The Bend in the Light
Ellen Gibling
Independent (ellengibling.ca)

Nova Scotia-based harpist Ellen Gibling expertly performs in wide-ranging styles. Her McGill classical harp training helped establish her as a gifted classical/experimental music solo and ensemble performer. Her interest in Irish traditional music led her to the University of Limerick’s Master’s Program in Irish Traditional Music, graduating in 2019 and now, this release. Gibling performs her solo harp arrangements and co-arrangements of Irish traditional tunes, plus originals composed by Gibling and others with detailed eloquence, careful phrasing and colourful, wide pitches 

Gibling’s choice of pieces makes for fun listening. Opening track Hop Jigs comprises three traditional Irish harp jigs she learned in Limerick, colourfully played with steady beats and singalong melodies. Second track is three Irish polkas with faster melodic lines and lower countermelody chords holding them together. Gibling’s performance of the Irish traditional slow Air: Lament for the Death of Staker Wallace wallows in her shining sad musicality and technical expertise. Gibling’s friend Karen Iny composed Waltz & Reel: Maya’s Waltz/Forty. Maya’s Waltz is Irish-flavoured yet calming with a slight classical musical feel leading to the slightly faster Forty celebratory birthday reel. Gibling’s composition, Jigs: Side by Each, consists of two jigs commissioned by her friends about the two dogs in their lives. These dogs must be happy since joyous traditional grounded dancing sounds are played with ascending and descending lines to closing high-pitched slowing strings. 

Gibling’s immaculate understanding of centuries-spanning harp styles, compositions and Irish music results in music all her own!

Historical gap filling, bringing back into circulation almost unknown sessions or offering new audiences a chance to experience classics, the appearance of improvised music reissues and rediscoveries continues unabated. Some sessions include additional material or entire programs which were thought to never have been recorded. This 1960s and 1970s selection offers instances of all of these things.

The most important semi-reissue is The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert (Oblivion Records OD-08 oblivionrecords.co), which marked pianist Cecil Taylor’s return to performance after five years in academia. The date, which featured Taylor with regular associates, alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Sirone, was celebrated when released as a limited edition LP. Complete is just that, however, for besides offering the nearly 38-minute solo and quartet music that made up the initial Spring of Two Blue-J’s, this two-CD set adds an 88-minute quartet performance of Autumn/Parade from the concert. It’s impossible to add superlatives to describe the original. The mature Taylor style had crystalized and throughout his solo excursion, he works every part of the piano, with forceful hammering on the lowest-pitched keys all the way up to responsive glissandi in the upper registers. Even as he’s creating mountains of notes, his emphasized dynamics manage to be Impressionistic, linear and true to the initial theme. Narrative reflections abound on the supple interface that was the original quartet track. Starting slowly, upward and downward piano flourishes are accompanied by fluid double bass pacing and resounding drum pops. Meanwhile Lyons picks up the theme and gradually repeats it, with each pass becoming more vigorous, as multiphonics, flattement, tongue stops and altissimo runs are added. When his distinct meld of freebop and energy music are crammed into a heavily vibrating climax, the others join with similar intensity only to downshift to responsive vibrations following a decisive Sirone string pluck. This, plus an intense free music elaboration, is expressed during the new section. Working off Cyrille’s pops and Sirone’s pumps, Taylor repeatedly shatters the infrastructure, with continuous affiliations, cleanly articulating the introduction as Lyons gathers strength with Woody Woodpecker-like bites and split-tone cries. Percussive piano jabs spur the saxophonist to clarion screeches, expressing yearning as well as power. Each time, contrasting piano dynamics or interjections from the others threaten to fragment the narrative, thematic motifs, usually from Taylor, reappear and confirm horizontal movement. Eye-blink transitions are commonplace, with interludes of unexpectedly gentle runs preventing overall murkiness. Rhythm isn’t neglected either, as cymbal crashes or string pops suggest backend power. By mid-point spectacular asides, detours and flourishes affirm Taylor’s stylistic singleness, yet these rugged cascades also energetically extend the theme. Taylor’s galloping prestissimo asides at the three-quarter mark encourage Lyons to ascend to the sopranissimo range. The concluding section is studded with note flurries from the piano as Sirone’s careful string stops and Cyrille’s drum ruffs centre the proceedings. With Lyons back for rugged tongue slaps, Taylor broadens the interface with theme repetitions before a high-energy finale.

