Frank Martin - Cello Works (Christian Poltéra)

Information

Composer: Frank Martin

• Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
• Ballade for Cello and Piano
• 8 Preludes for Piano

Christian Poltéra, cello

Malmö Symphony Orchestra

Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen, conductor

Kathryn Stott, piano

Date: 2007

Label: BIS

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Review

Many music lovers will not have been exposed to much of Frank Martin’s music, and that includes me. So I was quite bowled over in discovering the Cello Concerto, so eloquently and sensitively played here. It is no exaggeration to state that this rapt performance presents this noble concerto with an inspirational intensity to compare with the celebrated Du Pré/Barbirolli recording of the Elgar Concerto. The works share a similar deep, poignant, meditative feeling, although Martin’s concerto also has a distinct valedictory character, expressive melancholy which suggests personal loss.

The soloist opens with a gloriously lyrical theme which is to dominate the movement (commentators have likened it to Vaughan Williams). A skittish development is in tarantella rhythm with bolder clashes of angry dissonance but at the close comes the balm of the return of the ravishing opening material. Unexpectedly, the touching central Adagietto is in the form of a passacaglia. This sadness is all but dispelled in the brilliantly rhythmic finale, yet the lyricism creeps back and even the tarantella returns briefly before the close.

The (much earlier) Ballade is a free fantasia-like dialogue between cello and piano, Kathryn Stott and Christian Poltéra enjoying a perfect partnership. Martin dallied with Schoenberg’s 12-note system and he uses it in the Eight Preludes. But he had no intention of giving up tonality, and the result is a stunning set of great variety and resource, thrillingly played by Stott.

This disc, given state-of-the-art recording – the piano sound is among the most realistic I’ve heard – makes an ideal introduction to Martin’s music; it will surely be one of my 2008 Critic’s Choices. And I hope the Cello Concerto will find its way regularly into the concert hall, just as Barber’s Violin Concerto has done.

— Ivan March

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Frank Martin (15 September 1890 – 21 November 1974) was a Swiss composer. Born in Geneva, he studied under Joseph Lauber and Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. He served as president of the Swiss Musicians' Union (1943–1946) before moving to the Netherlands. A performer as well as a composer, Martin toured widely as a pianist and harpsichordist. His compositions blended German influences, especially Bach, with French harmonic innovations. Notable works include the oratorios Le Vin herbé and Golgotha, the opera Der Sturm, and a Requiem, along with numerous concertos, orchestral and chamber works.

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Christian Poltéra (born 1977 in Zürich) is a Swiss cellist. He studied with Nancy Chumachenco, Boris Pergamenschikow and Heinrich Schiff. As a soloist he works with eminent orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, under such conductors as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly and Andris Nelsons. He also devotes himself intensively to chamber music, being a founding member of the Trio Zimmermann. Poltéra teaches at the Lucerne University. He plays a Antonio Casini cello from 1675 and the famous "Mara" Stradivari from 1711.

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