Haflidi Hallgrímsson Metamorphoses

Notes from a Diary for viola and piano op.33
Seven Epigrams for violin and cello op.23.
Metamorphoses for piano trio op.16.

Fidelio Trio
Darragh Morgan - Violin
Robin Michael - Cello
Mary Dullea - Piano
Matthew Jones - Viola

Delphian DCD34059

A real winner here; Haflidi Hallgrímsson (b. 1941) is an Icelandic born musician, cellist first (principal in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra) before he devoted himself full time to composition.

His home is in Edinburgh, and these three significant works belong to the last decade. The album is titled Metamorphoses, and the last item (though the first to be composed) is a rather sombre quarter hour movement for piano trio, a tribute to a colleague, the founder leader of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and deliberately evoking Richard Strauss' wartime work for strings, Metamorphonsen. It is a slow continuous elegy, gradually transforming the material of its opening bars, given with proper expression and devotional style by the Fidelio Trio.

We have enjoyed the versatile and articulate Fidelio Trio in two enterprising programmes in London, at Wilton's Music Hall and at The Warehouse, but here what makes this disc special is that the main items are two duos. There are not too many repertoire works for violin and cello; Kodaly's ad Ravel's come to mind, available in a coupling by Kennedy & Harrell. Hallgrimson's Epigrams of 1996 are dramatic statements derived from thoughts about great Soviet thinkers and artitsts. They grab you with their powerfull emotions, in an idiom which is directly communicative and accessible without paying court to fashionable minimalism.

Likewise the most recent work here, its genesis sparked by a moment in which the composer heard a bell struck whilst visiting the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam. Notes from a Diary grew into an expansive work for viola and piano, another combination for which the repertoire is not over-crowded, and one which every violist will surely want to play. The presence of the bell is reflected in ideas connected with resonance, and the whole is built from variations upon limited basic material, giving the thirteen short movements a cumulative power. The Fidelio Trio's fine pianist is joined by Matthew Jones in a performance which will reward repeated hearings.

Recording and presentation are fine, with notes based on discussion with the composer, and I like the use of black and white session photos in a double spread. I am glad to learn that Delphian has a recording of Hallgrimsson's piano music in prospect.

Peter Grahame Woolf