Joseph Puglia shines in music Luciano Berio

American-Dutch violinist Joseph Puglia is a passionate advocate of contemporary music. Last year he scored highly with his rendition of the Violin Concerto by Anders Hillborg, together with the young musicians of the NJO Symphony Orchestra. He is first violinist of Asko|Schönberg, with whom he presented the world premiere of the violin concerto composed especially for him earlier this year Roads to Everywhere By Joey Roukens.

Australian-Dutch Kate Moore also wrote a concerto for him and this ensemble, Synaesthesia Suite. Now Puglia presents his first CD with the Attaca label, the number 14 in their unsurpassed series 'Ladder of Escape'. Previously I wrote here on number 11, on which the (bass) clarinettist Fie Schouten among others, played a piece by Unsuk Chin.

Pathetic sawing of 8-year-old

Puglia's first is devoted entirely to music by Italian modernist Luciano Berio. He opens with the demanding Duetti per due violini, a series of miniatures dedicated to friends and composers admired by Berio. Each piece tells its own story and uses different techniques, thus the thirty-four portraits also have an educational function. They are intended to be performed by a combination of professionals and young musicians - for example, by a teacher and his students.

In some duets, the difficulty varies quite a bit for each part. In track #17, 'Leonardo Pinzauti', for instance, one plays only a scale, while the other weaves graceful frills through it. Puglia performs it with his eight-year-old pupil Sebastian Cynn, whose endearing sawing gives the music a disarming fragility. Puglia's oldest partner is Vera Beths, with whom he performs number #6, named after Berio's colleague Bruno Maderna. Berio hits his joyous personality with playful music, which sometimes tends towards a manicured waltz.

Perhaps best of all is track #20, 'Edoardo Sanguineti', which concludes the cycle. At Berio's request, the two parts are played by an orchestra of violins, in this version consisting of gifted students of the NJO Summer Academy and such Puglia colleagues as Peter Brunt and Emmy Storms. For a moment you think you are in one of Vivaldi's Four Seasons to have landed, but soon the rousing patterns give way to more introverted lines, sometimes played with mutes.

Audible fun

Those who dedicate a CD to Berio cannot ignore his renowned Sequenze throughout, solo pieces in which he explores the possibilities of the instrument in question to the extreme. At the last Holland Festival, French bassoonist Pascal Gallois made another big impression with the specially composed Sequenza XII.

Puglia interpreted Sequenza VIII, which Berio composed in 1976 for violinist Carlo Chiarappa. It is based on two notes (A and B), which are the starting point for a compelling exploration of the instrument. From lovely cantilenes to ferocious outbursts, and from whisper-soft flageolets to frisky, seemingly polyphonic runs and casual ornamentation. Puglia plays flawlessly and effortlessly, with impressively refined dynamics and audible pleasure.

The two other pieces on the CD are also well worth listening to. The pianist Ellen Corver shows herself to be an empathetic accompanist in Due Pezzi per violine e pianoforte, with an admirable velvet touch. The Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht makes the passionate, sometimes almost terrifying Corale su Sequenza VIII together with Puglia into an exhilarating listening experience.

Joseph Puglia presents a particularly convincing calling card with this CD. He proves once again that 'modern' music is not a priori dry and unapproachable, but can also be fiery and emotional. Highly recommended!