While they’re also important building blocks in the Taylor oeuvre, by the standards of 1973, the sessions from 1961 and 1966 collected as Cecil Taylor Mixed to Unit Structures Revisited (ezz-thetics 1110 hathut.com) aren’t shatteringly intense. While thought radical for the times there are points during the three 1961 tracks where the combination of walking bass, piano vamps and Lyons’ soloing with Charlie Parker-like contours could describe a bebop session. As a septet, the group opens up on the concluding Mixed. Its slackened pace with Ellington-like voicings contrasts floating smears from trombonist Roswell Rudd and trumpeter Ted Curson with split tone vamps from Lyons and tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp. Even Taylor’s flowing pianism is more pastel than percussive. With a different septet, the mature Taylor archetype with dynamic shudders and unexpected turns comes into focus by 1966. As three horns screech, smear and scoop and the two basses buzz, the pianist’s vigorous runs are continuously present. A rare sidebar to Taylor’s composing, Enter, Evening (Soft Line Structure) features an unexpected jazz-world music suggestion with Ken McIntyre’s oboe and Henry Grimes or Alan Silva’s bass producing ney-like and oud-like textures. Improv wins out with trumpeter Eddie Gale’s shakes and the saxophonists’ smears playing elevated pitches. The title track oscillates between freebop and free jazz with the horn parts leaping from call-and-response riffs to encircling cawing vibrations with brassy triplets pushing the energy still higher. Tellingly though, the pianist’s dynamic stop-time crunches and stride in his duet with Cyrille on the concluding Tales (8 Whisps) is a mirror image of how the two would play in 1973.

Free jazz had become part of global musical language by the mid-1970s. Yet, as it was being diffused, non-Americans were making their own additions to its spread. Case in point is this reissue of the eponymous recording Jean-Charles Capon/Philippe Maté/Lawrence “Butch” Morris/Serge Rahoerson (Souffle Continu Records FFL072 soufflecontinurecords.com), from 1976 that succinctly highlights some of the music’s future directions. American cornetist Morris was part of the free jazz fraternity and his plunger tone, mercurial obbligatos and rhythmic asides confirm that. With deep digging solos, tenor saxophonist Maté adds French free music. But Gallic cellist Capon was part of the Baroque Jazz Trio, a studio habitué and had played in Madagascar with local Malagasy musicians, including drummer Rahoerson, who is featured here. Not only can one sense the strands of jazz-world music suggested by Taylor’s Unit Stuctures being woven, but since the rhythm section was recorded first with the horn players’ sounds added later, future studio sound design is also in use. Despite the separation, cleavage is practically non-existent. The drummer’s shuffles, slides and cymbal accents fit perfectly, and throughout Capon uses his cello to create the determined pulse of a double bass line. With overdubbing, his pinpointed cello strokes add force to the narratives as he creates spiccato lines as facile as if he were playing violin. Other times, most prominently on Mode De Fa, Capon’s his light pizzicato finesse adds guitar-like sounds to the front line. There’s even a hint of electronic oscillations on Orly-Ivato. Fanciful in parts, funky in others, the disc is more than a blueprint for future musical fusion trends. It’s also a fine contemporary sounding program.

