Three major works demarcate Aaron Copland’s output for violin and piano, alongside a handful of shorter character pieces and Louis Kaufman’s effective arrangements of the Waltz and Celebration from Billy the Kid. The composer’s early piano trio Vitebsk is a gnarly workout on a Jewish theme that exudes a jagged intensity (contrary to the annotations, the work is heard not as a violin/piano arrangement, but in its original piano/violin/cello scoring). The better-known 1943 Sonata brilliantly bridges Copland’s affable “populist” style with plenty of austere, bony, dissonant jabs. Those attracted to the 1971 Flute Sonata’s lean, lyrical interplay will find these qualities unchanged vis-à-vis the music’s translation into “violinese”.
Violinist Peter Zazofsky’s artistry is best sampled in small doses. His wiry tone suits the music’s starker contours, yet he doesn’t negotiate rapid, wide interval leaps with the same bang-on intonation Gil Shaham displays in his recording of the Sonata with André Previn at the piano. Nor does he match the color, varied sonority, and sustained line Anne Akiko Meyers brings to the Sonata’s central Lento (his wobbly high notes are akin to a singer running out of air). And the bluesy, Gershwin-esque Nocturne from 1926 sounds relatively monochrome next to Maria Bachmann’s sexily inflected account. Happily, Zazofsky’s tone opens up and becomes more expressive during Vitebsk, anchored by Ron Harbugh’s incisive cello playing. Paul Posnak’s rock-solid rhythm and superb articulation are all we can wish for in the piano parts. A rival complete Copland violin music offering from the Terwilliger Cooperstock Duo (Azica 71205) may be difficult to locate, whereas the present release is easily obtainable, inexpensive, and well recorded.
