1942 Copland: Violin Sonata; Poulenc: Violin Sonata; Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 2 Benjamin Baker (violin), Daniel Lebhardt (piano) Delphian DCD34247 64:27 mins
All three works were started in 1942 – a coincidence Benjamin Baker admits he and Daniel Lebhardt ‘stumbled upon’ rather than consciously made a factor in their original selection. Still, there are subtle connections: there’s Paris, where all three composers were resident at one time or another, and Nadia Boulanger, both Copland’s beloved teacher and a friend and colleague of Poulenc’s, the latter in turn being a friend and admirer of Prokofiev’s. While Copland and Prokofiev’s sonatas, written far from Paris, have a wistful quality (Prokofiev’s being inspired by the flute playing of the French flautist Georges Barrère, only subsequently being revised for violin), Poulenc’s by turns pugnacious and melodically beguiling sonata was written as a memorial to Federico García Lorca.
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Baker brings out each work’s sweet melancholy with expressive phrasing. Through his lightly handled bowing, the opening phrases of the Copland Sonata morph effortlessly into a dance rhythm; equally compelling are its limpid central movement and boisterous finale, with Baker’s well-sprung rhythms well matched by Lebhardt. Even more impressive, given Poulenc’s self-admitted lack of identification with the violin, is Baker’s performance of the Frenchman’s Sonata, which he plays with ingenuous expression, complemented by Lebhardt’s sturdy accompaniment. Rather unexpectedly, insouciance proves to be dispensable in the Poulenc; yet its absence in the Prokofiev dims something of that work’s vitality, and its second movement Scherzo is taken just a touch too steadily to have that spark of daredevilry found by other performers. Still, the Copland and the Poulenc are ones to keep.
Daniel Jaffé