A good idea, this – at least in principle. Two gifted near-contemporaries (both died in 1959, though Bloch was the older by ten years) in works for strings and piano, one piece a reflection on the eve of war; the other, a neo-baroque Concerto grosso full of busy counterpoint and catchy tunes. Martinu’s Double Concerto promotes the sort of dynamic protest that Bartok had already expressed so magnificently in his Music for strings, percussion and celesta of two years earlier (both works were commissioned by Paul Sacher). And, in a sense, one wishes that Ensemble XXI had seen fit to include the Bartok, especially as their CD is, as it stands, woefully under-filled (the three works together would have run to just over 70 minutes). However, ‘poor value’ hardly matters when the performances themselves are so lacking in precision, warmth and finesse.
The Martinu opens at a spanking speed (hardly Poco allegro) that sets one to thinking: can they possibly keep this up? Alas, the answer is all too close to hand. Hardly has the piece begun, than we are aware of rhythmic ambiguity and ill-focused phrasing; and although the central climax is exciting (faster than any I’ve heard), it is all too fuzzy and frenetic: there’s no real tension to the playing. The rest is slightly better but quite without colour or expressive inflexion. As to the Bloch, the opening “Prelude” is rushed, the “Dirge” is glum (rather than wistful), the “Pastorale and Rustic Dances”, terribly heavy-handed and the Fugue, just plain dull. One senses that the ideas were there but that their realization failed.
The recording is close but oddly hollow. I hate to say it, but this really is a non-starter.'