No advance remains static and by 1979, when Braids (NoBusiness NBCD 138 nobusinessrecords.com), this newly discovered Hamburg concert by the Sam Rivers Quartet was recorded, modification to vigorous improvising had been adopted. Not only is one member of the otherwise American band British, but Dave Holland plays both bass and cello. This matches Rivers’ solos on tenor and soprano saxophones, flute and piano. Furthermore, while Thurman Barker plays standard drum kit, the group’s fourth member is Joe Daley, whose sophisticated dexterity on tuba and euphonium means he takes both accompanying and frontline roles. The first part of the concert resembles 1960s energy music as the saxophonist propels split-tone screams and bugling reed bites, backed by thick drum resonations and a fluid bass pulse. Soon a tuba obbligato signals a shift as the tempo balances between allegro and andante, with Rivers’ triple tonguing complemented by the tubist’s portamento effects, finally climax with stretched reed tones and brass grace notes. What elsewhere would be a standard drum solo in pseudo-march tempo actually serves as an introduction to a piano interlude, expressed with contrasting dynamics and varied tempos. Piano patterning squirms forward until speedy rips from Daley change the narrative course. Playing with the swift facility of a valve trombonist, Daley bounces from treble sheets of sound to guttural scoops. Holland’s subsequent strums and ascending string plucks make way for an Arcadian but tough duet between Daley’s tuba puffs and Rivers’ flute peeps. Except for forays into screech mode, the remainder of the flute section opens the narrative to out-and-out swing. Holland’s cello plucks and Barker’s concise small cymbal pings confirm the motion. Kept from any suggestion of prettiness however, the concluding tremolo flute flutters are in sync with Daley’s tuba burbles as rhythmic groove and sound exploration are simultaneously affirmed.

Iconoclastic French drummer Jacques Thollot (1946-2014), a mainstay of the jazz/improv scene, always searched for new forms and styles. That’s what makes some of the 16 (!) tracks on Watch Devil Go (Souffle Continu Records FFL071 soufflecontinurecords.com) fascinating. Together with tenor saxophonist/flutist François Jeanneau and bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark, the drummer and sometime pianist create free-wheeling and unique energy music on several of these 1974/1975 tracks. Yet Thollot and Jeanneau also play synthesizers. Those forays into wave form shudders can’t seen to decide whether they should be used to add rhythmic impetus with electronic algorithms or mix Baroque-like washes as New Age ambient music. A complete outlier, the title tune adds synthesizer and string quartet vibrations to a simple vocal from Charline Scott that touches more on California folk rock than free jazz. In Extenso and La Dynastie des Wittelsbach are standouts for cutting-edge improv, with Jeanneau’s saxophone piling vibrating scoops and split-tone smears into his solos as Jenny-Clark’s constant pumps and Thollot’s vigorous paradiddles and cymbal clashes move the tempo ever faster, but without loss of control. As for the electronica-oriented tracks, the memorable ones are those like Entre Java et Tombok where the synthesizer’s orchestral qualities are put to use creating multiple sound layers in tandem with the flute’s lowest pitches. With the machines able to replicate many timbres, some of the other notable tracks emphasize the meld of ethereal reed tones and powerful riffs that could swell from an embedded church pump organ. Eleven even sets up a call-and-response between the two synths.

The value of these sessions is that they fill gaps in the history of experiments that created free-flowing contemporary sounds.

Fans of Polish violinist Ida Haendel (1928-2020) will be very pleased with the four-CD set of reissues of live concerts with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester-Stuttgart conducted by Hans Müller-Kray recorded between 1953 and 1967 (SWR Classic SWR19427CD naxosdirect.com/search/swr19427cd). These were well received upon their initial issue and are more than appreciated now by those hearing the superb and characteristic playing so happily recognized by those who knew Haendel and her unique presence.  

The first disc is the Brahms and I must confess, upon hearing just the opening, to feeling quite nostalgic. Her playing shows such affection for the music, it’s positively heartwarming. Although this is a mono recording, we can hear every nuance from both the soloist and the orchestra. This is about listening to the music and Haendel’s playing, not the way it was recorded. She’s so present that you can hear every note.

After the Brahms, we would not be surprised to hear the Mendelssohn E Minor played with such delicate balance between the soloist and winds. The recordings include six composers in all, each with a different tempo and style; Haendel’s playing in every instance is flawless. 

