David Geringas

David Geringas is very much of the school of his teacher Rostropovich when it comes to the Bach Suites: the speeds are very fast, and they have a masculine edge to them that may be more aggressive than some palates can support. But where Rostropovich projects through the phrases, Geringas is more prone to distraction, with the hiatuses of his phrases more often signifying frustrating pauses than lilts that gracefully encourage the music to its conclusion.

The Italian word malinconia was very commonly used in the nineteenth century as a title for melancholy pieces. Yet the idea of malinconia covered a myriad of romantic notions, so that simply translating it as "melancholy" does not do it justice. It subsumes many other emotional states as well - all kinds of dejection, gloom, unknown sadness, desperation, depression and even frustration. Each language has evolved its own terms, and interpretations of the word itself also differ from region to region. Malinconia in sunny Italy or Spain is quite different from melancholy in Norway and in Finland, where the winters are harsh and long. The Nordic variant is expressed here in various musical examples; words alone are anyway inadequate.

The violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger, the cellist David Geringas and the pianist Barbara Moser play piano trios by female composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Amy Marcy Beach artfully combines French modernity with late romantic and American folklore elements in her trio from 1938, Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatté's work "Ein wenig Musik" (A Piece of Music) impresses with originality, melodious ideas and diverse rhythmic components, Louise Farrenc's trio from 1857 shows that she was a contemporary of early Romanticism, but also dealt with Ancient music, Mélanie Hélène Bonis' pieces for piano trio "Soir" and "Matin" were created in 1907 and reflect the different moods of a day, while Julia Frances Smith's Cornwall Trio from 1966 expresses the funny, playful energy of the gifted composer that she was.

David Geringas is one of the most versatile musicians of our time known to perform an unusually broad repertoire as both a cellist and a conductor. Alongside his friends the Gringolts Quartet he has endeavored to bring to light rarely recorded works by Walter Braunfels and Richard Strauss a rich selections that are meticulously balanced.and well shaped.

This is Paul Hindemith's only mature cello concerto for full orchestra. (Two earlier ones are a student work and one of his Kammermusik series, for only eleven instruments.) It is a fortunate work that is well regarded, played by several leading soloists, but outside the common repertory just enough that it is not-so-often picked for performances and recordings, by those that are other than strongly committed to the concerto. This writer's favorite recording is by Hungarian cellist Miklos Perenyi, but as he does not own a copy of it on CD, he is quite happy with this release by David Geringas, accompanied by the Queensland (Australia) Symphony Orchestra, with Werner Andreas Albert conducting. The disc is part of Albert's series of seemingly complete music with orchestra by Hindemith on the cpo label, a project that is highly admired.

David Geringas heard about the existence of the New Goldberg Variations in 1997, shortly after the first performance, and integrated into his project ‘Bach Plus’ excerpts from John Corigliano’s Fancy on a Bach Air as an introduction to Bach’s Cello Suite Nr. 1. In 2014, while planning a CD with works by American composers, he remembered about the New Goldberg Variations, and in 2015 he performed the piece, which is exactly the length a one half of a recital, in Parma, Italy, together with the pianist Ian Fountain, who is also the pianist on this recording. One year later, while being interviewed for his 70th birthday, he concretized the idea for this CD.