Isabelle Faust - Martinu: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Toccata e due canzoni (2016)

Could it be that Bohuslav Martinu is no longer one of the also:rans in the great composers of the twentieth century sweepstakes? Not only is his music being recorded more often in the post:Millennial world than in the postwar world, but, crucially, more international performers and labels are recording the Czech:French:American composer's music. Take, as an example, this 2008 disc coupling of Martinu's Violin Concerto No. 2, his Serenade for Strings No. 2 and his Toccata e due canzoni for string and piano obbligato. Leadership on the podium is provided by the esteemed Czech conductor Jirí Belohlávek and the orchestra in the pit is the slightly larger than chamber sized Prague Philharmonic. The soloists, however, are the fiery young German violinist Isabelle Faust and the flashy young French pianist Cédric Tiberghien and the company is the well:established French Harmonia Mundi label.

Of course, the most important part of revitalizing Martinu's reputation is the quality of the performances, and in that, this disc does not disappoint. As in her by now classic 1998 debut Bartók disc, Faust proves both a highly skilled technician but also a dedicated interpreter who hurdles over the concerto's racing outer movements with athletic ease and soars through its angular central slow movement with ethereal lyricism. And though Tiberghien does not play a true soloist's role in the Toccata e due canzoni, his incisive attack, bright tone, and joie de vivre greatly enhance the performance's exuberance. Grounding Faust and Tiberghien is Belohlávek's long familiarity with the music's quirks, its unique combination of buoyant rhythms, pungent colors, and glinting, gleaming melodies. Under Belohlávek, the Prague Philharmonia provides dramatic support for Faust and an animated foil for Tiberghien. Perhaps most winning, however, is the strings' performance of the Serenade. A poised piece of neo:classical modernism suffused with the composer's characteristically optimistic tone, Martinu's Serenade receives an alert, energetic, and entirely ingratiating performance here that could well help Martinu take his rightful place in the pantheon of great twentieth century composers. Recorded in Prague, Harmonia Mundi's sound is clear, colorful, and immediate.