Haendel played the Tchaikovsky to great acclaim starting from when she was a young prodigy in the late 1930s and throughout her career. By the time of this recording, she was recognized as playing this piece with incredible skill and interpretation. Known for her “impeccable intonation,” critics’ praise has always been unequivocal. 

As a five-year-old it is reported that Haendel played her first Dvořák, one of the Slavonic Dances. By the time she was 13, she played the Violin Concerto before thousands for Dvořák’s 100th anniversary celebration. She made a recording of it in 1947, but this live performance from 1965 highlights the great strides and development in her playing. 

Khachaturian wrote “I cannot write anything other than Armenian Music.” He did it rather well. The famous Sabre Dance became a universal hit. His Violin Concerto in D Minor is also a first-rate work. The first movement Allegro con fermezza is to Western ears both exotic and Romantic. The second Andante sostenuto is another fine dance tempo and the third is Allegro vivace; a colourful and joyful celebration with the violin. You can recognize immediately that it is Haendel playing, her signature evident throughout these jaunty rhythms.   

The final work is Bartók’s Violin Concerto No.2. It is quintessential Bartók and is brought to life in this performance. The composer described the first movement as a typical 12-tone theme with a decisively tonal leaning. The original version did not have a virtuoso part for the soloist but Bartók was persuaded by violinist Zoltán Székely and conductor Willem Mengelberg to include such a part. We are grateful that he did and Haendel really does it justice.

The performances in this little box are a tribute to both the soloist and composers and of course the orchestra. The SWR as usual delivers effortless reproduction of these truly classic works.

As her many admirers may probably know, the DOREMI label has released four volumes of live Ida Haendel solo and chamber performances recorded in concert by the CBC while she was in Canada.

DOREMI also has some interesting new releases. Firstly, we have Leon Fleisher (1928-2020) in a live recording of the Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 with Pierre Monteux conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra (Leon Fleisher Live Volume 2, DOREMI DHR-8160 naxosdirect.com/items/leon-fleisher-live-vol.2-579037).This was recorded on May 14, 1962. Fleisher identified this piece as his “talisman.” In his autobiography, My Nine Lives, he writes that his parents gave him a recording of the concerto performed by his teacher Artur Schnabel, conducted by George Szell and he wrote that “for weeks, I ate, slept and breathed that piece.” He began learning it and eventually played it in 1944 at his debut with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Monteux. Happily, he eventually recorded it with Szell as well. In this DOREMI recording we have a live performance recorded with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The world-renowned acoustics of the hall in Amsterdam where this live recording took place are unique. In my opinion, shared by many, this is one of the best recordings of this Brahms concerto ever! It should be noted that both the sound quality and the execution are both perfection in this live recording. 

This was recorded before any hint of the soon-to-come issues with focal dystonia that Fleisher experienced in his right hand in 1964. This condition necessitated a break in two-hand playing and the beginning of a 60-year career as a teacher at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and various other teaching venues including the RCM in Toronto where he gave master classes over a period of three decades. He was eventually able to return to two-hand playing in 1995.

The second piece on this recording is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 recorded live with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Bruno Walter, the legendary Mozart conductor, at the Hollywood Bowl on June 12, 1959. Fleisher’s playing is sensitive and compassionate. What a combination, Fleisher, Walter and Mozart! 

Another very impressive release from DOREMI is Rudolf Serkin Live Volume 1 (DHR-8161/2 naxosdirect.com/search/dhr-8161-2), featuring the Brahms Piano Concertos Nos.1 and 2. 

Serkin is considered one of the finest pianist scholars of the German tradition. This muscular and authoritative playing is perfect for Brahms and Serkin has played the repertoire hundreds of times to rave reviews. Comparing live performances to studio recordings, the difference is quite tangible. If possible, the live performances are even more exciting; his playing vibrates with energy. 

George Szell (1897-1970) is one of the most admired conductors in history and is regarded, even 50 years after his death as one of the most influential and revered conductors both by music lovers and critics alike. Szell was known to have been a perfectionist when it came to his recordings and he would definitely have approved of this one featuring Serkin with the Cleveland Orchestra in the Piano Concerto No.1 recorded in Severance Hall on April 18, 1968.

