A compelling case for Beach’s Violin Sonata
Overshadowed women composers receive dazzling advocacy, and none too soon says Julian Haylock
Thomas Albertus Irnberger (violin), Barbara Moser (piano) Gramola 99153 (hybrid CD/SACD) 76:31 mins This enterprising recital collects together a number of distinguished female composers, all far more than footnotes to the musical mainstream. The fact that Amy Beach’s four-movement Sonata isn’t a mainstay of the repertoire is, quite frankly, baff ling. Imagine late Grieg f lavoured gently by early Brahms and you won’t be too far away from the soundworld of this melodically enchanting, structurally invigorating near-masterpiece. Thomas Albertus Irnberger and Barbara Moser bring to it a poetic radiance and enraptured intensity that sounds especially realistic when the SACD surround track is activated.
The tangible, yet gently-cushioned soundpicture proves equally enticing in four stand-alone miniatures: Luise Adolphe le Beau’s ravishingly dreamy Romance in G, the seductive chromatic inf lections of Dora Pejacevic’s Elegie and Romanze, and the one familiar work here, Maria-theresia Paradis’s gently lilting Sicilienne, with its skin-tingling sequences of neo-classical suspensions. Irnberger and Moser play each one with a dedicated sense of inspired fantasy that distils each piece to its purest essence.
The hits keep on rolling with the gloriously longlived Pauline Viardot-garcia’s enchanting threemovement Sonatina, composed for her violinist son Paul in her spare time away from being one of the most celebrated singers of the 19th century. Perhaps the greatest surprise of all is the set of six expertly-crafted pieces by Amanda Röntgen-maier
(then wife-to-be of composer Julius Röntgen), which f lavours early Grieg with an occasional dash of Dvorák, yet retains its own distinctive creative impulse. Here, as elsewhere, Irnberger’s sparkling tone and intonational purity combine to captivating effect. PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ RECORDING ★★★★★
Hear extracts from this recording and the rest of this month’s choices on the BBC Music Magazine website at www.classical-music.com
Thomas Albertus Irnberger brings poetic radiance to Beach