viaDigita

Janos Starker plays Early Italian Cello Sonatas

REVIEW:  Bach, Boccherini, Corelli, Locatelli, Valentini and Vivaldi

An awe-inspiring recording of technically daunting, yet strikingly melodious, sonatas from early 18th-century Italy, as well as a joyous, energetic Bach sonata. Lovely music-making, incredible virtuosity, and outstanding production quality make this possibly the best cello recording ever made!

Janos Starker plays
Early Italian Cello Sonatas
(CD Cover)

First-Rate Music-Making

The playing on this recording is beyond stunning: Janos Starker (regarded as one of the truly great cellists of the last hundred years) plays with a silky chocolate-hued tone, phrases that soar and sigh as if sung by a great singer, virtuosic left-hand work à la Paganini, nimble bow work, impeccable intonation, and a perfect sense of timing.

In addition to the many virtues of Mr. Starker’s cello playing, both pianists on this disc — Stephen Swedish in the Italian sonatas and György Sebök in the Bach G minor Gamba Sonata — perform at the highest level, providing not only strongly supportive roles, but fine musicianship in their own rights.

First-Rate Production Quality

The outstanding recording quality of the finest days of the Mercury Living Presence label is evident here: radiant and lush, yet pristine and well-focused. The instruments sound full-bodied and resonant; there is no pushing of the sound. Balance between the cello and the piano is just about perfect, perhaps with the cello a bit more forward as the “soloist,” a balance I have always enjoyed in music of this time period, though some music lovers feel it is a bit too strongly weighted on the cello sound.

A final plus for this recording is the inclusion of detailed liner notes by Bernard Jacobson and Carol Francis Brown, who provide information about the composers, the practice of transcription of compositions of the baroque period, and a discussion of differences in playing the viola da gamba (for which the Bach was originally written) and the cello. Mr. Starker himself also provides notes on the history of string playing since the 18th century, a brief discussion of how these pieces fit into that development, and a statement of his own goals in performing and recording these works. A brief Starker biography, the photo included here (with Harold Lawrence) and a 7-page listing of other Mercury Living Presence discs round out the booklet.

Art of the Arrangement

Of the six works presented here, only two were originally written for the cello (sonatas by Boccherini — himself a cellist — and Vivaldi). The sonatas by Corelli, Locatelli, and Valentini were originally violin sonatas and the Bach sonata was originally scored for the viola da gamba and most likely played in Bach’s lifetime with a harpsichord accompaniment.

Mercury’s Harold Lawrence
at the Recording Session
with Janos Starker

Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) wrote at least six sonatas for cello and at least a handful of cello concertos, in addition to numerous chamber and orchestral works. The A major sonata performed on this disc is the best known of Boccherini’s sonatas, studied and performed by countless cello students and professionals alike. It’s a challenging piece, but is obviously written by a cellist (and an accomplished one at that); the notes fit “under the fingers” naturally, the singing higher register of the instrument easily opens up with a radiant bloom. This is one of the great “Starker pieces”: during my undergraduate days at the Indiana University School of Music it was my pleasure to hear him teach and perform this piece in weekly master classes, probably dozens of times, and it was always just indescribably brilliant playing, beyond belief really.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) also wrote at least six sonatas for cello and, like Boccherini, a fair number of cello concertos. Again, as with the Boccherini, this Vivaldi sonata is by far the most well-known and most often played (though the other Vivaldi sonatas are all lovely works, especially in the fabulous recording by two great French musicians: cellist Paul Tortelier and Harpsichordist Robert Veyron-Lacroix — Starker himself never recorded all of them). Starker’s rendition of the E minor Sonata is clean, one in which phrases are beautifully drawn forward to their ends with impressive serenity and inevitability. Sharply articulated bowing and adept string crossings are quite effective in the fast movements.

Virtuosity Like A Violin

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695-1764) and Giuseppe Valentini (1695-1764) were all known in their day as brilliant violin virtuosos, as well as composers. Corelli is the only one who today may be regarded as a “household” name in classical music, but Locatelli (who, as a child prodigy, studied violin with Corelli in Rome) came to play an important part in the evolution of virtuosic violin technique, and even wrote a series of 24 technically demanding caprices that presaged the more famous Paganini caprices which followed later. Valentini contributed advances in violin playing and numerous compositions, though he was during his lifetime (and still is) overshadowed by both Corelli and Locatelli.

