Ernest Bloch; Paul Ben-Haim - Music for Violin & Piano (Hagai Shaham; Arnon Erez)

Information

Composer: Ernest Bloch; Paul Ben-Haim

• Bloch - Baal Shem
• Bloch - Suite hébraïque
• Bloch - Suites for solo violin Nos. 1 & 2
• Ben-Haim - Sonata for solo violin in G minor, Op. 44
• Ben-Haim - Berceuse sfaradite
• Ben-Haim - Improvisation and Dance, Op. 30

Hagai Shaham, violin

Arnon Erez, piano

Date: 2007

Label: Hyperion

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Review

Hagai Shaham and Arnon Erez have already issued one Bloch CD including the two violin and piano sonatas (Hyperion, 4/05) and this disc completes their survey of his violin music. The two unaccompanied suites date from 1958, the year before Bloch’s death; they combine a chromatic idiom with a strong sense of tonality. Occasionally the music seems to lack individuality – the third movement of the First Suite is almost like pastiche Bach and its final cadence is academically predictable – but more often one’s attention is caught and held by the expressive melodic writing and, in both suites, by a compelling sense of continuity. Shaham revels in Bloch’s demanding yet imaginatively idiomatic violin writing. In the solo suites, as well as the more extravagantly emotional pieces with piano on Jewish themes, he enters wholeheartedly into the feeling of the music yet retains a measure of balance and restraint – the vibrato isn’t exaggerated and a feeling of rhapsodic freedom is achieved without sacrificing natural flow.

Bloch’s popularity has waned somewhat in recent decades, and the Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim (1897–1984) is even more poorly represented in the CD catalogue. His Solo Sonata, written for Yehudi Menuhin, is, however, a masterly work, not at all original in form and idiom, perhaps, but full of memorable ideas. Shaham’s playing of the central Lento e sotto voce is stunningly beautiful. And the “Improvisation and Dance”, a folk-style showpiece after the manner of the Bartók rhapsodies, inspires both Shaham and Erez to brilliant feats of virtuosity.

— Duncan Druce

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Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer known for blending post-Romantic and neoclassical styles with Jewish musical themes. He studied in Switzerland and Belgium, taught at the Geneva Conservatory, and moved to the U.S. in 1916. Bloch became the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music and later led the San Francisco Conservatory. He taught at UC Berkeley until retiring in 1952. Bloch's compositions, influenced by Debussy, Mahler, and Ravel, include Schelomo, Baal Shem, Avodath Hakodesh, Concerto Grosso No. 1, and Israel Symphony, among others.

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Paul Ben-Haim (5 July 1897 – 14 January 1984) was an Israeli composer. Born in Munich, he studied under Friedrich Klose and worked as an assistant conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch before becoming conductor in Augsburg. After emigrating to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1933, he settled in Tel Aviv and adopted a Hebraized name. Ben-Haim became a key figure in Israeli music, blending late Romantic style with Middle Eastern elements to create a distinct Jewish national sound. He composed widely across genres and taught many notable students, influencing generations of Israeli musicians.

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Hagai Shaham (born July 8, 1966) is an Israeli violin virtuoso. He began studying the violin at the age of six and was the last student of the late Professor Ilona Feher. In September 1990, Shaham and his duo partner Arnon Erez won the first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. As a soloist he has performed with many of the world's major orchestras, as well as in recitals and chamber music performances. Shaham regularly tours throughout Europe, and North and South America, performing at international recital series and festivals. He has recorded for the Biddulph, Hyperion, Avie and Naxos labels.

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Arnon Erez is an acclaimed Israeli pianist. A graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University, he pursued further chamber music studies in the United States with the Guarneri Quartet. His international career began in 1990, after winning—together with his duo partner Hagai Shaham—the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. As a concert pianist, Erez has performed in numerous major concert halls and festivals around the world. He has recorded for several labels such as Hyperion, Biddulph and Nimbus. Erez currently teaches at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music.

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