CD Review: Enescu / Shostakovich: string octets; Martínez Campos: Serenata para Cuerdas [Bambú Ensemble, Ibs classical IBS112021]

Comparative versions of Enescu and Shostakovich:

·         Louis de Froment Ensemble / George Enescu (Remington, 1951) [reissued on Forgotten Records]

·         Ensemble / Constantin Silvestri [Electrecord]

·         Voces and Euterpe String Quartets [Marco Polo, 1988]

·         Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble [Chandos, 1993] – also Shostakovich

·         George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra Ensemble / Cristian Mandeal [Arte Nova, 1997]

·         Viotta Ensemble [Ottavo, 2001]

·         Kremerata Baltica led by Gidon Kremer, violin [Warner Classics, 2001] – orchestral version by Leonid Desyatnikov

·         Orchestra Philharmonique de Monte Carlo / Lawrence Foster [Erato, 2008] – orchestral version by Lawrence Foster

·         Christian Tetzlaff, Isabelle Faust, Antje Weithaas, Lisa Batiashvili, Kathrine Gowers (violins), Rachel Roberts, Ori Kam, Antoine Tamestit (violas) & Tanja Tetzlaff, Quirine Viersen, Gustav Rivinius (cellos) [Avi Music, 2009]

·         Vilde Frang (violin), Erik Schumann (violin), Gabriel Le Magadure (violin), Roseanne Philippens (violin), Lawrence Power (viola), Lily Francis (viola), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Jan-Erik Gustavsson (cello) – [Warner Classics, 2018]

·         Meta4 and Gringolts Quartets [BIS, 2020]

 

The booklet text and inner cover of this recording by the Bambú Ensemble, Spain’s only string octet, would have you believe that it is “A journey to the far reaches of the chamber repertoire”. To a certain extent this is true, as the string octet is not an often-encountered format. In concert, Enescu is often paired with Mendelssohn’s octet, or less frequently with Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet. Gade’s octet is an even rarer pairing. Considering recording though, there are at least eleven versions of the Enescu octet and several of the Shostakovich available. It can be reasonably claimed, however, that the three works on the Bambú Ensemble’s recording were all written by composers in their youth.

As the selected comparison recordings – listed above – of Enescu’s Octet for Strings show, there are many different approaches that can be taken in performing it. More often than not using the original scoring is adhered to by established ensembles with conductor (Enescu, Slivestri, Mandeal), ensembles without conductor (St Martin-in-the Fields, Viotta), octets of combined quartets (Voces and Euterpe, Meta4 and Gringolts) and assembled ensembles of soloists (Tetzlaff et al, Frang et al). As Enescu himself gave permission for the piece to be performed in an orchestrated version, presumably with a view to widening performance opportunities, it is unsurprising that different views on ‘scaling up’ the octet are presented by Leonid Desyatnikov (Kremer) and Lawrence Foster. Desyatnikov’s augmentation of the forces is subtle yet effective, whilst Foster’s calls for full orchestral forces. In tandem with this his conducting results in a performance that somehow softens the work’s definition and plays down the intricate interplay of instrumental lines.

Ultimately though, I turn to the work as written every time for a moving listening experience. I would not want to be without the performances conducted by Enescu and Silvestri: what they lack in sound quality they make up for in historical importance and insight. Even more recent recordings suffer from edgy, boxy acoustics (Voces and Euterpe, Mandeal), though the playing is dedicated and passionate. Mandeal particularly conducts the middle movements with real insight. The St-Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble comes out above the Viotta Ensemble because they make more convincing tempo choices. This is an important factor, as the first movement theme returns in the final movement, thereby lending the work a uniting sense of form and closure. Tetzlaff et al was reviewed as “quite simply in a class of its own” by The Strad at the time, though their efforts have been superseded by Vilde Frang’s ensemble. Frang garnered enthusiastic reviews in much of the music press, and justifiably so. I particularly enjoy the almost brutal approach they bring to the second movement and the way in which they keep their foot on the gas throughout the final movement. Their performance is urgent and well captured. The Meta4 and Gringolts Quartets offer a less full-bodied approach though their more muted timbres and slightly slower tempi.

How, then, does this latest recording compare? The Bambú Ensemble have nothing to fear from the competition and serve Enescu’s music with valour and dedication. The recording itself places the ensemble up front rather than in a recessed acoustic, thereby enhancing the dramatic nature of their interpretation. It is clear that the Bambú Ensemble bring the experience of live performance to their recording – the music sounds fully under their fingers, as it were, and they make convincing choices of tempo and emphasis of individual instrumental parts throughout, which serves to hold the listener’s attention across the varied four movement structure. The Bambú Ensemble performers breathe it as one and are clearly on a mission to ensure that Enescu’s inspired writing remains the focus of attention. This is playing that demands to be heard.

Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet, op.11, might have a duration of around only nine and a half minutes, but its brevity packs quite a punch. Written in 1925, when Shostakovich was still a student, displays his precocious compositional gifts to thrilling effect. The first movement – Prelude: Adagio – sounds sombre in the recording by the Academy of St Martin’s-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble, with the individual parts clearly captured in Chandos’ atmospheric recording. Their interpretation of the second movement – Scherzo: Allegro molto – brings out the music’s satirical edge through carefully articulated timbres and glissandi that make you sit up and take notice. The Bambú Ensemble’s recording, however, proves to be a more forceful account from first note to last. True, the tempo they take in the first movement is almost identical to their English rivals, but the recording gives their playing added body. Visceral power and excitement shape the Bambú Ensemble’s account of the Scherzo, which is initially taken at full pelt to thrilling effect. Instead of satire, a coruscating and biting bitterness is inescapable. The ensemble’s textures are less clearly defined than those on the Chandos release, but the glissandi are fearlessly attacked and Shostakovich’s searing passions wholly command your attention.     

There is barely a mention of Javier Martínez Campos’s Serenata para Cuerdas in the accompanying booklet. The composer’s website also gives few details, however it reveals that the Bambú Ensemble premiered it at Le Mesnil St Martin Priory's Chapel, France, in September 2016. Within a compact single movement of around 15 minutes’ duration, Martinez Campos makes a significant contribution to the string octet repertoire. It’s certainly a work concerned more with the building and interplay of textures between the instruments rather than thematic development, per se. As Martinez Campos mixes composition with his career as a cellist, the writing is assured and spirited. This recording – along with a recording of a seven-minute cello solo Ambre Cello on Gautier Capuçon’s 3 disc Souvenirs set for Erato, released this month – should further help to put Martinez Campos on the compositional map. Judging from his website, his output is extensive and varied, meriting wider exposure outside of his native Spain.

Whatever your reason for being interested in this recording there is no reason to delay investigating further. I very much look forward to hearing much more from the excellent Bambú Ensemble.