It is heartening to hear from Janos Gereben that Ms Chang is doing a
marvellous job with the Haydn C Major on stage. I'm afraid I found her
recording of the same work from the earlier half of this year to be a
more uneven, indulgent affair; I append a review I wrote in March below.
Her debut disc of Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and the Saint-Saens'
Concerto is, on the other hand, a real gem!
CD REVIEW
Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
Cello Concerto No.1 in C major, Hob.VIIb:1; No.2 in D major, Hob.VIIb:2;
Sinfonia (Overtura) to Lo speziale, Hob.Ia:10
Han-Na Chang, cello / Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden / Giuseppe
Sinopoli (EMI CDC7 2435 56535 2)
Category: Classical - Orchestral
If people today tend to think a lot less of Joseph Haydn than they
do of his contemporary, Mozart, whom many regard as the genius of
geniuses, the former's admirers and fans should at least be comforted
by the fact that he managed to write these two hugely-successful
concertos for cello and orchestra, while the latter did not even
venture into exploring the capabilities of this mellow instrument
as a soloist.
Compared to the violin and the piano, there is certainly a shortage
of cello music from the 18th century. This might very well explain
why so many great cellists of today do not seem to display as idiomatic
and in-depth an understanding of Classical period repertoire as their
colleagues at the piano and violin do.
Rostropovich arm-twisted his way through these two concertos in
his recording on EMI; Yo-Yo Ma's overly-indulgent accounts (on Sony)
were frustrating in the way he maintained near-inaudible sotto voces
and smoothened corners in a fashion more suited for Romantic music;
Jacqueline Du Pre (EMI) tried to strike a balance, but veered a little
too much towards Ma's brand of tiresome affectation.
I am also not convinced that both these concertos should be treated
all too differently. The 1st is undoubtedly livelier and more buoyant,
and the 2nd is more on the softer, more lyrical side. But that
certainly does not warrant playing the latter with mushy Romanticism
as many cellists (with Ma leading the field here) do. Both works
may convey different moods, but the style remains quintessentially
Classical.
I am therefore glad that Korean cellist Han-Na Chang maintains a
fairly consistent view of both concertos.
A mere 15 years old when this recording was made last year, she plays
like an experienced virtuoso of the instrument. The teenage wonder
is no less masterly here as she was in her stunning debut recording
of Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Rocco Variations,
one which took the music world by storm.
In these Haydn pieces, Chang displays a beautiful, warm and resonant
tone, and plays with a youthful freshness, bubbly enthusiasm and
ardour that elude many of her older colleagues. There are absolutely
no signs of inexperience, or lack of artistic maturity.
What is less appealing, however, is her interpretation. Like Du Pre,
Chang attempts to bring both fire and ice to her feisty part, but
the final product is rather awkward.
In the outer movements of the First Concerto, she digs into Haydn's
bravura writing with verve and almost masculine aggression (listen
to how she tosses off all the cadenzas so confidently and effortlessly),
and then, without any explanation or warning, drops suddenly to an
extended sotto voce just a few bars later. The same pattern permeates
throughout, and it becomes questionable if the dynamic contrasts
should be this sharp.
But having said that, the tender lyricism of the two slow movements
comes seeping through not with Romantic mush, but with a rich pathos,
directness and glowing intensity.
Chang's account does not oust Misha Maisky's zealous, exhilarating
and racy (at times disconcertingly so, but I like it nonetheless)
account on DG and Heinrich Schiff's elegant, poised readings on
Philips from my very short list of favourites in these works, but it
is still well worth hearing, particularly when cello playing this
commanding and colourful hardly comes by these days, at least not
from someone at Chang's age.
Beside his eager young soloist, conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli sounds
like a wooden block with no flair. Better known for his idiosyncratic,
expansive, lush accounts of Puccini and Wagner operas and Romantic
symphonies than for 18th-century classics, Sinopoli's orchestral
support is square, mundane, dry and two-dimensional, despite the
tightness and precision of ensemble and the ostensible enthusiasm
of the Dresden players.
EMI offers excellent programming by separating the two concertos with
the charming, though dotty and frivolous, Overture to the comic opera,
Lo speziale (The Apothecary). Indeed, it helps to make a listen-through
of the entire disc a more pleasurable affair. But as with the
concertos, Sinopoli's direction remains unidiomatic despite effervescent
tempos.
Lionel Choi
Singapore
http://www.singnet.com.sg/~lionelc/dummies.html
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