Arnold Bax - Violin Sonatas Vol. 1 (Laurence Jackson; Ashley Wass)

Information

Composer: Arnold Bax

• (01) Violin Sonata No. 1 in E major
• (06) Violin Sonata No. 3

Laurence Jackson, violin
Ashley Wass, piano

Date: 2006
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557540

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Review

A Bax bullseye from Jackson and Wass, who give of their commanding best

A glance at Graham Parlett’s invaluable catalogue of Bax’s music (OUP: 1999) reveals that the first of the composer’s three numbered violin sonatas (a passionate outpouring from 1910 fanned by the embers of a love affair with a Ukrainian girl by the name of Natalie Skarginska) exists in no fewer than four versions. Bax’s final revision dates from 1945 but this new Naxos collection includes a debut on disc for the original second and third movements that Bax jettisoned in 1915 when he overhauled the sonata for the first time.

In a letter to the violinist May Harrison, the composer referred to the “old slow movement‚ as being rather too juvenile for public performance”, but as a dyed-in-the-wool fan I must say I found it deeply touching to experience Bax’s affecting and exuberant first thoughts, especially when played with such authority and rapt intuition as here.

As for the sonata proper, Laurence Jackson and Ashley Wass mastermind the most exquisitely poised and insightful interpretation I’ve yet encountered; never have I been made so aware of the links with Szymanowski’s Myths and First Concerto (a reminder that the violin part of all three works was edited by the great Polish virtuoso Pawe Kochanski).

Similarly, the two-movement Third Sonata of 1927 receives exceptionally persuasive and articulate treatment: the first movement’s songful second subject can seldom have sounded more bewitching, and the toe-tapping Irish revelry in the finale is projected with thrilling abandon by these classy performers (their softer-spoken ASV rivals don’t stoke the fires to anything like the same degree).

The Potton Hall recording is absolutely first-rate to match and, as should be abundantly clear by now, this is a superlative issue; indeed, I’m already itching to hear what Jackson and Wass will make of the magnificently mean and moody Second Sonata.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Dec06/Bax_sonatas_8557540.htm
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.557540&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bax-Violin-Sonatas-Nos-Arnold/dp/B000H1QUPQ/

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Arnold Bax (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music. In addition to a series of symphonic poems he wrote seven symphonies and was for a time widely regarded as the leading British symphonist. In his last years Bax found his music regarded as old-fashioned, and after his death it was generally neglected. From the 1960s onwards, mainly through a growing number of commercial recordings, his music was gradually rediscovered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Bax

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Violinist Laurence Jackson studied Emanuel Hurwitz, Maurice Hasson and Anne-Sophie Mutter, and was a prize-winner at the 1985 Yehudi Menuhin ‘Concours de Paris’ Competition. Since his Royal Festival Hall debut in 1990, Jackson has forged a highly successful career as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster. Between 1994 to 2006, he was leader of the Maggini Quartet, with whom he has recorded some 23 discs, winning multiple awards. Jackson was Concertmaster of the City of Birmingham Symphony from 2006 to 2015 and is currently Concertmaster of The West Australian Symphony.
https://www.waso.com.au/about-waso/meet-the-orchestra/concertmaster/

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Ashley Wass (born March 26, 1977 in Lincolnshire, England) is a British classical pianist. Wass is the only British winner of the London International Piano Competition, a prizewinner at the Leeds Piano Competition, and a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist. He has performed at many of the world’s finest concert halls, with leading ensembles and conductors. Known for his broad and eclectic repertoire, Wass has received critical acclaim for his recorded works from a wide range of styles and eras. He is currently Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music and is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Wass
http://ashleywass.com/

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