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July 2025 Concerto No.2 (Violin & Strings), Works for Violin and Piano – new Hovhaness CD from Naxos |
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Seven years after the last all-Hovhaness CD from Naxos comes this one (its ninth) presenting a broad survey of the composer's eclectic body of work for the violin. Over its 70 minutes, eight works are featured spanning half a century from 1922 to 1973. Two are not previously recorded, but even the other six are now little known, having formerly enjoyed exposure either back in the early vinyl era or around the turn of the century on tiny independent labels. As such, we have here a rich seam of discovery both for violinists and admirers of the composer not familiar with this aspect of his output. The driving force behind this release is California-born violinist Zina Schiff, a Curtis Institute graduate. Her program comprises an early violin concerto, six works for violin and piano (one of which is arranged for violin, harp and strings) and one work for violin solo. The disc's most substantive work is the Concerto No.2 for Violin and Strings Op.89a (1951-57). It is twice previously recorded, on a 1957 MGM vinyl pressing with Anahid Ajemian as soloist (available as a cleaned-up digitization on Spotify) and a little-known 1995 CD issued by the French label Marcal Productions, with Annie Jodry as soloist. So this is not the work's "first recording on CD" per the well-intended claim on the back cover. The work's title is misleading, for it is not the composer's second violin concerto but the second in a series of ten numbered concertos of the 1950s with various instrumentations – for example, No.5 is with solo piano, No.6 solo harmonica, whilst Nos.1, 4, 7 and 8 are for full orchestra without soloist. Typically for a 1950s Hovhaness concerto with soloist, the violin is not cast as a virtuoso protagonist, but the purveyor of rich melodic material supported by the ensemble. Nor are there the traditional three movements but seven short ones with contrasting tempi and moods, making this a suite in all but name. The work offers abundant thematic material, mostly stated rather than developed. The opening Pastoral – a reworking of material from 1951 – features a rapturous, bird-like violin melisma over increasingly dense pizzicato. Movements 2 to 5 alternate slow, introspective Aria movements with lively, folk-inspired dances. The work's emotional heart lies in the sixth movement, Recitative and Lullaby, where each of the violin's free, senza misura declamations is answered by harmonically striking, angelic string chords – a section steeped in anguish, delivered here with greater impact by Schiff and the Salzburg Chamber Soloists than in earlier recordings. The same holds true for the final movement, a closing Hymn that trades triumph for a haunting, pathos-laden farewell. Keen ears may catch a misread double bass note at 1:31 (F instead of G), creating a chord voicing that clearly is not 1950s Hovhaness – yet ironically intensifies the pathos. The warmly recorded Salzburg Chamber Soloists are conducted by Avlana Eisenberg, who is Schiff's daughter. Mother and daughter recorded the concerto in Salzburg, along with one other work here, the disc's closing track Oror. |
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Alan Hovhaness: Valerie Stark, piano Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Avlana Eisenberg, conductor 8559957 | Total Timing: 69:45 | DDD |
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Oror (c.1922-26), meaning "lullaby" in Armenian, is where the composer's output ostensibly begins, being his official Opus 1. Dana Pau Perna's specially made arrangement for violin, strings and harp is both attractive and faithful to the teenage Hovhaness's original score for violin and piano. These two works with strings were recorded in 2016 and it wasn't until 2022 that Schiff teamed up with Boston-based musician Valerie Stark to record the disc's remaining six works featuring violin and piano. The 1937 Violin Sonata is Hovhaness's earliest substantial offering for the instrument at almost 15 minutes. Cast in the traditional three movements, the opening sonata form movement sees the 26 year-old honing his contrapuntal technique through a fugal development section. While the work has a few melodic arabesques here and there, the piece offers little hint of his later trajectory eastwards. As with many first recordings of Hovhaness juvenilia, this work bears fruit for revealing earlier appearances of familiar melodies. Themes that would be reused in Avak the Healer (1946) and the St. Vartan Symphony (1950) appear in the sombre second movement and march-like third, respectively. Varak and Yeraz are thoroughly Armenian-hued works, each in two parts. In Varak (1944) an upwardly spiralling and fervent incantation intensifies around major-minor tensions to be followed by a lively folk-flavoured dance. Yeraz (The Dream) is for solo violin and similarly builds with an intensifying incantation, but is here followed by what might be a high-spirited dance at some Armenian social gathering. The Khirgiz Suite (1951) uses fragments from actual Tartar folk tunes over three short movements, treating them with textural variations. Three Visions of St. Mesrob (1962) is named after Mesrop Mashtots, the fifth-century Armenian theologian and composer best known for creating the Armenian alphabet. The two dark, brooding outer movements feature the violin unfolding slow melodic lines over the piano's tonally ambiguous or dark dissonant clusters. In contrast, the central Celestial Bird movement shimmers with high-pitched piano melismas and a soaring violin line – evoking a similarly enchanting passage from the composer's 1944 piano concerto Lousadzak. Receiving its first recording here, Les Baux (1973) is a mood piece that evokes a dream-like stasis. The violin weaves broad, melodic arcs over a pedal E in the piano, which adds decorative flourishes and interjects with cascading diminished and half-diminished chords. The overall effect is hypnotic and soporific. ConclusionThanks to its musical breadth and quality, this may be the most rewarding Hovhaness release Naxos has issued to date. However, that accolade comes with a caveat familiar in recordings of earlier Hovhaness music. It may not be technically very challenging, but its ethno-musical idioms present their own challenges – demanding that performers go beyond the notes on the page and fully assimilate the spirit and character of those idioms. For example, the closing Allegro Molto of the Khirgiz Suite here feels too restrained – almost dignified – lacking the primitivistic vigour that the music calls for, as captured in earlier recordings by Christina Fong and Annie Jodry. A similar sense of reserve affects the final dance of Yeraz. And in the opening Pastoral of the concerto one has to wonder why Schiff subdivides the violin's prominent quintuplets into a duplet and triplet – an alteration that distorts the composer's intended rhythm for this recurring motif. That said, there's no denying the performers' affinity for these works, nor the overall quality of the results. The global reach and online distribution that come with a Naxos release are exactly what these pieces need – and, for the most part, fully deserve – to elevate their visibility and rehabilitate them into the repertoire. © Marco Shirodkar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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