Alexander
Vaulin was born in Moscow in 1950, studied at the Gnessin Music
School, Moscow and was awarded their Gold medal. He continued
his studies at the Piano Faculty of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory
under Nina Lelchuk, Kirill Vinogradov and Professor Piotr Romanovsky,
graduating in 1973. Vaulin later attended master classes under
Professor Paul Badura-Skoda in Vienna and received creative inspiration
from pianists such as Gilels, Richter and Ashkenazy. The constraints
and the oppressive atmosphere in the USSR forced Vaulin to leave
his country in 1987. Since 1989 he has lived in Denmark and has
since gained Danish citizenship.
Grieg
From Holberg’s Time (Suite in Olden Style), Op. 40
Norwegian
composer Edvard Grieg wrote From Holberg’s Time (Suite
in Olden Style) in 1884 following a commission to celebrate
the 200th anniversary of Ludwig Holberg, the Norwegian-born author
and playwright. Grieg responded with the piano suite set in five
movements; prelude, saraband, gavotte, air and rigaudon, that
he described in an ‘old style’. The retrospective is limited to
the forms of old dances which Grieg took from French baroque suites.
In actual fact the musical idiom is Grieg’s own to which he adds
humour to provide a taste of freshness. Grieg’s arrangement of
the piano score for string orchestra, known as the Holberg
Suite, has become an extremely popular work.
Glass
Fantasia, Op.
35
In
1904 Louis Glass the Danish composer wrote the piano work Fantasia
in G major which has become one of the highlights of Danish
piano repertoire. The Fantasia has been described as embraceable,
rich in content, romantic in its posture, highly individual in
style and extremely well written. Set in one continuous movement
there are several contrasting themes in the score which vary from
bright and vital to meditative and melancholic. The predominant
mood is lucid and optimistic and the work concludes with the triumphant
principal theme in G major.
Sibelius
Kyllikki (Three Lyric Pieces), Op. 41
Works
for solo piano comprise only a modest part of Sibelius’s large
output. There is a youthful Piano Sonata and the remainder are
mainly pieces with a strong salon flavour. The Three Lyric
Pieces from 1904 are grouped under the title of
Kyllikki and are generally regarded as the most important
of Sibelius’s piano works. With the three Kyllikki pieces
Sibelius takes the listener into the world of Finnish myths and
legends. The title of Kyllikki comes from the Finnish national
epos, the Kalevala, a subject that fascinated Sibelius. From Finnish
Mythology, Kyllikki was the name of a maiden who was abducted
by Lemminkäinen to become his reluctant wife. The Three
Lyric Pieces, which demonstrate Sibelius’s symphonic
way of composition, are all different in character. The first,
largamente - allegro is explosive and violent, the second,
andantino is meditative and melancholic and the third,
marked comodo is capricious and dancing.
Stenhammar Sonata
in G minor
The
composer and conductor Wilhelm Stenhammar was considered the finest
Swedish pianist of his time. In spite of his talent for the keyboard,
Stenhammar actually wrote only a few works for the piano. Besides
his Piano Concerto, Op. 1 from 1893 and the Piano Concerto No.
2 from 1902-07, which are both heavily influenced by Brahms, there
were only the Piano Sonata in G minor and three series of smaller
pieces.
The
unpublished Piano Sonata in G minor from 1890 was thought lost
and only discovered after the composer’s death. For a work from
a nineteen year old the four movement work is a surprisingly
mature and comprehensive score, extraordinarily well laid out
for the instrument. It is predominantly Schumannesque in spirit
and is full of beautiful melodies. Surprisingly for a work that
was composed over a hundred and fifteen years ago a printed edition
of the score does not yet exist. The opening movement is real
Sturm und Drang stuff. The slow movement is a romanza
clearly inspired by the slow movement of Schumann’s F-sharp
minor Piano Sonata. The movement’s perpetual melody is acknowledged
as one of the most beautiful in Swedish lyrical music. The third
movement scherzo is a capricious and elegant piece with
a quiet middle section that resembles the style that Chopin often
used in his scherzos. The concluding movement is written
in the classical rondo-sonata form and is extremely
virtuosic, passionate and fiery in expression. The movement develops
itself in a perpetuum mobile motion with a slow nostalgic
episode before the bravura coda.
Alexander
Vaulin’s playing on Grieg’s From Holberg’s Time (Suite
in Olden Style) shows his impressive feel for colour and atmosphere.
I especially liked the stately playing in the saraband.
The gentle interpretation of the extended air was evocative
of plucking the notes on a harpsichord. In the Glass Fantasia
Vaulin’s playing is beautifully paced, well shaped and impressively
thoughtful. I would have preferred more spirit and vibrancy in
the opening movement of Kyllikki. The remaining two Lyric
Pieces, are performed with considerable poetry and
capture the attention of the listener. Vaulin’s performance of
the Stenhammar displays excellent pianism and provides impressive
insights into the score.
ClassicO
provide informative, well-written booklet notes with decently
recorded sound quality. Alexander Vaulin gives an enjoyable recital
of a fine selection of Romantic Scandinavian piano music.
Michael
Cookson
AVAILABILITY
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