GINASTERA Glosses on Themes of Pablo Casals: op. 46 for string quintet and string orchestra1; op. 48 for orchestra1. Variaciones concertantes2 • Gisèle Ben-Dor, cond; 1London SO: 2 Israel CO •
NAXOS 8.572249 (58:46)
Naxos is doing well by Ginastera. The label has recorded much of his chamber music, including the complete string quartets, and reissued two significant recordings of his orchestral music. This is the second of those reissues, recorded in 1995 and originally available on the Koch label.
The main point of interest in this program is the inclusion of both version of the late masterwork Glosses on Themes of Pablo Casals. The version for strings came first, written to celebrate the centenary of the beloved Catalan cellist in I975. (Ginastera’s cellist wife, Aurora, had been one of Casals’ disciples.) Two years later Rostropovich, then at the helm of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C.. asked the composer for a new work and the result was the second version, fully scored and considerably re-thought in orchestral terms, so much so that it warranted a different opus number.
The work is more of an imaginative deconstruction and decoration of themes than a straightforward set of variations, hence the title “glosses”. Several pieces by Casals are quoted: in the first movement, a solemn chorale from his Prayer to the Virgin of Montserrat, an ardent love song in the second movement, and in the penultimate fourth movement the cellist’s well-known encore piece, Song of the Birds. In this work, Ginastera’s musical interests come together: His distant Catalan roots and (in the concluding sardana) Argentinean dance rhythms along with the technical intricacies of his late orchestral style, bracingly avant-garde at the time.
While the orchestral version is a true showpiece with many fascinating and effective moments—I love the (Gabrieli-style brass. scoring of the choral theme in the first movement—the string version has greater strength and unity. The work’s free-form structure feels less piecemeal when held together by string timbres. I know of a couple of fine recordings of full orchestral version postdating this one, but none of the string version. It is an asset to be able to compare both on one disc, and a salutary reminder of the composer’s fastidious ear for texture. The London Symphony play beautifully for Gisèle Ben-Dor, a specialist in Latin American music.
In between the two Glosses comes a set of genuine variations. The Variaciones Concertantes for chamber orchestra of 1953. The original theme is built on a chord of rising fourths, equating to the open strings of a guitar. A string ensemble provides the backdrop to a series of variations featuring one or two wind soloists per variation. All the forces come together in the final movement, which employs a favorite stamping dance rhythm of the composer, the Malambo. A popular and oft-recorded work, it receives a fine performance from the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
This has always been one of the most satisfying discs in the Ginastera catalog. If you missed it the first time around, you now have a bargain opportunity to remedy that error. Phillip Scott
266 Fanfare July/August 2010