Paul Hindemith - Complete Viola Music, Vol. 2 (Lawrence Power)

Information

Composer: Paul Hindemith

• (01) Sonata for solo viola, Op. 11 No. 5
• (05) Sonata for solo viola, Op. 25 No. 1
• (10) Sonata for solo viola, Op. 31 No. 4
• (13) Sonata for solo viola

Lawrence Power, viola
Date: 2010
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67769

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Review

Power impresses with firm line and clear tone in this ‘young man’s music’

Although spread unevenly through his career (1919, 1922, 1923 and 1937 respectively) Hindemith’s solo viola sonatas chart his progress from late Romanticism through his iconoclastic and neo-classical stages culminating in the mature style of the final sonata – written on a train to Chicago for Hindemith to premiere that night (in honour of which I drafted this review on the Piccadilly Line to Ruislip).

The benchmarks in these works were set by Kashkashian and Imai in turn (Cortese’s finely played accounts were just too polished). Lawrence Power’s stand comparison, his prodigious technical ability – ideally suited to this repertoire – allied to real musicianship in pieces which, for all their complexities, should sound grateful to play and hear. His shaping of Op 11 No 5’s passacaglia finale is particularly impressive. Power relishes the lyricism of the slow movements as much as the demands of the faster ones, yet is not fazed at all by Op 25 No 1’s notorious fourth movement, marked “Raging tempo. Wild. Beauty of tone is of secondary importance”, with its outrageous metronome marking of crotchet=600.

Power has the edge in Op 25 No 1, young man’s music if ever there was any, even over Kashkashian. In the 1937 Sonata Imai remains first choice but in Op 11 No 5 and Op 31 No 4 honours are even. Power’s firm line and clear tone, aided by Hyperion’s superb recording, are splendid, overtaking Kashkashian on ECM. Imai’s warmer, slightly fuller tone pays dividends in the slow movements and her playing has plenty of fire and passion. If pressed, Imai remains first choice but Power does not disappoint. Excellent notes by Calum MacDonald, too.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/04/hindemith-sonatas-laurence-power

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Paul Hindemith (16 November 1895 – 28 December 1963) was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher and conductor. Hindemith is among the most significant German composers of his time. His early works are in a late romantic idiom, and he later produced expressionist works, before developing his neoclassical style in the 1920s. Notable compositions include his song cycle Das Marienleben (1923) and opera Mathis der Maler (1938). Hindemith's most popular work, both on record and in the concert hall, is probably the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, written in 1943.

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

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Lawrence Power (born 1977) is a British violist. Power studied with Mark Knight at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and with Karen Tuttle at the Juilliard School. He won 1st prize at the Primrose Competition in 1999. Since his London solo debut with The Philharmonia, he has performed in the UK and abroad, appearing as soloist with many leading orchestras. Power also has a prominent career as a chamber musician, as violist in the Nash Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio. He plays an instrument by Antonio Brensi of Bologna from c.1610. Most of his recordings are published by Hyperion Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Power

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