Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
Cello Sonata in D minor, H. 125 (1913-17)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Cello Sonata in D minor, L. 135 (1915)
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
Pohádka (Fairy Tale) (1910)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 65 (1961)
Truls Mørk (cello)
Håvard Gimse (piano)
rec. 2021, Sofienberg Church, Oslo, Norway
ALPHA 560 [71]

Truls Mørk and Håvard Gimse team up here for fine performances of four cello sonatas, three of which were composed in the early part of the twentieth century. The exception is of course Benjamin Britten’s that he composed for Mstislav Rostropovich. All four of these works have been recorded by Rostropovich and Britten in what many consider definitive accounts. I would certainly concede that that is true for the Bridge and Britten pieces, but not necessarily for the other two sonatas. What one notices from the very start of the Bridge sonata, with which the disc begins, is Mørk’s fulsome tone. He is partnered very well throughout by Gimse and the recorded sound is really present, upfront, so much so that it is best to lower the volume for a realistic perspective. That said, I have found much to like in these accounts.

Frank Bridge composed his Cello Sonata during World War I and the agony of that time is apparent throughout, especially in the second movement. The sonata begins with a dark, lyrical cello theme over piano accompaniment gorgeously played here. There is much in this movement that haunts one with its atmosphere of melancholy, while the second movement is harder for me to like. It is more chromatic than the previous one and, as Richard Bratby comments in the booklet note, display’s Bridge’s anguish in “utter despair over the futility of war.” This movement contains the usual slow section, but also a brief scherzo-like part, and an epilogue of sorts. Mørk and Gimse capture the mood of the work well.

The CD programme follows with the two shorter and somewhat lighter pieces of Debussy and Janáček. While both of these works receive excellent accounts, there are others that I prefer.
Like Janáček, Debussy originally titled his sonata Pierrot fâché avec la lune and its movements contain titles themselves: Prologue, Sérénade, and Final, as well as the usual tempo and interpretative indications. Janáček, on the other hand, never called his work a sonata, but kept the programmatic title of Fairy Tale (Pohádka) based on a nineteenth-century poem by Vasily Zhukovsky. It is nonetheless a sonata in its final form in three movements, having such descriptors, as Con moto and Allegro. He also composed a separate Presto that sometimes follows the sonata on recordings. Here Mørk and Gimse play the three-movement, final version. Debussy’s work contains much whimsy, but also sadness. It is a rather elusive piece to bring off and it can sound overdone. Mørk’s cello is full-throated and his tempos are on the deliberate side. I appreciate the utter beauty of his playing, but find the subtler approaches of Gautier Capuçon/Frank Braley and, especially, Edgar Moreau/Bertrand Chamayou (both Erato) more to my liking. They characterize the music better with more varied dynamics and tempo, though I would be more than satisfied with the present performers if I had not heard the others.

It is good to see Janáček’s sonata placed among other major works in the genre, where its title could work against such inclusion. It fails, however, to be listed on the front of either the case or the booklet. Mørk and Gimse do full justice to the piece and, as with the other works on the disc, the balance between cello and piano seems ideal. For me their principal competition comes from Steven Isserlis and Olli Mustonen, which seems to be available now only as part of an RCA collection of the cellist’s complete recordings on that label. What makes that account so valuable is the inclusion of the alternate, earlier version of the work with the Presto movement. A superb account by cellist Evzen Rattay and pianist Radoslav Kvapil (Regis) also contains the Presto as a separate track. I find little to choose between those performances and can confidently consider the present duo as nearly their equal. They all bring out the lyricism and the drama of this potent piece.

The final work on the programme, Britten’s Cello Sonata, belongs to a much later period after the composer met Rostropovich. According to Bratby, Britten had shared a box with Shostakovich for the illustrious cellist’s British premiere of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Britten’s meeting with Rostropovich lead to the composition of his Cello Sonata. The work is cast in five movements with the titles, Dialogo, Scherzo-Pizzicato, Elegia, Marcia, and Moto Perpetuo. The sonata contains a wide variety of moods from the songful and elegiac of the first and third movements to the ghostly scherzo, forceful march, and dazzling finale. As a tribute to his friend, Shostakovich, Britten quotes his DSCH motto in that last movement, something Shostakovich himself did in a number of his compositions. Mørk and Gimse hold their own against their authoritative predecessors in this piece, leaving little to choose between them.

This is an excellently programmed disc, admirably performed and well recorded. It should provide plenty of pleasure. Alpha are also to be commended for their cardboard product with sleeves for inserting both CD and booklet.

Leslie Wright

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