“Max Bruch’s meltingly beautiful Romance makes for a serene envoi to this delectable disc. Romance is also the only one of the three pieces that was originally written for viola.
Maxim Rysanov is among a young generation of musicians who have been giving the viola star billing, emancipating it from its Cinderella role.
The viola has had its champions in the past — think Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, Hindemith and, among others, the various works inspired by the artistry of the English viola player Lionel Tertis. But Rysanov has astutely seen the potential for expanding the repertoire by making or commissioning works that were not conceived for the viola but which are readily accommodated by it.
His version of the Variations on a Rococo Theme, which Tchaikovsky conceived for the cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, was one of the key items in the 2010 Last Night of the Proms, and here it sounds even more compelling with the backing of a spruce Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
Rysanov, basing his transcription on Fitzenhagen’s preferred order of variations rather than Tchaikovsky’s, makes its viola transformation sound thoroughly idiomatic. His burgundy timbre brings lustre to the music; his transpositions of passages into higher registers capitalise on the viola’s own spectrum of sonority, and his agility and subtlety are a marvel.
The case of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata is somewhat different: it has been the province of viola players and cellists since the arpeggione (a cross between guitar and cello) became obsolete a few years after Schubert wrote his sonata. But the string-orchestra arrangement of the piano part by Dobrinka Tabakova is convincing in its sensitivity and instrumental colouring.”
Geoffrey Norris, Telegraph, August 2011
“Rysanov returns as soloist in a deeply thoughtful performance of Lachrymae.”
Gramophone, July 2011, Richard Fairman
“In the rhapsodic musings of the slow movement, Rysanov becomes the idealised incarnation of the gypsy fidler that Brahms surely has in mind when composing that uniquely florid part. The whole work receives a performance of such intensity and expressive unanimity that I’m convinced this version was worth disinterring.”
BBC Music Magazine, April 2011, Calum MacDonald
“This Brahms chamber music CD from Maxim Rysanov steals the limelight.”
Observer, March 2011, Fiona Maddocks
“Rysanov’s tone is full and perceptively shaded, his ornamentation neat and unobtrusive, his use of the viola’s individual timbre and colouristic spectrum judicious.”
Classical CD of the week (Bach Suites), September 2010, The Telegraph, Geoffrey Norris
“No less seductive a voice, though, was that of Ukrainian viola player Maxim Rysanov – a real artist who’s been having the last laugh on behalf of much-maligned violists everywhere. His transcription of Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme almost made one forget that it had been composed for the cello. Myriad refinements brought depth and brilliance, virility and sensitivity, in equal measure.”
11TH SEPTEMBER 2010 THE LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS (Royal Albert Hall) Edward Seckerson
“What beautiful music this pair made (in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante): contrasting in timbre but never in their ensemble spirit. Jansen’s silvery, thinnish tone proved effortlessly expressive, even when her bow seemed in danger of playing her own hair. Rysanov’s warmer, rounder tones provided the perfect complement: who said the viola was shy and hesitant? Beauty’s high point was scaled in the slow movement, with Jansen dancing in quiet melancholy, light as a feather beside Rysanov’s firmer tread. Phrasing, intonation, emotional pitch: from every angle, this was a performance to treasure.”
The Times 10 March 2010
“Maxim Rysanov plays the viola with an assurance which is breathtaking. Hearing him play is like hearing music for the first time – not a succession of notes but something close to poetry. It was the high point of my concert-going this year. ”
Simon Collings, Oxford Times, 13th November 2008
“Maxim Rysanov is a prince among violists.”
William Dart, The New Zealand Heral
“This amazing young artist looks like giving the viola’s profile a definite boost”
Maxim is chosen to be one of the Telegraph’s Top Ten Young Trailblazers
The Telegraph, 16 Dec 2008
What tremendous torrent of passion the artists take us on! … [Maxim Rysanov's] sound is so persuasive and gripping that this reading has rocketed up to the top of my list, no matter what instrument.”
Fanfare Magazine, Steven Ritter, July-August 2007
“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, Musicweb-international, Jan 2009
“…the young violist Maxim Rysanov, who by a masterful achievement made Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto the concert’s highlight. The lanky Ukrainian reminded through his outfit of the virtuoso violinist Paganini. And actually the stringplayer magically enticed a beautiful, rich and gorgeous sound from his instrument with the technical perfection and ferocity of the virtuoso.”
Wormser Zeitung, 22 March 2007
“The Viola Concerto composed from fragments was taken on by the excellent soloist Maxim Rysanov… his instrument can whisper, bark, threat, wail: Rysanov, the Viola Devil.”
Mannheim Morgen, 21 March 2007
“Rysanov presented himself as a brilliant virtuoso with a rare beautiful sound and showed impressive musical intelligence.”
Die Rheinpfalz, 21 March 2007
“
…In this beautifully recorded recital Rysanov makes out excellent case for taking up the Franck A major Sonata, his arrangement judiciously steering a middle course between the violin and cello versions, but gaining an extra degree of richness of tone in the upper registers. He performs the work with fervour while finding sufficient time and space for poetic restraint especially in the third movement…”
BBC Music Magazine, August 2007, Erik Levi
“
…It is rare for a musician featured in the current issue as our One to Watch already to be on his second Editor’s Choice…, but such is the pace of viola-player Maxim Rysanov’s rise that it’s difficult to keep up. His playing is fabulous and deeply moving in these works. Or, as our reviewer David Fanning puts it, “mind-blowing”.”
Gramophone, November 2007
“Maxim Rysanov’s viola has an inward, lamenting quality that Yuri Bashmet’s more conventionally projected manner misses. And it feels as though the chorus and orchestra (from Latvia’s third city) are living and breathing every note… The music first transfixes, then scalds, and when consolation intervenes it feels multi-faceted and somehow palpably wise.
In short, here is a disc to blow the mind of anyone already in tune with these composers, and possibly one that may even lead a few sceptics towards a Damascene conversion. It was a privilege to review.”