Orfeo Releases New Gubaidulina Album

My interest in the music of composer Sofia Gubaidulina dates all the way back to when I was gearing up for my writing gig. This happened to coincide with when she had a residency with the San Francisco Symphony (SFS). I remember seeing her in the audience when one of her pieces was being performed on an SFS Chamber Music program. However, much of my knowledge of her music has come from a relatively modest collection of recordings, which continues to grow from time to time.

Front cover of the new Gubaidulina album recently released (courtesy of A440)

The latest “growth spurt” took place at the end of this past July with electronic mail from A440 announcing new releases for this current month. One of the releases that attracted my interest was an Orfeo album of two Gubaidulina compositions. The first of these was a triple concerto completed in 2017. The concerto soloists included violinist Baiba Skride and cellist Harriet Krijgh. However, rather than follow in the footsteps of Ludwig van Beethoven, the third instrument was a bayan played by Elsbeth Mayer. (The bayan is a Russian accordion with buttons for both the right and left hands.) They were accompanied by the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) Radiophilharmonie, conducted by Andrew Manze. The second selection is a five-movement sonata for violin and cello composed in 1981 and given the title “Freue Dich!” (rejoice).

According to my records, this is my first encounter with any concerto by Gubaidulina. Those familiar with her repertoire probably appreciate her talent for evoking unique sonorities from just about any source. Doing this with a bayan is somewhat limited, and it tends to serve as a “voice” that contrasts with not only the other two soloists but also the diverse orchestral sonorities. In that context I have to confess that I would be more interested in experiencing this music in a concert performance than in listening to a recorded account.

While the concerto covers an uninterrupted half hour, the sonata is structured with a moderately long movement in the center and shorter ones on either side. Each movement has a title, which is a sentence fragment involving joy. I must confess that I am not sure about the relationships between the texts and sonorities. Nevertheless, the performance pursues adventurous sonorities, many of which recall past experiences of listening to Gubaidulina’s music.

Since I am never shy about listening to an album multiple times, I suspect that further enlightenment will come of the course of those experiences … naturally (as John Cage would have put it)!