Obviously intended as a showcase for Maxim Rysanov, whose name appears in bold type, this outstanding pair of discs deserves to be heard as widely as possible – not just by viola players or admirers of Brahms’ chamber music. As a viola player myself, I have no hesitation in describing Rysanov as the greatest master of the instrument I have ever heard. Today there are more star-quality viola players than ever before, including Tabea Zimmermann, Yuri Bashmet, Lawrence Power, Kim Kashkashian and Nobuko Imai. Yet for me Rysanov is even more exciting than these illustrious virtuosi. For me the two Brahms Sonatas have never sounded such great works, and I believe many listeners will be similarly persuaded by Rysanov’s phenomenal performances.
 
Surely there has been too much emphasis on the autumnal qualities associated with Brahms’ late music. Is this not a lazy cliché, describing only one element of these multi-faceted works? In the two clarinet/viola sonatas there is no shortage of muscularity, passion, energy, humour or light-heartedness, but it takes performances of this stature to open up the wide expressive range which Brahms encompasses in these works. Rysanov is a great musician who plays the viola – not merely an outstanding instrumentalist. There is an ease about his playing, a total expressive freedom which is absolutely thrilling. Also one quickly takes for granted his perfect intonation.
 
The matter of viola tone is a question of personal taste. The instrument can sound veiled, foggy or, on the C string, booming, and to some these qualities may seem ideal. Rysanov produces a fabulous quality of sound – honeyed yet extremely clear, paradoxical though this may seem. No matter how forceful he can be - and his dynamic range is remarkable – he always sounds as though he has more in reserve.
 
Tone in itself is only one aspect. A ravishing sound soon becomes cloying if not sufficiently varied. Rysanov has an excellent instinct for those passages of lower emotional temperature which benefit from a reduction of vibrato or a shadowy tone. Equally he negotiates the tricky semiquaver arpeggio passages in the opening movement of the F minor sonata and the final movement of the E flat sonata with terrific clarity and élan. These are the passages which usually sound better on Brahms’ first-choice instrument, the clarinet, but Rysanov completely banishes any thoughts that the viola is a lesser alternative.
 
As I suggested, the prevailing view of Brahms’ late music as autumnal needs revising. Many performers perhaps temper their approach, allowing too much “old man’s” nostalgia. After all, Brahms was only into his early sixties, and his creative rejuvenation motivated by Mühlfeld’s clarinet playing is especially obvious in the fire and passion of the Clarinet Quintet.
 
Rysanov plays the Vivace finale of the F minor sonata with marvellous energy and extrovert spirit. Again, the grazioso passage in the variation finale of the E flat sonata is not only graceful but more playful and skittish than I ever imagined it. From the E flat sonata the second movement is truly appassionato as well as heroic. These are just a few examples of the revelatory nature of Rysanov’s interpretations.
 
Having said my piece about this fabulous viola-player, I must not neglect the other fantastic musicians on these discs. They are all exceptional chamber-music players and I quite honestly could not wish to hear more intensely musical and committed interpretations of these various works. Brahms’ piano parts are always demanding, but both Rysanov’s partners are superb in every respect. There is more light and shade in Brahms than is often realised – his music does not have to be heavily Teutonic and strenuous all the time – and these performances admirably support this view. I had to keep playing these CDs just to make sure I was not overdoing the superlatives, but I stand by my first impressions. This really is completely inspired music-making.
 
On the question of arrangements, it has to be said that the reservations I had regarding these alternative versions of the two trios soon evaporated. Brahms himself wrote to publisher Simrock “My Horn-Trio should be provided with a viola part instead of the cello! With cello it sounds dreadful, but splendid with the viola! The title should read: Horn or viola!” Brahms is known also to have rehearsed the A minor Trio – a great work which has always been overshadowed by the Clarinet Quintet – with viola. In this version the viola part is particularly difficult, much of it lying in a high register, but Rysanov makes it sound effortless and totally natural. In both the trios the combination of two string instruments with piano is very satisfying, and on the strength of these performances I would question why we don’t hear these alternatives more often.
 
The G major Violin Sonata is played here - transposed into D major - in an adaptation by Paul Klengel (1854-1935), who was “house arranger” at Simrock. The lowering of key may be disconcerting to some, but with a performance of this quality any such reservations should soon be forgotten.
 
The listed timings are slightly inaccurate, while the notes (brief but good) include a section on Brahms and the viola, summaries of the included works and biographies of all the players. Happily the foliage art-work is not too autumnal, and actually very beautiful. The recorded sound and balance are all one could wish for.
 
This recording is on my list of CDs of the year. I’d be surprised if there were anything classier in the chamber music section. I dearly hope Onyx will engage Rysanov to record Schumann’s chamber music including solo viola as soon as possible.
 