Corelli’s D minor Sonata is a velvety dark work that is supremely “Corellian” in nature: elegant long melodic lines, effortlessly balanced phrases. Perfect in a way, though not nearly so technically demanding as the other transcriptions offered here. Still, a challenging piece for a cellist in a well-wrought transcription by German cellist August Lindner (1820-1878) and quite enjoyable listening.

The Locatelli Sonata in D major is a particularly spectacular work when performed on the cello, with its numerous up-bow and down-bow staccatos and use of the full tonal range of the instrument. After a bright enthusiastic first movement in which Starker plays as many as 30 separately-articulated notes in a single bow (and that is a sight to see!), we have a gorgeous bel canto slow middle movement in which the cellist is again required to play a great many fast notes and simultaneously keep a sense of the overarching (and slow) phrasing of the elaborate melody. The final movement (my favorite) is a joyous Minuetto, with a stately 3-beat rhythmic pulse that incorporates all sorts of technical fireworks — multiple-note single-bow staccatos, colorful use of harmonics, rapid arpeggiation of low notes to high, etc. — built as a series of variations on the main theme. I remember watching Mr. Starker play this piece in master classes when I was at Indiana, and it was unbelievable to witness such playing, which was just as clean and pure when played live as on the recording. The only thing missing from this recording is video — it is so exciting to actually see this piece played! But then, no cellist’s recording can provide that.

The fifth of the Italian sonatas is the Valentini E minor Sonata, very similar in a number of ways to the Locatelli. A very demanding piece technically, it is nonetheless a wonderfully melodic and inventive work. In five movements, it has a great variety of technical display and emotional feeling. An enchanting ‘tempo di gavotta’ is a compositional feature unique to this disc, an innocent and pure country dance-type feeling shining with the golden Italian sun! Along with the Locatelli, the Valentini Sonata is a tailor-made vehicle for a full display of Mr. Starker’s unmatched technical gifts, and is spectacular to see and a joy to hear.

Back to Bach

Mercury has also included on this CD the third sonata in G minor for viola da gamba and keyboard (most often played today on the cello and piano) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Although totally unnecessary after the satisfaction of hearing five wonderful Italian sonatas performed so exquisitely, the Bach is an additional bonus.

The Starker-Sebök recording of the Bach Gamba Sonatas first appeared on a separate LP record back in the 1960’s. There are three of these sonatas and when re-mastering them for CD, Mercury produced a 2-CD set of Starker playing Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello (his third out of five recorded traversals of those masterpieces). They apparently needed to add extra music to that set, so they included the first two of the Gamba Sonatas along with the Suites. That left the G minor Sonata out in the cold, so they included it with this set of early Italian sonatas. Personally, I wish they had added a third CD to that set (making it the complete Bach works for cello, as performed by Starker) — alas, nobody asked me.

The Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1029, is a hard-driving, contrapuntal marvel of a work. It strikes me as being less popular than the first two Gamba sonatas, though it is my personal favorite of the three. Starker recorded these sonatas several times, and this recording with his lifelong friend, the wonderful Hungarian pianist György Sebök, is pristinely clean with a tightly-focussed sound, playful interweaving of various melodic lines wrapping in and out of each other, and a buoyant and one might say nearly bubbly rhythmic pulse that takes the listener on one exciting and breathless ride! (This is a fun piece to play, too.)

Discipline, Respect, Faultless Execution

Of the Italian Sonatas recorded on this disc, Starker writes:

Here the cello is given a chance to sing in its best tonal range, and show its ability to match the virtuosity usually associated with the violin.

The presentation of these works invariably wavers between the attempted authentic style of the composer and the Nineteenth-century characteristics added by the transcriber. Also the performer is tempted by the implied bel canto elements, and disciplined by contemporary requirements of fidelity to the written text.

Personally, I have always been guided by a strong drive toward technical perfection. At times this might seem to require expressive sacrifices. But in fact this would only be true if one placed the beauty of dynamic extremes and touchingly communicative emotional display above the beauty of purity, simplicity, and balance.

The first course indicates self-centered youthful exuberance with limited discipline, appealing in its humanity. The other demands self-imposed mature discipline, respect for the total concept of a work — and faultless execution.

One can argue the merits of each. My own preference is for the latter, despite its inherent dangers.

Final Thoughts

Not only does this recording demonstrate cello playing and music making of the highest order, but the Mercury Living Presence recorded sound is clean and pure, warm and radiant. Every piece is tuneful and virtuosic, brimming with sunny warmth and strong personality. It’s no wonder that this disc has been a perennial favorite for decades.

If you can buy only one single cello recording, this is the one to buy!

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