Pentatone 5186 717
Alisa Weilerstein’s latest recording, Transfigured Night, is a debut in itself; it’s her first on the Pentatone label and in collaboration with Norway’s Trondheim Soloists, of which she is Artistic Partner. The selections highlight the so-called First and Second Viennese Schools, and also serve as a personal tribute to her grandparents who escaped from Vienna a few years after Arnold Schoenberg’s departure – in other words, just in time.
As a result of Weilerstein’s cultural connection to a city that turns out exceptional musicians and composers such as Schubert, Korngold, Berg, Webern, Zemlinsky, Cerha and Joe Zawinul - Haydn’s first and second cello concertos and Schoenberg’s Verklaerte Nacht (Transfigured Night) are the feature works.
The ensemble Trondheim Soloists was formed in 1988 by a bunch of really talented Norwegian music students who were at ease playing traditional and new age repertoire. They now regularly collaborate with world-class artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter and Leif Ove Andsnes. These Trondheim Soloists share a musical personality that is quite unique; their concept of sound and technical dexterity is so razor sharp that harmonic and melodic twists are encapsulated in a musical permafrost that zings with clarity and crystalline finesse - of which the effect is both stark and thrilling.
Weilerstein’s approach seems an ideal match, as her playing draws out the unfiltered purity and vitality of Haydn’s two cello concertos. The D Major’s outer movements are given an up-tempo reading, which creates a refreshing change from the more lugubrious interpretations of this work. Weilerstein sails through the first movement cadenza with a kind of fearless assurance and temperament reserved for a flashy Piatti Caprice. She displays a lilting bel canto sonority in the Adagio and exuberant virtuosity in the Rondo – also shown in the C Major concerto’s final movement.
But a type of heavy duty, intoxicating emotionalism can be found in Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, in the revised version for string orchestra of 1943. This work was written in 1899, before the composer fell off the cliff of conventional tonality and is based on a poem of which a woman shares an intimate secret with a man while walking through a moonlit forest. Fortunately, this transcendent quality is exemplified in other compositions such as Strauss’ Metamorphosen, which was composed in 1945.
In fact, Weilerstein will perform the Piano Trio version of Verklaerte Nacht next year with pianist Inon Barnatan and violinist Sergey Khachatryan – a work that was arranged by Eduard Steuermann who studied with Schoenberg and premiered his piano concerto in 1944.
A dark surrealism permeates Transfigured Night, not to mention a feeling that the composer was influenced by Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and the Liebestod aria. The Trondheim Soloists infuse this work with hair razing intensity, as in the Molto Rallentando, and a collective sonic uniformity that elevates the lush, atmospheric passagework of the Adagio to new heights.
Attractive booklet presentation also makes you ready to kick back and enjoy a transfigured listening experience.