Philip Borg-Wheeler

 

 

This two CD set is a collection of Brahms' chamber works in versions for or transcribed for viola. It is performed here by the young and very talented Maxim Rysanov, winner of the prestigious 2008 Classic FM Gramophone Young Artist of the Year. Four of the five works were originally written for clarinet, and were inspired by Brahms' friendship with the clarinettist Richard Muhlfeld, which flourished late in the composer's life. The fifth is the Trio (Op. 40) originally for horn (here viola), violin and piano, which is a considerably earlier work.
The CD 1 opens with the first of the two Sonatas making up Op. 120, for clarinet / viola and piano. Its companion is found opening the second of the two discs. They were written in the aftermath of bereavement - the death of two close friends of the composer. Each has a melancholy atmosphere. The first, in F minor, is passionate but edgy in mood and tone. The exception is in the graceful and very slow Andante which comprises its second movement. The music then metaphorically rouses itself and returns to a mood of restless and nervous energy. The Vivace finale is characterised by a bell-like tolling motif, reiterating the mood of loss and mourning. Although the viola is in the foreground, Katya Apekisheva on piano deserves commendation too. Her playing, subtle and always appropriate, balances the strings but never overshadows them. In the second sonata, the piano part is taken by Jacob Katsnelson, who takes a slightly more prominent role in this more tranquil and lyrical work: Brahms' final contribution to the repertoire of chamber music.
This work is followed by another sonata, a transcription for viola - to which Rysanov has himself contributed in the details of the arrangement - of Violin Sonata no. 1 in G major, Op. 78. This is one of a series of three violin sonatas composed for Joseph Joachim and contemporaneous with the Violin Concerto. It is nicknamed "Regenlied" - "The Rain Song" due to the similarity of its rhythm to the pattering of raindrops. This analogy is clearly brought out in this performance. The work is also described as "an idyll under cloudy skies". Clara Schumann was fond of the piece and wished its last movement to "accompany her in her journey from here into the next world".
The last of the three works on the first disc is a trio in E flat, Op. 40. This is from much earlier in the composer's output and the only work here not to be in sonata form. Here instead of a transposition of writing for clarinet, it is the horn for which the viola is substituted. This work is contemporaneous with the German Requiem, both being written shortly after the death of the composer's mother. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is predominantly sorrowful - especially the mesto slow (third) movement. This is relieved only by the finale, a hunting scene perhaps inspired by walking in the Black Forest where this work was written. However, it has a very characteristically Brahmsian sound - echoing the second and third symphonies as well as the German Requiem. It is in some ways more straightforward for the listener than the sequence of very late works which make up the backbone of this recording. In this way it serves to refresh the ear and anchor one's listening experience.
The second disc of the pair is more homogeneous than the first, containing two works both from the late series inspired by Richard Muhlfeld: the second of the Op. 120 Sonatas (q.v.) - Brahms' final chamber work - and an A minor trio, Op. 114, for clarinet/viola, cello and piano. The trio is, perhaps understandably, better known in its original form, but it is interesting to hear this variation. The viola's part in the Trio is pretty much a straightforward transcription of the original clarinet part, whereas in arranging the Op. 120 sonatas, Brahms gave them more work to create a new character with the new instrumentation.
Maxim Rysanov is originally from the Ukraine but is now based in London. He has also recorded a disc featuring both the Kancheli concerto Styx and John Tavener's The Myrrh Bearer - a Gramophone Editor's choice. There is another highly recommended disc of Bach chamber works, with the cellist Torleif Thedéen and the violinist Janine Jansen. Whilst continuing his career as a soloist, he appears as a conductor. He has forthcoming British concerts with the Britten Sinfonia and with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Further details are on his own website, www.maximrysanov.com.
The other players, who are all very distinguished multiple prize-winners in their own rights, play their own respective parts skilfully and commendably. In particular, Kristine Blaumane's cello in the Op. 114 Trio is a pleasure in itself.
The disc is perhaps of most interest to those wishing to approach Brahms' chamber repertoire with thoroughness, although these transcriptions are perfectly pleasant to listen to. Three of these works were composed specifically for a great clarinettist and although Brahms was persuaded by his publisher that providing an alternative part for viola would give them a wider appeal, he was not entirely happy with the result. These transcriptions are not entirely unproblematic but the playing of them here is superb. This set serves to showcase a remarkable performer whose playing has been favourably compared with that of Yuri Bashmet in his youth. He is definitely someone to look out for and reviewing this disc has whetted my appetite to his other recordings.

 

 

 

 

Let me say right away I adored these discs...Rysanov is a superb player, with quite the silkiest, most seductive tone I've heard in a long time...

