Rameau`s harpsichord work is simply terrific

Over the past half century, some 2,000 long-playing records and compact discs have been issued on the Vanguard and Bach Guild labels.

Now, the record house is releasing a selection of these recordings on a new label titled "Amadeus, Seymour Solomon Collection."

Solomon is producer and president of the organization and, in a brief message that accompanies the notes with this disc, says, "there are certain records, because of their intrinsic beauty, both in performance and uniqueness of repertoire, that retain a special place in my heart."

These recordings, then, will be one man`s evaluation of his own work. I think he could not have chosen a finer recording - at which I take to be the beginning or near the beginning of these releases - than this superb recording of harpsichord music by the great French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). Rameau stands with the greatest French composers of all time. Alas, he is little played today.

The 14 harpsichord pieces on this are among some half-a-hundred he published during his lifetime. And what we hear is simply terrific music. Those who might have considered the harpsichord to be a dainty instrument used to play dainty music at some stiff 17th-century social function will be in for a surprise. From the very first work, "Le Rappel des oiseaux" (The Call of the Birds), Rameau shows the power that can be written into music for and the excitement that can be produced by the harpsichord.

Always, of course, providing there is a master at the keyboard. Anton Heiller (1923-1979) was one of the most accomplished keyboard artists of his day. He made many recordings for Vanguard Classics. We listen to him here in excellent remastered sound.

Rameau`s operas and opera-ballets, once held by French music lovers to be the greatest works of their kind, fell out of favor even during the composer`s lifetime. They are rarely performed today. A number of them - or selections from them - are listed in Schwann`s recordings guide OPUS, and there is a scattering of his pieces for harpsichord, organ and works in other forms.

And if we wonder why his harpsichord pieces have not found favor with pianists, the writer of the notes with this disc, Sidney Finkelstein, offers this information:

"His masterful keyboard works have also suffered, but for a different reason: because they explore the unique coloristic and virtuoso resources of the harpsichord so well, they simply do not suit the piano."

Perhaps we may hope for an increase in the number of harpsichord virtuosos. This is music that deserves to live, not least of all for Rameau`s ground-breaking brilliance in challenging the structure of harmony of his time.

SHCHEDRIN, Rodion: Concerto Cantabile. STRAVINSKY: Violin Concerto. TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade melancolique. Maxim Vengerov, violin; London Symphony Orchestra; Mstislav Rostropovich, conductor. EMI Classics 56966.

The compositional life of the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin has been, to date, the last half of the 20th century. His work is not especially well known in the United States. Perhaps this is because it is not programmed frequently by orchestras in this country and also because so little of it is recorded on labels not readily accessible at most outlets.

And, of course, it is what many listeners might term "new music" of the 20th century, this term being used in a somewhat derogatory manner, meaning that it is not written with easily recognized, sustained melodic lines and in "traditional" harmonic structure.

While giving away nothing of past forms, we can hope for a willingness to accept new ones as we begin this new millennium. Shchedrin`s is the kind of music that may well make its way to popularity with new generations of music lovers.

The composer chose to call this work a Concerto Cantabile rather than a Violin Concerto. He says of this decision:

"I understand the term `cantabile` to express firstly a certain tension in the `soul` of the notes, and also the manner in which they are produced. The term also refers to the juxtaposition, interweaving, conflict and resolution of the soloist`s singing lines against the orchestra."

It is a brilliant piece of music, played brilliantly by Vengerov, a virtuoso violinist well known throughout Europe and the Far East, ut yet to make an appearance in the United States.

Stravinsky`s Concerto for Violin dates from 1930. It is a work he is said to have hesitated in making because he himself was not a violinist. We can be glad he did decide to create this excellent concerto, because he produced something quite different, quite charming, and at the same time quite challenging to the performing artist.

And perhaps after this "challenging" music of Shchedrin and Stravinsky, conductor and soloist thought it might be best to end with tradition. They have done so beautifully with Tchaikovsky`s heart-tugging "Serenade melancolique." It makes a nice ending to a program that is otherwise, in spite of its brilliance, often taxing.

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: King Durkee