Piano Sonata no. 1
Eight Pieces for piano
Concerto for piano and string orchestra

Svetlana Ponomareva (piano)

MV Productions SPPSCD 06

This is an intriguing release. Svetlana Ponomarëva is a pianist whose devotion to the music of Schnittke is, on the evidence of this recording, in no doubt whatsoever. The Sonata for Piano No. 1, is Schnittke on a grand scale, but using minimal forces – at least when compared to his uncompromising approach to orchestrating with often massive or exotically colourful forces. The first Lento movement begins sparingly, making the listener lean forward and pay attention through sparing, attenuated, softly spoken musical argument. 6:30 into the movement a chorale is introduced, which entices us into believing we are actually in safer, Satie-esque realms, but with Schnittke the uneasiness and sense of danger is never far away. Svetlana Ponomarëva has written personal programme notes, and describes the Sonata as a cross, with all the symbolic associations this implies. In fact there would seem be something of a symbolism fixation going on here, with subtitles imposed onto the works as they are presented on the CD. This is not necessarily helpful, but would appear to be an attempt to relate the ‘difficult’ music on this CD with the Bach and Liszt on Ponomarëva’s previous recordings.

The Sonata is by no means an easy work, but the music has enough connections with 20th century tradition to make intuitive analysis relatively unproblematic. The second Allegretto movement has a kind of modal/serial tonality going on, with plenty of disorientating atonality and rhythmic and dynamic violence to justify Ponomarëva referring to it as a ‘crucifixion.’ The third movement is another desolate Lento, with a similar, sustained and searching main section, which resolves into a simple chorale, and climaxing with a rising, cluster-like chordal apotheosis. The fourth movement follows straight on, re-asserting the rhythmic drive and energy of the second. It’s not beautiful, and you probably won’t feel inclined to dance to it, but it has an undeniably compelling quality for which Ponomarëva is a skilled advocate.

The outer booklet photo has a charming photo of a little boy who may or may not be Andrei, Schnittke’s son - we are not told in the notes - but is certainly a reference to him as the dedicatee of the Little Piano Pieces. Each piece is a deceptively simple miniature, working largely Mikrokosmos style around the middle of the keyboard, but with plenty of dissonant surprises and being at times technically quite demanding. Schnittke’s work is almost invariably tinged with melancholy, and this is true of these works as well, giving them a poetic depth which is often missing in other works intended for children. The little laugh at the end of the last piece is a nice touch, if a little twee.

The piano solo works on this disc are dry, studio recordings, which are clear and well defined. There should be a Caveat Emptor however for the Piano Concerto. This is an amateur recording made by Pavel Okunev from his seat in the audience, and is in a thin, indistinct mono which has plenty of distortion and what sounds like limiting compression at peak levels, all of which emphasises the boomy acoustic of the hall and clouds any kind of detail. This is a shame as, from what I can make of it, this was a significant and powerful performance. It was the last concert conducted by Yuri Nikolaevsky, a distinguished musician with his own following, who was a champion of contemporary music and who often worked with and was a friend of Schnittke. The energy and urgency of the performance belie the elderly conductor’s frailty and ill health, and it certainly sounds as if he is getting 110% commitment from the orchestra.

I have nothing against presenting an historical document of this nature, but feel that the CD label should at least give a ‘Mono’ indication, so that purchasers don’t feel let down when they get the thing home and find their ears being given a hard time. So many advances in cheap portable live recording devices have been made in the last few years that I really wonder what was used to make this one. I know for certain I could have done a better job with my box-of-matches sized minidisc recorder bought over the internet for peanuts, so there is really no excuse, even in Omsk. If you are looking for Schnittke’s Piano Concerto then look elsewhere. I recommend the Chandos recording by Igor Khudolei and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra under Valeri Polyansky if you can find it, or the Bis recording under Lev Markiz.

A bit of a mixed bag then. If you are looking for the substantial and by all accounts rarely-recorded piano sonata then I can give this recording a fair recommendation, and if you are interested in Yuri Nikolaevsky then this will make an interesting souvenir of his final concert. Audiophiles wanting a decent recording of the Piano Concerto, you have been warned.

Dominy Clements
MusicWeb, June 2006