Franz Reizenstein; John Ireland - Violin Sonatas (Steinberg Duo)

Information

Composer: Franz Reizenstein; Geoffrey Bush; John Ireland

• (01) Reizenstein - Violin Sonata in G-sharp, Op. 20
• (04) Bush - Violin Sonata
• (05) Ireland - Violin Sonata No. 2 in A minor

Steinberg Duo
Louisa Stonehill, violin
Nicholas Burns, piano

Date: 2017
Label: Lyrita

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Review

This triptych of British violin sonatas bears a wartime theme. Ireland’s A minor famously elevated his name to prestige on its 1917 premiere, whereas the sonatas by Geoffrey Bush - this is its premiere recording - and Franz Reizenstein date from 1945.

Lyrita has an older recording of the Ireland in its catalogue, by Yfrah Neaman and Eric Parkin, now handily contained in an all-Ireland chamber music box (SRCD.2271). This newcomer does not in any way replicate the rather excessive breadth of that disc. The Steinberg Duo prefers tempos that more approximate those of the composer himself, whose unequalled 1930 recording with dedicatee Albert Sammons, which was never issued at the time, is on Dutton. Louisa Stonehill‘s focused, slim tone is well varied, and she utilises portamenti with stylish and stylistically apt discretion. At the vivid tempo adopted, the music’s structure is never in danger of failing, though one could perhaps wish for more of a sense of quasi-improvisation in the slow movement, where the phrasing could be freer. If her tone sounds pinched now and again, the recording or balance may have something to do with it, as Nicholas Burns’s passionate pianism sometimes covers Stonehill’s more reserved, smaller-scaled playing. The finale suffers somewhat from a lack of tonal weight from the violinist.

Cast in one movement, the 18-minute sonata by Bush has hardly ever been performed. Its sense of chromatic flux is attractive and so too is its ripe lyricism. Its unsettled, constantly flitting nature is underpinned by taut rhythm and the slow material is full of pathos. A little festive, fresh-faced dance section announces the “finale” in delightful fashion. The nervous nature of the work is very well brought out.

Possibly Reizenstein’s best-known violin work is the 1939 Prologue, Variations and Finale, recorded shortly thereafter by Max Rostal and the composer, and once more to be found on a generous Dutton CD. It is a more unsettled work by far than Bush’s more quiescent one. Its emotive states journey from a taut terseness reminiscent of Hindemith to a more explicit lyric vein. If there are hints of Shostakovich in the fast central movement, it is because of the percussive drama of the writing, and not least the violin’s furtive song set against the piano’s more combative persona. The misterioso finale is well conveyed in this performance. The violin’s grave musing alternates with more sinewy writing; this quasi-impressionist element is highly effective.

Notwithstanding certain reservations regarding the balance, and aspects of the performances, this is an interesting CD with pertinent notes written by the pianist. Personally, I would have preferred a work contemporary with the two 1945 sonatas, given there are numerous examples of the Ireland available on disc.

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

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Franz Reizenstein (7 June 1911 – 15 October 1968) was a German-born British composer and concert pianist. Reizenstein grew up in Nuremberg and studied under Paul Hindemith at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik. He left Germany for sanctuary in Britain in 1934 and went on to have his career there, including teaching at the Royal Manchester College of Music and Boston University, as well as performing. Reizenstein composed several chamber and piano works, which are highly regarded, as well as a number of orchestral works, overtures and concertos. He also wrote two operas and orchestral scores for horror films.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Reizenstein

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John Ireland (13 August 1879 – 12 June 1962) was an English composer and teacher of classical music. He studied piano with Frederic Cliffe and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. He was strongly influenced by Debussy and Ravel as well as by the earlier works of Stravinsky and Bartók. From these influences, he developed his own brand of "English Impressionism", related more closely to French and Russian models than to the folk-song style then prevailing in English music. Ireland favoured small forms and wrote neither symphonies nor operas, although his Piano Concerto is considered among his best works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ireland_(composer)

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The Steinberg Duo was formed in 2007 and have studied intensively with eminent chamber musicians in England and abroad. They has released four critically acclaimed albums for Nimbus Alliance and Lyrita, and have also performed live on BBC Radio 3. The Duo's performances have taken them to USA, Canada, Spain, Germany, UK and, most recently, a concert-tour of China. Committed to supporting high quality contemporary music, the duo enjoy a particularly close association with composer Philip Sawyers, from whom they commissioned a second violin sonata in 2011.
http://www.steinbergduo.com/

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