CD Review: Maria Bach chamber music (Christine Busch, violin et al) cpo 555341-2

Maria Bach (1896–1978), was an Austrian pianist, violinist and composer, she was also active as a painter. Back then, growing up in an extremely artistic household near Vienna was the norm for anyone entering society. Brahms, Korngold, Nikisch, Klimt, Kokoschka were frequent visitors; Joseph Marx was her most important teacher at the Vienna Music Academy for piano and composition. Although, as the three works on this release demonstrate, her style bears comparison with Marx or Korngold as all three composers favoured a luxurious instrumental sound and harmonies that exploit this, Bach’s style is nonetheless wholly her own. Though the trio of works are all on the early side in terms of her oeuvre (cello sonata 1924; “Wolga” piano quintet 1928; string quintet 1936), nothing about them is slight. By the 1930s, Maria Bach was firmly established as a composer.

The cello sonata is the most straightforward of the three works on this release. It is carefully written, indeed at times perhaps too carefully: you can hear the mind working on how best to take it forward when more impetus might have lent the result a greater sense of the impromptu. That said, it nevertheless has a strong impact due to Bach's own harmonic language, which is never less than ear-catching. Mathias Johansen and Yukie Takao play the sonata for all it is worth.

The two other works demonstrate that Maria Bach appears to have had an affinity for the theme and variations form. This lies at the heart of both works, though the piano quintet is the more extrovert and richly textured of the pieces. The middle movement variations upon the Wolga lied lend the string quintet its nickname. However, it is the instrumental textures more than anything that I find absorbing in Maria Bach’s writing. Violinists Christine Busch and Elene Meipariani, viola player Klaus Christa and cellist Mathias Johansen are joined by cellist Conradin Brotbek to give the string quintet a committed reading. This is also evident in the piano quintet, for which the core four players are joined by Akiko Shiochi at the keyboard. The recorded sound, from different radio sessions in 2019 and 2020 is excellent, but the accompanying notes on Maria Bach and the three compositions fall short on detail. A pity, as for many this release could be their first encounter with this music.

It is interesting to note that another recording of Maria Bach’s chamber music was released almost simultaneously with this one. That recording, also features the cello sonata and the "Wolga" piano quintet, but with the solo cello sonata, on the Hänssler label.