Some old friends here
– the Lloyd Webber/McCabe Cello Sonata
and Holy Boy – and a couple of very
welcome newcomers in the shape of the
Violin Sonata and the 1917 Trio. They
come decanted via Sanctuary in a sepia-tinted
ASV single.
Violinist-of-the-moment
Daniel Hope should take centre-stage
here because his is the new blood in
the trio. His Sonata performance is
notable for the way he fearlessly coarsens
his tone – he makes beautiful sounds
as well, including one superb leap,
but he’s clearly not interested in beauty
of tone for its own sake. This is committed
playing, musicianship in the service
of the musical argument and musical
drama. He opens rather quicker than
Alan Loveday (remember the LP with Cassini?)
but less confidently than Neaman/Parkin
(who are in Lyrita limbo land at the
moment). Principal CD rivals Mordkovitch
and Brown (Chandos – part of an Ireland
Chamber music box) tend to relax tempi
a shade too much and have a big Chandos
acoustic; she’s rather one-dimensional
tonally as well. Yes, all right, I’ve
not mentioned the Grinke/Ireland – Ireland’s
powerful chording isn’t quite matched
by anyone else on disc and Grinke’s
command of the ebb and flow of the rhetoric
(and it needs controlling) is masterly;
he’s a minute quicker than Hope in the
first movement. The super subtle lighting
of tone by Grinke is a case in point,
even if his vibrato is rather tense
– and even if the Dutton transfer has
lopped off too much treble. But Hope
is fine, characterful, full of colour
and imagination and very effective in
the slow movement without courting easy
sentiment. His finale is quite steady
– elegant actually, with a splendid
trill and nicely lyric playing; McCabe
really shadows him here, producing some
excellent tone and showing rhythmic
acuity.
Comparisons are invidious
but buyers will demand them; I really
did like the Hope-McCabe-Lloyd Webber
way with the Trio. They are more intense
and slower than their Chandos rivals
Mordkovitch, Brown and Georgian. They
also slip rather better into its march
rhythm – which Ireland once told Florence
Hooton related to "the boys going
over the top" - and there are one
or two delicate touches of period portamento
as well (from Lloyd Webber, always an
acute judge of such matters and later
on ecstatically from Hope). McCabe’s
bell peals are exact and evocative and
this trio of musicians look to have
absorbed period intensifying devices
without them ever appearing gestural
or put on. Lloyd Webber’s section of
the disc is, as I say, an old ASV standby
and it’s a warm welcome back; he’s very
much more romantic and phrases with
that crucial bit more space than the
Chandos pairing. His lyricism is exemplary
and this is a really fine performance.
(When, though, will someone bring back
that Columbia 78 set of the Sonata played
by the Spanish cellist Antoni Sala and
Ireland or gain access to the Pini/Ireland
BBC broadcast? While I’m at it let’s
have a reissue of the Navarra/Parkin…….)
You won’t be disappointed
with this release; fine performances
of major English chamber music.
Jonathan Woolf
Daniel Hope (violin) 