 

 

*****
This is a marvelous two-disc set that contains all of the commonly-played "viola" pieces by Brahms. Of course, we know that he wrote no pieces for viola specifically, though he did indeed insist that all of these works could and should be played on the instrument, going so far as to make arrangements himself for each work here except for the Violin Sonata 1 (arranged here with great sensitivity by Rysanov). I must confess that I was initially a little put off at the idea of hearing the Horn Sonata played on a viola--that thing is so replete with "hunting" motives and sounds that I could not imagine hearing it otherwise. But I must admit, after hearing the incredible tone and virtuosity of Rysanov that he completely sells the piece, and this one is as scampering and frisky as any I know. This does not mean that I could recommend it over a "normal" reading with horn--far from it. But as a part of this collection it is fully worthy of inclusion and quite satisfying to hear.
 
The Violin Sonata in G is another piece that you might question, but then again Rysanov's arrangement is so idiomatic and mechanically construed to the mechanisms of the viola that there is really little to argue about. And interpretatively is so on par with the spirit of Brahms that one can only sit back and revel in the performance. Besides, years ago Isaac Stern actually co-opted one of the Clarinet/Viola sonatas for his own use in a recording of great substance, so one can hardly complain when the tide is turned. The two canonical "Viola" sonatas are presented here with a rich, ornate tonal quality that is simply perfect for Brahms. We are dealing with the last pieces he was to compose, and it takes a special feeling of interpretative largesse to fully bring out all of the melancholy and pathetic elements of this music. Rysanov knows this, and acts accordingly, with an interpretation that I think only falls short of Pinchas Zukerman's sizzling readings on RCA.
 
Lastly, the Clarinet Trio with the viola as substitute works easily. Thought this work and the more popular Clarinet Quintet were premiered on the same day, Brahms preferred the more concise and less expansive drama of the Trio. The tonal qualities of the viola are not as far removed from the clarinet as they are from the horn, and one really doesn't miss the presence of the woodwind instrument in this piece, played here to perfection, and completing a fabulous set that belongs in the collection of every Brahms lover - surely one of the prizes of the year.
 

 

But for the first Violin Sonata, all the arrangements on this superlative double-disc are Brahms's own.

Clarinettists may protest, but the F minor and E flat Sonatas have special intimacy here, while the dialogue in the E flat Trio for horn/viola, violin and piano is intensified. Rysanov's tone is magnetic, from its sparkling top to its burnished bass. Violinist Boris Brovtsyn, pianists Katya Apekisheva and Jacob Katsnelson and cellist Kristine Blaumane are equally impressive.

 

 

 

Two wonderful young viola players currently grace the British musical scene: Lawrence Power and the Ukraine-born, London-based Rysanov, whose tone and musicianship are captivating here. Like any serious violist, he quite reasonably lays claim to a full corpus of Brahms’s music, including the two late sonatas usually assigned to the clarinet, the E flat horn trio and the marvellous A minor clarinet trio. On top of that, he has commandeered the G major violin sonata in his own edition of Paul Klengel’s transcription (the other arrangements being Brahms’s). It all makes for a double album of sustained intensity, haunting mellifluousness and acute pleasure.

 

 

Brahms gave the meagre viola repertoire a huge boost with his arrangements of his late clarinet sonatas and trio. All three works acquired a more veiled cast in the process. But while the viola is less attuned to the cussed side of the trio, its plangent timbre enhances the reflective, twilit moods of the sonatas.

 

The other arrangements here are more problematic. The G major Violin Sonata becomes a much more sombre affair transposed down to D major for viola. Inevitably, too, the viola is an uncomfortable substitute for the horn in the Op 40 Trio, above all in the rollicking "hunting" finale.

 

That said, Maxim Rysanov, in close communion with his colleagues, quells misgivings with his lustrous, burnt-sienna tones and Brahmsian generosity of feeling.

 

On occasion the players can overdo the dreamy or rueful lingerings. But these are performances of great beauty and expressive subtlety, recommended especially to those who like the music's autumnal regret underlined.

 

The Guardian _Andrew Clements 29.11.08

Maxim Rysanov's viola playing is a delight. But to bulk out this collection of Brahms's music for the viola to two well-filled discs requires the inclusion of two works better known in other instrumental guises. With the best will in the world, it's hard to imagine that Brahms really considered the viola to be an adequate substitute for the horn in his Op 40 Trio. Superb though Rysanov's contribution is, it can never compensate for the lack of brass timbre. In the Op 78 Violin Sonata, the transposition is marginally more convincing. But it's only when you hear the late works for which Brahms genuinely specified the viola - the two sonatas of Op 120 and the Trio with cello and piano Op 114 (even though, in the scores, the viola has to share all them with the clarinet) - that you can hear Rysanov at his most persuasive, and delight in his musicianship for its own sake.