DSCH Aphorismes: Hommage à Dmitri Chostakovitch
Ten Preludes, Op. 34 trans. for violin and strings by Ilmar Lapinsch[a]; Two Pieces (Prelude and Scherzo) for string octet, Op. 11[b]; Two pieces for string quartet, Sans op. D (originally Op. 36), trans. for string ensemble by Alexandre Brussilovsky[c]; Recitative and Romance from String Quartet No. 2, Op. 68, trans. for violin and piano by Dmitry Tsyganov[d]; Aphorisms, Op. 13, trans. for violin, bassoon, percussion and piano by Boris Bekhterev and Vladimir Spivakov[e]; Alfred Schnittke: Praeludium in Memoriam D. Shostakovich for two violins[f]; Steven Gerber: Elegy on the name "Dmitri Shostakovich" for solo viola[g].
Alexandre Brussilovsky (conductor & violin), Ensemble Ricercata de Paris, Nathanaëlle Marie[f], Françoise Renard (viola)[g], Pascal Godart (piano)[d,e], Amaury Wallez (bassoon)[e], Dominique Probst (percussion)[e].
Suoni e Colori SC 53006. DDD. TT 67:20.
Recorded August 1996, l'Eglise St.-Apollinaire de l'Argentière la Bessée (Hautes-Alpes)[a-c,f,g]/Maison de la Musique de Nanterre[d,e].
[a,c,d,g]World première recordings.

In 1976, while on tour in France with violinist Alexandre Brussilovsky, the pianist Mikhail Rudy (the same as on the EMI disc reviewed above) defected. Brussilovsky was punished in Rudy's place upon his return to the Soviet Union, his performing career effectively destroyed. Since emigrating to France in 1985, however, this enterprising violinist has founded his own chamber ensemble, the Ricercata de Paris, and recording label, Suoni e Colori, from whence this intriguing assortment originates.

Ilmar Lapinsch's transcription of 10 of the 24 Opus 34 Preludes for violin and strings is a sheer delight. It is thoroughly Shostakovian in sound, so much so that it takes effort to remind oneself that the composer did not write it in this form originally. Neither is it a simple translation of the original piano score. Lapinsch has judged superbly when to follow literally and when to deploy novel effects - a tempo change here, an octave shift there, major surgery elsewhere (to name but one example, the violin line in the last page of the Prelude No. 12 departs radically from what appears in the piano version). One repeatedly hears Jewish inflections in these works (listen in particular to Prelude No. 13/track 4), and while this is partly due to the particular affinity of the violin to the Jewish idiom, it also attests to a vaguely Jewish sound latent in Shostakovich's personal style before conscious incorporation of Jewish motifs (his 24 Preludes date from 1932-33, his completion of Benjamin Fleishman's Rothschild's Violin and the Second Piano Trio not until 1944). The notes do not state which of the 24 Preludes are included; in order, they are Nos. 2 (A minor), 6 (B minor), 12 (G# minor; rendered as Allegretto non troppo instead of the original Allegro non troppo), 13 (F# major), 17 (Ab major), 18 (F minor), 19 (Eb major), 21 (Bb major), 22 (G minor), and 20 (C minor).

The unusual scoring of the Opus 13 Aphorisms for violin, bassoon, percussion and piano yields decidedly un-Shostakovian sonorities, but instead that generic modernist sound converged upon around the world by those contemporary composers destined to remain forever unknown. This is not the backhanded insult it appears to be, meaning only that one does not sense the superimposition of any one distinctive musical personality on Shostakovich's opus. This arrangement views this 1927 work through the lens of developments in instrumentation during Shostakovich's lifetime, thus linking the old melodic lines with later modes of expression. And although Shostakovich did not employ all of those modes of expression in the manner presented here, there are fleeting connections, especially to the spartan style of his final sonatas.

This time-traveller's presence on this disc as a foil to the Preludes is especially appropriate. The percussionist has a starring position, reminding one of the key role played by percussion in the evolution of serious music this century. The percussionist also provides important links with later works by Shostakovich, most notably through the appearances of his perennial woodblocks.

A rival account by the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble is available on a Triton disc that will be reviewed in full in our next issue (17 011; coupled with both Piano Trios). Both accounts are satisfying, though the Suoni e Colori players inject much more energy into their recital in the Etude. Brussilovsky's violin tone is richer throughout than Alexander Melnikov's on Triton, so if a decision were mandatory, one could choose between Brussilovsky's warmth and Melnikov's intentionally lighter touch.

