Having been impressed by violist Matthew Lipman at the two OPUS IV concerts earlier this week I decided to check out his CD, Ascent, which consists of a number of works for viola and piano with pianist Henry Kramer (currently faculty at Université de Montréal).

There are six pieces on the disk.  The first is York Bowen’s Phantasy for Viola and Piano Op. 54 which dates from 1918.  It’s inventive and colourful and demands great virtuosity, which it gets.  I particularly like the final section which uses dance rhythms to good effect.

Clarice Assad’s Metamorfose was commissioned by Lipman in memory of his mother.  It’s a two movement work inspired by the transformation of the butterfly.  In “Crisálidas” we get a complex meditation on the process of change while in “Danza des Borboletas” we hear the butterfly released to dance away its short life.  It’s quite a moving piece.

We are on perhaps more familiar ground with Schumann’s Märchenbilder Op. 113.  This consists of four very short “fairy tales”; each requiring a different approach from the musicians.  The third movement, for example, is crazy busy demanding great virtuosity from both players whereas the fourth is slow and sad and requires great beauty of tone.  Lipman and Kramer produce both.

Garth Knox’s Fuga Libre for solo viola is quite different.  It’s a very modern sounding piece with no tonal centre and requiring a wide range of techniques; pizzicati, glissandi and others among the more conventional ones, but also some deliberately “ugly” sounds.  It’s interesting.

Then there’s Shostakovich’s Impromptu for Viola and Piano Op. 38.  This was written in the 1930s but “lost” and rediscovered only recently.  It’s very Shostakovich.  It starts out lyrical and sad in a very Russian way.  Lugubrious viola plays over the “weary steps” of the piano part but then it launches off into something rather jolly and dancelike but maybe with a hint of irony.

Finally film composer Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasie.  This exists in multiple versions having been originally written for violin and orchestra for the film Humoreske where it’s played by Isaac Stern.  Obviously here we get the arrangement for viola and piano.  It’s a pleasant trifle.  All of the tunes are instantly recognisable!

The recordings were made at a couple of New York locations in 2017 and 2018.  Technically it’s a nicely made studio recording.  It comes with a very comprehensive and informative booklet.  It’s available as a physical CD, MP3 and FLAC; CD quality and 96kHz/24bit.  I listened to the CD quality digital.  It’s a good way to see what two of America’s most up and coming instrumentalists can do.

Catalogue information: Cedille Records CDR 90000184