CD Review - Ensemble Walter Boeykens
August 28th 2006 02:00
After getting back from performing the Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano by Malcom Arnold today, my pianist gave me a cd as a birthday present with a collection of repetoire which was irresistable.
Listing for the cd is on the Harmonia Mundi site here. The cd consists primarily of three masterworks for Violin, Clarinet and Piano trio, and the recording artists on these instruments are Marjeta Korosek, Walter Boeykens, and Robert Groslot respectively. The cd includes the trio arrangement of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat(which I looked at on here last week), Bartok's Constrasts(quite possibly the most famous work for this ensemble, with reason), and Berg's Adagio from the Chamber Concerto. In addition, Boeykens performs Stravinsky's Three Pieces for Unaccompanied Clarinet.
In general, this cd features a great level of energy from the whole ensemble and they appear to work very well together. Berg's Adagio is the piece I am least familiar with, so I have little to guage it against, but the ensemble explores the rich sonorities of the complex parts with gusto creating a very convincing performance.
The piece I undoubtedly have the most experience with here is the Three Pieces by Stravinsky. I was quite disappointed here by Boeykens, I feel that this is his worst playing on the cd. In the first and second movement he could make more of silences and build dramaticism in this way. In the second movement, I can appreciate how in the first section he tries to make a seperate voice out of every new motive. This isn't how I would interpret the piece but none the less it is a fascinating decision that at least shows he was considering well the choices he made in performance. The second section lacks space and could be enhanced in my opinion by making more of a constrast to the fireworks of the opening section. In some of the second movement, and especcially the end of the third movement, the point I dislike most about playing on this cd is Boeykens' playing is his weakness in the high register, the sound becomes weak, shrill, squeaky, and very rarely well controlled. There are technical errors simply concerned with getting all the notes. For a more authoritive recording I reccomend that made by Paul Meyer on his cd of Unaccompanied 20th Century Music for Clarinet.
While some occasional high register points of the L'Histoire suite suffer from this problem, on the whole the performance is well controlled, fluent and intelligent. The violinist Korosek here is possibly at her best, she does brilliant work in the second movement especcially, with beautifully controlled double stops throughout. I am not often a fan of strings due to the imperfections that occur in most string player's sounds simply by nature of the instrument, but here Korosek achieves a gentle elegance that well suits the pictorial aspects of the piece. Apart from my aforementioned transgressions, Boeykens performs well with a very appropriate tone and spiky articulations. The pianist Groslot gives a wonderful dry texture to the piece which was very fitting. Balance is beautiful.
The Contrasts by Bartok are also wonderfully presented here. This challenging piece is presented with good understanding of the folk elements at play. Technically, the ensemble works beautifully, especcially impressive with the very fast tempo that the last movement is taken at. I would have maybe liked to see the interjecting grace note figures of the last movement played even more cheekily and with greater gusto though. Otherwise this performance is relatively hard to fault.
While such upper register work for the clarinet as presented by Stravinsky is difficult, I think it is the duty of the recording artist to present such components with as much clarity and fullness as is possible. The one main area that this cd falls down is in some of Boeyken's work in this regard. While not my favourite example of all of these works(except those in which I have nothing to contrast them to) I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this and would encourage any readers coming along the cd to have a look. The interpretation of the trio works is interesting and will give inspiration to any other musicians approaching these works, and serves as a pretty good introduction to the repertoire for those who mightn't be familiar.
Join me next week for a brief examination of music teachers and what is required of the profession.
In general, this cd features a great level of energy from the whole ensemble and they appear to work very well together. Berg's Adagio is the piece I am least familiar with, so I have little to guage it against, but the ensemble explores the rich sonorities of the complex parts with gusto creating a very convincing performance.
The piece I undoubtedly have the most experience with here is the Three Pieces by Stravinsky. I was quite disappointed here by Boeykens, I feel that this is his worst playing on the cd. In the first and second movement he could make more of silences and build dramaticism in this way. In the second movement, I can appreciate how in the first section he tries to make a seperate voice out of every new motive. This isn't how I would interpret the piece but none the less it is a fascinating decision that at least shows he was considering well the choices he made in performance. The second section lacks space and could be enhanced in my opinion by making more of a constrast to the fireworks of the opening section. In some of the second movement, and especcially the end of the third movement, the point I dislike most about playing on this cd is Boeykens' playing is his weakness in the high register, the sound becomes weak, shrill, squeaky, and very rarely well controlled. There are technical errors simply concerned with getting all the notes. For a more authoritive recording I reccomend that made by Paul Meyer on his cd of Unaccompanied 20th Century Music for Clarinet.
While some occasional high register points of the L'Histoire suite suffer from this problem, on the whole the performance is well controlled, fluent and intelligent. The violinist Korosek here is possibly at her best, she does brilliant work in the second movement especcially, with beautifully controlled double stops throughout. I am not often a fan of strings due to the imperfections that occur in most string player's sounds simply by nature of the instrument, but here Korosek achieves a gentle elegance that well suits the pictorial aspects of the piece. Apart from my aforementioned transgressions, Boeykens performs well with a very appropriate tone and spiky articulations. The pianist Groslot gives a wonderful dry texture to the piece which was very fitting. Balance is beautiful.
The Contrasts by Bartok are also wonderfully presented here. This challenging piece is presented with good understanding of the folk elements at play. Technically, the ensemble works beautifully, especcially impressive with the very fast tempo that the last movement is taken at. I would have maybe liked to see the interjecting grace note figures of the last movement played even more cheekily and with greater gusto though. Otherwise this performance is relatively hard to fault.
While such upper register work for the clarinet as presented by Stravinsky is difficult, I think it is the duty of the recording artist to present such components with as much clarity and fullness as is possible. The one main area that this cd falls down is in some of Boeyken's work in this regard. While not my favourite example of all of these works(except those in which I have nothing to contrast them to) I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this and would encourage any readers coming along the cd to have a look. The interpretation of the trio works is interesting and will give inspiration to any other musicians approaching these works, and serves as a pretty good introduction to the repertoire for those who mightn't be familiar.
Join me next week for a brief examination of music teachers and what is required of the profession.
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