EurAsian Gold
Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951)
Violin Sonata No.1 Op.21 (1909-1910)
Violin Sonata No.2 Op.44 (1922-1925)
Viktoria Kaunzner (b. 1982)
Golden Sponge (2017)
Viktoria Kaunzner (violin), Oleg Poliansky (piano)
Kim Hyo-Young (saenghwang, piri), Lee Seung-Hee (haegeum)
Universal Korean Organic Ensemble
rec. 2021, Hanover, Germany
HÄNSSLER HC21001 [81]
Nikolai Medtner wrote various pieces for violin and piano as he was teaching himself the violin. (His brother Aleksandr played it professionally, and his wife Anna was a trained violinist.) He considered the three violin sonatas his major works; the second and the third last three-quarters of an hour each. The First Sonata is shorter. Some material comes from a 1904 sketchbook, and the piece was not at first conceived as an integrated work. The first two movements were published ahead of the final three-movement version. The distinct titles of the three movements, Canzona, Danza and Ditirambo (song, dance, dithyramb), reflect these origins.
The first movement is songful indeed, a delightful flow of melody. The invention is often shared with the piano, and it is all beautifully played. Violinist Viktoria Kaunzner notes in the booklet the pedigree of the instrument she was able to use for the recording sessions (the Guarneri del Gesù used for the premiere of Mendelssohn’s concerto), and no wonder. There is a golden stream of tone, and if the manner can be rather luxuriant, why not? As Kaunzner writes, “we deliberately chose […] more reflective tempos, to make the most of the harmonic richness of these two works”. The Danza is engaging too. Its Allegro scherzando is at first a catchy skipping motion across the bar line, followed by a rapid section where the piano also gets to sparkle. The third movement is statelier than its Dionysian title would suggest, and there is an effective quiet close.
The only other recording of the First Violin Sonata that I know is that of Chloe Hanslip and Igor Tchetuev on Hyperion (review). It is very good, a little more self-effacing in the first movement, yet making more of the Scherzando instruction for the middle movement, but this new version is at least as satisfactory overall. Medtner’s own recording from 1947 with violinist Cecilia Hansen on Appian APR5547 can be downloaded (for example, from Presto) along with some of his piano pieces.
The Second Sonata is in a cyclic form dominated by its opening theme. Still in three movements, it is more than twice as long; the first movement alone lasts nearly as long as the whole of the First Sonata. Kaunzner (who writes of her years of acquaintance with Medtner’s works) and Poliansky sound completely inside this idiom, and play off each other very well. The division of musical interest is largely equal, as we might expect from a piano virtuoso like Medtner, and from his contrapuntal inclinations in this piece. The quality of playing is such that the extended first movement never outstays it welcome. At the outset of the middle movement, piano and violin have separate but complementary roles. As this set of variations progresses, the energy increases and the players are more and more as one. In the Allegro risoluto finale they sweep all before them towards a spirited coda, Poliansky’s playing no less resolute or dazzling than Kaunzner’s when required. A fine work in a fine performance.
The disc closes with a piece “for Eurasian ensemble” by the violinist herself. It is called Golden Sponge after a variety of oceanic plant, and has a political and environmental subtext which Kaunzner explains in her note. I found its hybrid style rather elusive at first, but not without some intriguing sounds from the Asian instruments (and from ladles of water). It grew more approachable as a pulse emerged a little later on. It illustrates another aspect of Viktoria Kaunzner’s musical range, as a composer/performer of the type which was once the norm. Perhaps it would work better on a disc showcasing her own compositions, and sits a little oddly here with Medtner’s works. Still, the disc’s title “EurAsian Gold” could apply equally to the golden sponge and to the Maharajah of Mysore’s famous and invaluable support for Medtner’s music. That music still needs its champions, and has two superb ones in Viktoria Kaunzner and Oleg Poliansky. They get splendid support from an atmospheric recording and from the full and informative booklet notes.
Roy Westbrook
