Alberto Ginastera - Music for Cello and Piano (Mark Kosower; Jee-Won Oh)

Information

Composer: Alberto Ginastera

• (01) Pampeana No. 2 (Rhapsody for cello and piano), Op. 21
• (02) Cinco canciones populares argentinas, Op. 10 (arr. Kosower)
• (07) Puneña No. 2, Op. 45, 'Hommage à Paul Sacher'
• (09) Cello Sonata, Op. 49

Mark Kosower, cello
Jee-Won Oh, piano

Date: 2008
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.570569

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Review

Ginastera was one of those composers who, in continually evolving and experimenting, could not easily be pinned down stylistically. His famous Harp Concerto, written for Osian Ellis, is as different from his stark, atonal opera Bomarzo (still one of the neglected masterpieces of the 20th century) as night is from day. Yet despite his evolution, he did break his music into three styles: objective nationalism, subjective nationalism, and neo-Expressionism. Cellist Mark Kosower presents all three styles here by transcribing the Cinco canciones populares (“Five Popular Songs”), music of objective nationalism, from their original voice setting to the cello. The CD, however, starts with a subjective work, the Pampeana No. 2 , in which folk music is never actually quoted but suggested in his original themes. Compressing four sections into one continuous piece lasting only nine minutes, Ginastera tried to capture the alternating feelings of ebullience, awe, and melancholy that crossing the pampas evoked in him. It is a marvelous piece, played with tremendous élan by Kosower and Oh.

I found this transcription of the five popular Argentine songs to be effective but not entirely convincing as cello music. It’s the sort of piece that I’m sure I would enjoy in a live concert setting, but listening on record, I found myself becoming restless. Some of this, however, stems from Oh’s piano accompaniment, which I found carefully crafted but emotionally cold. Kosower plays with warmth of tone and generous spirit, but these are still songs. I want to hear a voice, I want to hear words. Falla’s Popular Spanish Songs works for the violin; these do not translate quite as well, at least not for me.

Ginatsera’s neo-Expressionist period, his last and longest (1958–1983), is the one that includes both the unaccompanied Puneña No. 2 and the Cello Sonata. The first work is intended to capture the feelings of the mysterious world of the Inca Empire, and is divided into two movements, a melancholy love song (“Harawi”) and a wild carnival dance (“Wayno karnavalito”). I personally found Kosower’s performance of the first movement to be lacking in atmosphere. Whether this is due to the actual music or merely his interpretation of it is difficult to determine. In the second movement, Kosower has great energy for the Argentinean rhythms, and the highly imaginative writing (including octave glisses into the stratosphere and rapid finger triplets) brings out some wonderful effects on the cello. This was, for me, one of the highlights of the entire recital, and I was sorry when it was over.

The Cello Sonata is a real masterpiece in every respect. From its opening jagged rhythms to the sizzling finale, this is a work that constantly entertains as it challenges the listener. Despite an almost constant use of bitonality and tone clusters, there is an almost modal feeling to the first movement—at least, until the music melts down into the collegamento section. The music still hovers around tone clusters, but its range is tightly circumscribed. The second movement, an Adagio passionato, is extremely odd. To begin with, the music moves at a snail’s pace, more of a Lento than an Adagio. For another, there is no forward propulsion at all. In a way, this sounds like subconscious music, very close to the effects created by “automatic composers.” Every phrase sounds as if it were being improvised into being—at least, until the piano begins a more energetic rumbling, followed later on by dramatic singing, flourishes, and suspenseful silences in the cadenza. The third movement, Presto mormoroso, is a murmuring piece that begins with a note here and there, the instruments alternating as if in dialogue. Both instruments climb into the upper registers as piano flourishes suspend time at the movement’s midpoint. The change in pitch begins the musical inversion; at the cello’s reentry, the two instruments play in retrograde back to the beginning, disappearing into nothingness. The final movement is an uninhibited romp, starting in marcato clusters before moving into wild passages combining sonata form with a toccata and complex interplay between the two instruments. As Kosower puts it in the liner notes, “The explosive nature of the music is fueled by syncopated dance rhythms including the Karnavalito, obsessive running sixteenth notes, sudden shifts in material, and a boldness of character.”

Overall, the performance of the Sonata is quite good; even pianist Oh plays with more boldness than on the other pieces. It is certainly finer than the poorly recorded version by Carter Brey and Christopher O’Riley (Helicon) and, in the recording by the Sonata’s dedicatee, Aurora Natola (Pierian), her superb work is undercut by the rhythmically driving but lead-footed playing of pianist Barbara Nissman. I feel that the other performances could be improved on somewhat, but this is still an interesting disc and a good place to start in these works.

-- Lynn René Bayley, FANFARE

More reviews:
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=6385
https://www.allmusic.com/album/alberto-ginastera-complete-music-for-cello-and-piano-mw0001865258
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.570569&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Music-Cello-Piano-Ginastera/dp/B0018D89B0

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Alberto Ginastera (April 11, 1916 – June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Many of Ginastera's works were inspired by the Gauchesco tradition. His early nationalistic works often integrate Argentine folk themes, while works in the later periods incorporate traditional elements in increasingly abstracted forms. Ginastera held a number of teaching posts. Among his notable students were Ástor Piazzolla (who studied with him in 1941), Alcides Lanza, Waldo de los Ríos, Jacqueline Nova and Rafael Aponte-Ledée.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Ginastera

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Mark Kosower (born December 17, 1976 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S.) is an American cellist. He studied with János Starker at Indiana University and Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School. Kosower is principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra and is on the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Kosower was solo cellist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany from 2006 to 2010 and was Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 2005 to 2007. Along with his father and sister, Kosower has toured the United States and Europe as a member of the Dolce Cello Trio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kosower

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Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jee-Won Oh has performed internationally as a chamber musician and soloist, having performed in Korea, Europe, South America, and the United States. She has also performed at many prestigious music festivals. Oh regularly collaborates with her husband, cellist Mark Kosower, and has appeared in concert and records with him. Oh was the studio pianist and assistant to the famed cellist Janos Starker for five years. She also received her Masters Degree in Piano Performance from Indiana University where she studied with György Sebök and Shigeo Neriki.
https://www.pcmsconcerts.org/artist/jee-won-oh-piano/

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