Violin and Cello Sonatas
Here we have two brilliant discs. Two shining female duos, and affective, deep small-scale Western music at its best, from the mid 19th century to early 21th. If we drop out Silvestrov's Five Pieces (2004) as not quite belonging to the group (and as a less intense composition), and Takemitsu's Distance de fe!e (1951) as an interesting but youthful experiment in a Messian style, we are left with five sonatas by Franc, Debussy, Puolenc (cello/piano) and Hindemith, Janacek (violin/piano). Grand music. Music to live for.
Both recordings have their obvious merits. Debussy's sonata excels with its music, and Poulenc's is so Poulenc: sensitive and sensuel albeit admittedly a little manneristic. Personally, however, the most impressive performance on Anne Gastinel (Cello)/Claire Desert's recording (Naive) is their fierce and forceful and yet truly appreciative interpretation of Cesar Franc's Sonate pour violin et piano en la major (1886) transcribed to cello already in 1888. And the cello (an octave down) adds many new qualities to the piece allowing eg. the otherwise romantic and impassioned material sound more modern, more posing, more instrumental. The album has a nice balance between acoustics of the recording space and direct sound of the instruments, piano especially. Also, the relationship between the two instruments is mixed succesfully.
Hindemith wrote his Sonata in E (1935) just 15 years later than Janacek finished his (1921). Both sonatas represent modernism, but the latter carries elements - shape and melodic treatment - from the previous century. Of the two sonatas, it's easier for the ear and mind to receive and read, also because of its affinities with vocal music (just like Franc's sonata). If Hindemith's piece is bolder and more complicated, and as such less obvious, Janacek's is more versatile, eg. the exiciting ostinato segments of the last movement (adagio). Given that the album is Gazzana sisters' first recording, they do wonderful and accurate work on both pieces, without falling pray to unjustified sentimentalism and softening. Piano and especially violin (beautiful) are quite cleverly recorded; personally I'd have preferred a tad drier mixing/mastering though.
Cover art of either disc is not the most inspiring I've seen. But ten points to both companies, ECM and Naive, that the text of the linear notes comes in right language order: German/Italy/English (ECM) or French/English (Naive).