This was not the first commercial recording of Bloch's
Concerto Symphonique. That credit goes to Margaret Mitchell
on an intermittently accessible Vanguard CD (4052). I have not heard
that recording so cannot compare it. In any event, with the recent tragic
demise of Seymour Solomon, the Omega family (Everest and Vanguard) have
disappeared from view - I hope that this is only temporary.
The Concerto is a work of serious mien: very much a
symphony with a feisty solo piano. In this it has a kinship with Brahms’
First Piano Concerto. In fact a number of gestures in the Bloch work
seem to be a direct tribute to Brahms. Marry this voices from Liszt's
Totentanz and Bax's Symphonic Variations (1916) and you
have some general sense of a work which is striving and indomitable,
swarthily decorative, hieratic and grandiloquent. Though different in
style I could loosely group this with Bliss's Piano Concerto (a work
still awaiting a satisfactory recording). Micah Yui is every bit the
master of her art and craft. Hers is not a light approach; she has the
leonine pesante of Cécile Ousset and the rampant storminess
of Argerich.
The other concertante work here is the Scherzo
Fantasque. I was expecting a light confection - perhaps something
like the famous Litolff scherzo but in fact it is a sort of scorched
analogue of Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Ravel's Skarbo
and Bax's Winter Legends. The LSO are in rattlingly good
form; listen to the rapping and barking horns caught in full flight
[8.27] and the distinctly Mahlerian swirl at 06.08.
The Concerto Grosso No. 2 is for strings
alone. Finzian moments are few but there is serenity here and this is
lovingly carried by the string quartet of Ashley Arbuckle (leader of
the LSO), Neil Watson (principal, second violins), Brian Clarke (principal
viola) and Rod McGrath (principal cello). As you might expect there
are some Corelli-like passages but more often this ruddy-cheeked music
recalls Holst's Brook Green. The music is completely devoid of
neo-classical sterility and is at ease with serene repose. There are
moments paralleling Mahler's adagietto from the Fifth Symphony.
Herschel Burke Gilbert's Laurel label have done more
than any other for Bloch. Collectors with enquiring minds and a taste
for twentieth century romantic struggle should hunt down this disc.
This is probably most easily done via the Laurel website (details below).
Rob Barnett
OTHER BLOCH CDs FROM LAUREL
Violin Concerto, Abodah, Nuit Exotique, Mélodie,
Suites 1 and 2 [Mischa Lefkowitz (violin), LPO/David Freeman]
String Quartet No. 1 LR-820CD
String Quartet No. 2 etc LR-826CD
String Quartets Nos. 3 and 4 etc LR-841CD
String Quartet No. 5 etc LR-852CD
Piano Quintets Nos 1 and 2 [Howard Karp (piano)] LR-848CD
[all with Pro Arte Quartet]
Violin Sonatas Nos 1 and 2 [Yukiko Kamei (violin); Irma Valecillo (piano)]
LR-821CD
London SO/David Amos