Here is a lovely program of accessible modern and contemporary music for viola and cello, an instrumental pairing relatively seldom explored by composers. The two young artists are named Caitlin Boyle (viola) and Dobrochna Zubek (cello). They are based in Toronto.
Boyle was part of the late Cecilia quartet, one of the finest classical/romantic quartets Canada has known between 2006 and 2018. The ensemble has been recorded several times under the Analekta label. Zubek, for her part, is a member of the Thin Edge New Music Collective and Quartetto Gelato.
100 ans d’alto et violoncelle
The chosen program offers a journey through the last hundred years of music, starting with the lovely Two Pieces for Viola and Cello by Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979). A tender lullaby is followed by a movement with a mischievous character called Grotesque. Simple music but one that demonstrates a beautiful refinement of writing and a clever search for attractive, sometimes surprising textures.
The Five Bucolics for Viola and Cello by Lutoslawski present the Polish composer, one of the most innovative of the 20th century, in a particularly amiable light. Originally composed for piano, these five pieces tinged with folklore and sometimes sharp but never disgracious harmonies were arranged by the composer for viola and cello. Boyle and Zubek manage to embody the playful and slightly sarcastic spirit of these small pieces, written at the same time as the Concerto for Orchestra, and revealing some of the same colours.
Excellence du 21e siècle
The excellent Caroline Shaw (born in 1982) is represented with Limestone and Felt, where the majority of the work is played in pizzicato, interspersed with double stops interventions. Tonal music with delicate contrasts, showcasing a beautiful simplicity in execution and concept. Caroline Shaw rejects narcissistic complexity in favour of clarity of intention and effects that, however, manifest all her intelligence through the refinement of her constructions. One of the best contemporary music artists of the early 21st century.
From Shostakovich, the Song of Ophelia from the Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok for soprano and cello immerses us in an atmosphere of mourning and contemplation steeped in melancholy. Next is The Break of Dawn, a creation by Andrzej Zubek (Dobrochna’s father) that unfolds in a construction initiated with a certain roughness, transforming into more luminous and lyrical textures as the piece progresses. Jazz elements are subtly perceptible. Moreover, for the more knowledgeable, the name Zubek might ring a bell: he is the founder of the Andrzej Zubek Quartet, which later became the Silesian Jazz Quartet.
Sobriété
The program concludes elegantly with three of the 8 Pieces, Op. 39 written in 1909 by Reinhold Glière. A rather sombre Prelude gives way to a somewhat rustic Gavotte under the fingers of the duo (I really like it), followed by a touching Berceuse, aptly caressed by the two performers.
From Dusk Till Dawn is a quality album, understated, without spectacular brilliance but bathed in beautiful expressive attention and an effectively collaborative duo performance.
