Vladigerov; Poulenc; Seabourne - Violin Sonatas (Irina Borissova; Giacomo Battarino)

Information

Composer: Pancho Vladigerov; Francis Poulenc; Peter Seabourne

• Vladigerov - Violin Sonata in D major, Op. 1
• Poulenc - Violin Sonata, FP 119
• Seabourne - A Portrait and Four Nocturnes

Irina Borissova, violin

Giacomo Battarino, piano

Date: 2019

Label: Sheva

http://www.shevacollection.co.uk/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=190

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Review

Poulenc wasn’t instinctively drawn to the violin sonata: ‘The prima donna violin over arpeggiated piano nauseates me’, he’s reported to have said. Hard to guess, then, what he’d make of this curiously programmed recital, which places his solitary Violin Sonata between the Bulgarian Pancho Vladigerov – a Romantic with a capital R – and Peter Seabourne’s homage to Chopin, who pretty much patented that whole lyrical-sentimental idiom.

But it actually makes a strangely satisfying sequence, and one that shows the particular qualities of these performers to good advantage. Some adjustment will be needed at first: the acoustic is close and boxy, and the piano – apparently a Steinway Model B – initially sounds synthetic and hard-edged, a bit like a clavinova. Nor does the recording flatter the upper register of Borissova’s violin (though she plays with fine body and bite on the lower strings). Once the ear has adjusted it’s easier to appreciate the pair’s rapport and sense of drama; perfect for the sweeping vistas of Vladigerov’s 1914 Sonata, a work that could easily have emerged from Vienna or Berlin that same year.

But that brittle, upfront sound is actually an asset in the Poulenc, which the pair approach in restless, sometimes savage strokes of colour – Borissova’s plangent double-stopping in the second movement’s homage to Lorca is sultry without being sentimental. And it’s highly effective, too, in Seabourne’s A Portrait and Four Nocturnes: not, Seabourne insists, a sort of ‘Chopiniana’ but an expressionistic meditation on romanticism itself, etched in silvery harmonics and midnight-black clouds of piano tone, and realised with hallucinatory clarity by Borissova and Battarino. The composer (who co-produced the disc) must feel gratified at a performance of such character and conviction.

-- Richard Bratby, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://limelight-arts.com.au/reviews/vladigerov-%E2%80%A2-poulenc-%E2%80%A2-seabourne-violin-sonatas-irina-borissova-giacomo-battarino/

https://artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2019/07/12/borissova-plays-vladigerov-poulenc-seabourne/

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Pancho Vladigerov (13 March 1899 – 8 September 1978) was a Bulgarian composer, pedagogue and pianist. He is arguably the most influential Bulgarian composer of all time, and was one of the first to successfully combine Bulgarian folk music and classical music. Vladigerov marked the beginning of a number of genres in Bulgarian music, including violin sonata and piano trio. He was also a very respected pedagogue; his students include practically all notable Bulgarian composers of the next generation, such as Alexander Raichev, Alexander Yossifov, Stefan Remenkov, and many others, as well as the pianist Alexis Weissenberg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Vladigerov

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Francis Poulenc (7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. He was one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-known are the ballet Les biches (1923), the Concert champêtre (1928), and the Organ Concerto (1938). In addition to his work as a composer, Poulenc was an accomplished pianist. He toured in Europe and America with the baritone Pierre Bernac and the soprano Denise Duval, and made a number of recordings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Poulenc

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Peter Seabourne (born 1960) is an English contemporary classical composer based in Lincolnshire, England. He studied at Clare College, Cambridge with Robin Holloway, and University of York with David Blake. Seabourne's catalogue includes six symphonies, seven concerti and ten large piano cycles called Steps. His work has been broadcast in Norway, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Portugal, Israel, Norway and United States. Seabourne's compositions has roots in the neo-Romantic tradition. The Italian label Sheva Contemporary has issued fourteen CDs of the composer's work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Seabourne

http://peterseabourne.com/

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Irina Borissova (born 1985) is a Bulgarian violinist.

https://www.casalmaggiorefestival.com/irina-borissova/

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Giacomo Battarino is a Italian pianist.

https://www.casalmaggiorefestival.com/giacomo-battarino/

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