A Concert for New York
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra; William Eddins
ESO Live 2012-05-1 (edmontonsymphony.com)
This two-disc live recording (from the Windspear Centre) of the program from the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Carnegie Hall debut concert is an impressive package. It demonstrates the ESO’s remarkable growth and features works by its three composers-in-residence to date, John Estacio, Allan Gilliland and Robert Rival, along with a rarely heard symphony by Bohuslav Martinů. I recommend Estacio’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano (1997) with first-rate soloists Juliette Kang, Denise Djokic and Angela Cheng. In brief, this might be described as neo-romanticism with mystical tendencies. Wonderful music.
In his Symphony No.1 (1942) Bohuslav Martinů melds elements of modernism, jazz, and Czech folk melody into his distinctive neoclassical style. The large orchestra and prominent piano part add resonance, helping avoid the spiky dryness of some neoclassical works. Strange ascending chromatic passages seem to steam up from a chemist’s vat, and there are premonitions of minimalism! William Eddins keeps everything balanced in an exciting performance.
Robert Rival’s tender, slightly Ravelian Lullaby (2012) uses changing metres, rather than the triple time of cradle-rocking, to evoke walking and rocking his first child. Dreaming of the Masters III (2010) continues Allan Gilliland’s concerto series referencing older jazz styles. With Jens Lindeman as soloist on trumpet and flugelhorn, potential for virtuosity is realized and all involved have a great time. Ditto in the concert encore -- the “Mambo” from Bernstein’s West Side Story – where the ESO percussion add a “Wow!” factor.
(Note: On my copy the recording’s volume needed to be cranked up considerably to reach normal listening levels.)
