Search - Benjamin Britten, John Tavener, Gennady Rozhdestvensky :: John Tavener: The Protecting Veil; Thrinos / Benjamin Britten: Third Suite for Cello, op. 87

A splendid performance of the Britten suite cannot save this

G.D. | Norway | 10/25/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Britten's cello suites might not be easy works, but they are ultimately among the most rewarding in the solo cello repertoire, challenged - I think - only by Bach's and Kodaly's works. The third suite is generally mournful and reflective, based on three Russian folksongs developed so that the various gestures move towards the main theme. Isserlis plays it superbly - he has an amazing technique, obviously, but also a deep understanding of the music; factors that of course add up to an immensely satisfactory musical experience. On the other hand, that performance doesn't on its own make this issue competitive, given that e.g. Rostropovich has all three suites in equally magnificent performances on Decca.



An the coupling offered here most certainly doesn't either. I don't remember who coined the term `lava lamp music', but Tavener's Protecting Veil is lava lamp music in the absolutely worst sense. It goes on interminably with slowly changing textures and gestures leading absolutely nowhere, and it is exactly as profound and `deeply spiritual' as a lava lamp - new-agey, repugnantly over-ambitious, empty, shallow, silly and desperately dull. If you are among those who are actually enthralled by watching these lamps and can watch them for, say, 40 minutes on end without your fascination faltering, then I guess Tavener's The Protective Veil might just be for you - or if you are absorbed by the computer-generated, colorful patterns you can get for your TV (through your X-box or something similar) to have as background images, then I guess you might also find something to cherish in the work. But how Tavener's name has come to be associated with essentially tonal, minimalist composers such as Gorecki or Pärt is beyond me - I see the superficial similarities in style, but the differences in quality are all to obvious.



Now, Mark Swinton above points out, regarding the complaint that the music lacks interest, that it was one "Isserlis once countered by saying that attendance of a Russian Orthodox Service would shed much light on Tavener's music, composed within Orthodox tradition." Well, I guess it helps your fascination with lava lamps if you think they're genuinely magical, have healing powers or function as tickets to the alien-run, emergency escape spaceships headed for the planet Argon when the Mayan calendar runs out in 2011 as well. In other words, I think I'll pass. The disc also includes the solo-cello `Thrinos', an almost seven-minute solo cello piece written for Isserlis that manages to sound at least twice its length. That is not meant as a compliment.



I don't think there is anything wrong neither with Isserlis's or Rozhdestvensky's performances. They sound committed enough and get the notes I right, I guess, which is everything one could ask for with a work like the Protecting Veil. The sound quality is very good, if perhaps a little flat in the loudest parts. I suppose that if you have to have the work, then this is as good a recording as any. But if you only think you have to have the work, you don't, and if Britten's cello suite is what you're after (and you should be, for it's an excellent work), then I advise you to seek out Rostropovich."