The Two Pieces for String Octet is the one Shostakovich piece on this disc not transcribed into a new form (confusingly, the English notes speak of "opus 11 for String Quartet", but the French text has it correctly as "pour Octuor à cordes"). Tempo in the Prelude is broader than in the version by the New Century Orchestra that I reviewed in DSCH 9 (New Albion NA 088 CD), resulting in greater emotional resonance. The Borodin and Prokofiev Quartets on Melodiya (in the quartet cycle; 74321 40713 2) are even more patient, but without a gain in impact, and their adenoidal recording cannot match the radiance of Suoni e Colori's. In the Scherzo, the Ricercata de Paris is much less aggressive than either alternative; of the three, the New Century Orchestra get my vote, though the Ricercata de Paris win the election once the Prelude is included in the count.

Incidentally, the track listing in Suoni e Colori's booklet places both movements in track 12, but the CD switches to a new track for the Scherzo (appropriately so). The listing is thus off by one for all subsequent tracks, an unfortunate mistake that may mislead or at least confuse the uninitiated.

No less successful is the world première recording (though not advertised as such) of Alexandre Brussilovsky's own string orchestra transcription of the Two Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 36. The first movement (Elegy) is the same music as Katerina's bedroom aria ("Zerebyonok k kobilke toropitsya") at the end of Act 1 in Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Although I found the shrill central crisis to be on the melodramatic side, the weight of the string orchestra lends an unconsoling warmth, and helps to sustain Brussilovsky's broad tempo; at 5:48, he takes significantly longer than either the Shostakovich Quartet on Olympia (4:11; OCD 531) or the live performance by Gidon Kremer, Annete Bik, Veronika Hagen and Thomas Demenga on ECM New Series' Edition Lockenhaus Vol. 4/5 (4:36; ECM 78118-21347-2) in the original quartet versions. One is unlikely to encounter a more moving performance of this music in any of its incarnations.

As for the second movement (Polka), drawn from The Age of Gold ballet score, this falls midway between the primordial orchestration and the string quartet, gaining some of the lightheartedness of the latter version (though it's not as inebriated as on ECM) while adding the impression of laughter-in-unison of the former.

I was less convinced by Dmitri Tsyganov's transcription for violin and piano of Recitative and Romance, which is the second movement of String Quartet No. 2 (a fact that the notes neglect to mention). The cello "pedal" that underpins much of the movement in the quartet version, giving it its atmosphere of Orthodox worship, is replaced by arpeggios on the piano that sound for all the world like a Hungarian cimbalom. Some may admire the unusual sound, but I found that the piano fails to replicate the rapt piety of the sustained cello line, and also reduces the emotional impact of the movement's lyrical section, singing more of a lullaby than the unrequited-lovesong of the quartet version.

Schnittke's Praeludium in Memoriam D. Shostakovich from 1975 is a gut-wrenching lament, based on barely-recognisable mutations of the DSCH motto, behind which pizzicato strokes mark time like some fateful pendulum. The second violinist transports to stage left near the end and shadows the first violin as if in solidarity. It is an impressively concise and affecting composition. Brussilovsky invests it with all possible anguish, and Nathanaëlle Marie is a sympathetic echo.

Unlike the most famous solo instrumental meditation on Shostakovich's name, Ronald Stevenson's monumental Passacaglia on DSCH, and Stevenson's Recitative and Air, which are both based on the DSCH motto (performed by the composer-as-pianist on Altarus AIR-CD-9091(2)), American Steven Gerber's Elegy on the Name "Dmitri Shostakovich" for solo viola uses original motifs, pulled from the letters S-H-S-T-A (Eb-B-Eb-B-A) and D-M-T (D-E-B). Repeated listening has not changed my opinion that the work is essentially academic. Note progressions are not automatically good music because they derive from someone's name - Shostakovich's own motto used intervals that coincidentally work musically and are characteristic of his style. Again, though it's not billed as such, this is a world première recording.

The performances are first-rate. Especially in those Preludes that I so enjoyed, Brussilovsky could not be more sensitive to colour. The recording is bright and sharp, both desirable qualities in this repertoire. The notes include a testimonial from Irina Shostakovich welcoming these performances … sentiments with which I wholeheartedly agree!

W. Mark Roberts
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DSCH No. 10.
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