Dobrinka Tabakova: Concerto for Viola and Strings*; Concerto for Cello and Strings**; Orpheus’ Comet; Earth Suite
*Maxim Rysanov (viola), **Guy Johnston (cello); Hallé Orchestra/Delyana Lazarova
Hallé CD HLL 7562
Bulgarian-British composer Dobrinka Tabakova has declared it her mission to write music ‘with a mind and heart’. Complex but always richly communicative, her compositions demonstrate this blend to a tee and have been quietly making waves for some years now. Tabakova’s debut profile album, String Paths, was nominated for a Grammy Award and her second album, devoted to her choral music, received very high praise indeed. This outstanding recording collects several of her larger-scale works to mark the end of Tabakova’s stint as artist-in-residence with the Hallé, who here bring a bravura performance under the baton of conductor, and fellow-Bulgarian, Delyana Lazarova.
The selection opens with a glorious burst of energy in the form of standalone orchestral work Orpheus’ Comet (2017). Written for the 50th anniversary of the Euroradio ‘Music Exchanges’, the piece draws playfully on the theme music used for these broadcasts: the opening of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. Tabakova accordingly delved into the Orpheus myth and was drawn especially to the character of Aristaeus the beekeeper, represented here in the taut buzz of French horns at the work’s opening. The piece as a whole has all the exuberance of a fanfare and Tabakova’s scintillating orchestral textures and ear for a melody hold something of the same thrilling energy and intricacy of John Adams’ music.
Composed in 2004, Tabakova’s Concerto for Viola and Strings is a magnificent showcase for the soloist and the piece’s working title ‘The Song of the Enchanting Viola’ conveys something of the works expressive lyricism. Maxim Rysanov brings a terrifically full-bodied performance to the concerto’s powerful outer movements, while adventuring deep into the timbral possibilities of the instrument in the work’s more mysterious inner movements.
The Concerto for Cello and Strings (2008) summons a rawer emotional energy, by turns ferocious and tender. The work is loosely cast in three separate movements but, in Tabakova’s words, has the feeling of ‘one seamless form. I had a very specific idea that I wanted to get across: a vision of ascent through the three movements.’ Soloist Guy Johnston here gives a towering performance that responds to the score’s every shift in mood with complete assurance.
The album is completed by the orchestral work Earth Suite (2018-20). Each of its three freestanding movements were inspired, in the composer’s words, by ‘the overwhelming force of nature’, from the fizz and menace of ‘Tectonic’, to the deep reach of ‘Pacific’, which captures something of the vast scale of the ocean in its pulsing lower winds and snaking melodies. ‘Timber & Steel’ is more playful in its conceit. Written to celebrate the 150th ‘birthday’ of Proms founder Henry Wood, the work references his nickname, ‘Timber’, in its title, while also exploring the ‘founding materials’ of industrialisation. Wood and metal are accordingly pitted against one another musically here, with the rattle of marimbas heard against bright flashes of brass.
Beautifully performed and recorded, this is a first-rate release, offering a timely showcase of this exceptionally talented composer. Kate Wakeling
