Le Mozart Noir by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-GeorgesReview by: Rick AndersonNotes, Second Series, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Dec., 2003), p. 517Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4487177 .

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Sound Recording Reviews 517

to enjoy both versions of this important work. The Dvorik work, with its famously simple diatonic melodies and rustic flavor, is a less obvious candidate for orchestral treatment, but is no less attractive in this setting than it is as a string quartet. Rosenkrans elicits warm and winning per- formances from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the recorded sound is lovely, although the high end of the spec- trum seems strangely attenuated in this recording.

Charles Ives. Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-4. Curt Thompson, violin; Rodney Waters, piano. Naxos 8.559119, 2003.

Charles Ives composed his four violin sonatas between 1902 and 1916, a period that saw the emergence of many of his finest works and his most sophisticated at- tempts to integrate traditional American melodic material into his decidedly nontra- ditional compositional style. As is often the case with Ives, those tunes and fragments are used both as raw material for develop- ment and variation, and as recurring social allusions that invoke the spirit of the rural New England of his day-a contradance tune here, a Protestant hymn or battle song there. Thus, the second movement of his second vioin sonata, entitled "In the Barn," includes snatches of such popular fiddle tunes as "Money Musk" and "Sailor's Horn- pipe"; the opening movement of his third sonata, which is itself divided idiosyncrati- cally into three "verses" and one "refrain," includes material from such hymns as I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR and THERE'Ll, BE No MORE SORROW. As forbidding as Ives's music can often be, his genuine affec- tion for this source material is obvious, and the humor that emerges from time to time is less sardonic than it is in some of his other compositions of the same period. Violinist Curt Thompson and pianist Rodney Waters deliver energetic, confident renditions of the four sonatas; Thompson, in particular, displays an admirable sensitiv- ity to Ives's subtle shadings of mood and a respect both for the composer's genius and for the more rough-hewn beauty of the folk material on which he drew. The recorded sound could be a bit sharper and more inti- mate, but is not distractingly poor.

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint- Georges. Le Mozart Noir. Tafelmusik/ Jeanne Lamon. CBC SMCD 5225, 2003.

Born around 1745 to a wealthy plantation owner in Basse-Terre, Guadaloupe and his mistress, a Senegalese slave, Joseph Bologne Saint-Georges was treated as a full member of his father's family and, upon the family's relocation to France, received the best education his father could provide. He was, by all accounts, an exceptionally gifted student. Although details of his musi- cal education are elusive in the historical record, he obviously received formal train- ing at some point, for his worklist includes several comic operas, at least fourteen sym- phonies and concertos, and a handful of chamber works. Referring to him as the "Black Mozart" is questionable on several levels, not least that of racial condescension (had he been Italian, would we be calling him the "Italian Mozart"?). More to the mu- sical point, his compositions, while impres- sive and certainly enjoyable, do not stand up particularly well to the comparison. But they certainly deserve more attention than they have received in this century, and this excellent collection, performed with typical elegance by Tafelmusik under Jeanne Lamon, features the overture and several brief dance movements from his comic opera L'Amant Anonyme, the Violin Con- certo in D Major, op. 3, no. 1, and the Sym- phony in G Major, op. 11, no. 1. (The over- ture was also published as his Symphony in D Major, op. 11, no. 2.) Of these, the con- certo is the most impressive work, and its structure and mood were clearly informed by his exceptional talent as a violinist. Unfortunately, instead of including more of Saint-Georges's compositions on the disc, Lamon chose to add works by two of his contemporaries. Jean-Marie Leclair is known to have been something of a patron to the young musician and is represented by the allegro movement from his Violin Concerto in F Major, op. 10, no. 4; FranCois- Joseph Gossec (Saint-Georges's friend and supporter), by the Symphony in D Major, op. 5, no. 5. These are lovely works as well, but it would have been more interesting to include additional examples of music by Saint-Georges, perhaps some chamber pieces or opera arias. Recommended.

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