Arnold Bax - Violin Sonatas Vol. 2 (Laurence Jackson; Ashley Wass)

Information

Composer: Arnold Bax

• (01) Violin Sonata No. 2
• (05) Ballad
• (06) Legend
• (07) Violin Sonata in G minor
• (08) Violin Sonata in F major

Laurence Jackson, violin
Ashley Wass, piano

Date: 2007
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.570094

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Review

A gripping Bax anthology finds Jackson and Wass operating at full throttle

Cast in four linked movements and held together by a motto theme which also appears in the 1917 tone-poem November Woods, Bax’s storm-tossed Second Violin Sonata was conceived during the summer of 1915 at a time of great personal upheaval for the 31-year-old composer and comprehensively overhauled six years later. Be it in the seductive sway of the second movement (a ghostly waltz enigmatically entitled “The Grey Dancer in the Twilight”) or hair-raising final climax prior to the ecstatically serene epilogue, these dashingly poised newcomers give of their considerable best, with CBSO leader Laurence Jackson formidably secure in the solo part’s more scarily vertiginous exploits. On reflection, Tasmin Little and Martin Roscoe do evince the greater familiarity, affection and tender compassion in their admirable 1999 account (GMN, 3/01 – nla – and I prefer the more rounded tone, as recorded, of Little’s 1757 Guadagnini), but no one coming to this music for the first time will be left unstirred by its piercing beauty, urgency of expression and vaulting ambition.

In any case, what lifts this collection into the indispensable category are the spellbinding performances (all far more arresting than those by Robert Gibbs and Mary Mei-Loc Wu on ASV, 8/01 and 6/02) of the darkly smouldering Legend and Ballad from 1915 and 1916 respectively, as well as the Allegro appassionato in G minor (a likeable student effort from 1901) and unpublished F major Sonata of 1928 (which Bax subsequently recast as his captivating Nonet). The Potton Hall sound in these last four items (emanating from sessions a year after those for the Second Sonata) is particularly handsome and true, and the disc as a whole represents yet another “must have” within this extensive series.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Jan08/Bax_violin_sonatas_8570094.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Feb08/Bax_violin_sonatas_8570094.htm
https://www.allmusic.com/album/arnold-bax-violin-sonatas-vol-2-mw0001860337
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.570094&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Bax-Violin-Sonatas-Vol-2/dp/B000WPJ6BM

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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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