind, other
cellists were soon to make their mark on disc with the suites: Gendron,
Starker, Fournier, Navarra, Shafran and Tortelier amongst a number.
Starker and Fournier, indeed, recorded their performances between 1957
and 1960. Janigro plays with tonal warmth and constantly responsive
vibrato, making a pretty big sound.
Sarabandes are invariably
taken very slowly, though if one listens to Fournier’s 1960 set,
one will notice that it’s not merely a question of tempo - as
Fournier is often just as slow as Janigro except in the case of a few
of the Sarabande movements. The strong differences lie in matters of
rhythmic underpinning, articulation speed and timbral variation.
Minuets can be quite heavy as well - the D minor’s examples
are rather notably so. In the D major (No.6) he takes a very sedate
tempo for the
Allemande, whilst the
Sarabande really crawls
along. Once again it’s a case of the music ultimately lacking
a sense of drama and drive. The C major is a cut above his curiously
over-romanticised and indulgent recordings of Nos. 5 and 6. Its romanticism
is better organised and whilst, even in contemporary terms, it still
lacks any real terpsichorean imperative (and the
Gigue is a bit
dogged) it sounds altogether better. It’s not surprising to hear
Janigro convert the
Sarabande of No.4 in E flat major into a
molto adagio effusion, the trill sounding commensurately sluggish.
When we turn to the Sonatas we meet Veyron-Lacroix (1922-1991) who was
a distinguished musician too. As a harpsichordist he was primarily a
soloist and chamber musician, and as a recording artist it’s the
work of early music for which he will be best remembered. Assiduous
collectors however will know that he didn’t ignore Poulenc, and
he often performed Milhaud and Françaix amongst others of his
contemporaries. Others will know of his long-time collaboration in concert
and on disc with Jean-Pierre Rampal. Veyron-Lacroix also re-recorded
these Bach viola da gamba - or more commonly these days on disc cello
- sonatas, with Tortelier.
Janigro’s warmly vibrated playing is matched by Veyron-Lacroix’s
often very bright registrations to produce sympathetic, legato-conscious
performances. Fast movements aren’t overstressed, and whilst slow
ones are relaxed they’re not at all supine. One can admire Janigro’s
richly broad tone, and its associated use of portamenti and other inflective
devices, all of which keep the ear keenly waiting. He can ensure that
the tonal reserves he employs do turn lean and focused too, as in the
Allegro ma on tanto of the First Sonata, though he could perhaps
have lightened that tone and played with more terpsichorean vitality
in something like the
Andante of the Second sonata; it matters
slightly less here than it does in the solo works. Sometimes Janigro’s
kind of romantic playing can sound rather unrelieved. Both play the
delicious passage in the allegro finale of the Second sonata very well;
especially where the cello supports the harpsichord with off-beat pizzicati,
like a jazz bassist.
There are bonuses of a sort, too. Janigro performs the Concerto in G
major fashioned by M. Kelemen, in which Janigro is accompanied by his
own group I Solisti di Zagreb. The result, whilst not really plausible,
and standing as a romanticist conceit, is nevertheless good to hear.
Finally, the cellist can be heard in a historic performance live at
the 1948 Prague Spring Festival. The concerto was the Boccherini-Grützmacher
confection, and Milan Horvat conducts the Prague Symphony. The sound
is a bit constricted in the same way that almost all broadcast survivors
from Prague Spring performances were - note this is true of Příhoda
and Navarra recordings at later events. Doremi doesn’t give a
specific date in 1948 for this performance but fortunately the Festival
has been well documented and a splendid chronicle of the Prague Spring
events discloses the date: 20 May. The other composers represented that
day were Jarvonić, Roussel and šulek.
Doremi’s transfer of the sonatas is far more forward than the
more recessed Forgotten Records disc. Admirers of the cellist should
welcome this extensive release and look forward to the other volumes
in the series.
Jonathan Woolf
Masterwork Index:
Bach
cello suites