Leonard Bernstein brings a very different sensibility to the Piano Concerto No.2. As an accomplished musician, philosopher, composer and conductor, this was one of his favourite concert pieces and it shows here in this performance with Serkin and the New York Philharmonic from January 25, 1966. 

As a welcome added bonus, not mentioned on the CD cover, we have Brahms’ Four Pieces for Piano and Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy in C Major, in live solo performances from Massey Hall, Toronto in 1974. 

Mingus – The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s
Charles Mingus Sextet
Resonance Records HCD-2063 (resonancerecords.org) 

Between 1956 and 1965, composer and bassist Charles Mingus stretched the range of jazz composition with the tumult and keening lyricism of LPs like Pithecanthropus Erectus, Mingus Ah Um and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, simultaneously putting the civil rights movement on the jazz-club stage. This three-CD set presents him a few years later, leading his sextet on the last two nights of a two-week run at Ronnie Scott’s eponymous London club in 1972. Originally intended for release on Columbia, that possibility died with the label’s 1973 purge of acoustic jazz greats: Mingus, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Ornette Coleman.

1972 wasn’t Mingus’ happiest hour. He had been concentrating on extended compositions, including a string quartet and the massive orchestral work that would become Epitaph, during an era dominated by the knotty creativity of free jazz and the commercial juggernaut of fusion; however, the band here still pulses with life when reworking Mingus’ earlier masterworks, stretching them to a half-hour and beyond: the dense, yearning harmonies of Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk, extends Duke Ellington’s influence into a new expressionism; Fables of Faubus adds fresh dissonances while remaining a seething yet comic refutation of segregation. Two new works have similar dimension: Mind-Readers’ Convention in Milano (AKA Number 29) is kaleidoscopic, while The Man Who Never Sleeps is imbued with a lustrous lyricism by trumpeter Jon Faddis, then a brilliant teenager. Alto saxophonist Charles McPherson is consistently good, improvising fleet and fluid lines across Mingus’ insistent shifting rhythms. Bobby Jones, another regular, was a journeyman saxophonist who could stretch toward greatness on those turbulent undercurrents.

For all of Mingus’ raging assaults on the bar culture of jazz (he once began a studio recording, Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, by admonishing imaginary waitstaff and customers to cease glass clinking, cash register clanging, etc.), he was (even in that double-edged comedy) an entertaining jazz musician (he began his career as sideman to Ellington and Louis Armstrong), but one who had brought uncomfortable truths to the stage. Some of the humour here is satiric, like the bass solo that concludes Fables of Faubus by collaging minstrel songs and anthems, including Turkey in the Straw, Dixie, My Old Kentucky Home and the Star-Spangled Banner, but there’s also low musical humour. Pianist John Foster, otherwise unmemorable, contributes cliched blues vocals and an imitation of Louis Armstrong on Pops. Roy Brooks, the drummer, plays an extended solo on musical saw. One leaves with an uneasy sense that in his later years, Mingus’ art, designed to make audiences uncomfortable, might backfire, making the audience comfortable and Mingus the opposite. In history’s hall of mirrors, that might again make a contemporary audience uncomfortable.     

The iconic American composer George Crumb died peacefully, at home with his family on February 6. He was 92. Of the many world-renowned composers I had the privilege to meet during my two-decade tenure at New Music Concerts, Crumb was among the most affable, knowledgeable and accomplished. In 2003 he spent most of a week working with NMC musicians, accompanied by his wife Elizabeth, son Peter and daughter Ann, who was the soloist in our Canadian premiere performance of Unto the Hills. It was a magical week and one that remains a cherished memory. Crumb had a long relationship with NMC and on a previous visit in 1986 he supervised the first performance of An Idyll for the Misbegotten, performed by its dedicatee Robert Aitken and three percussionists. You can find NMC’s recording of that work among others on George Crumb (Naxos American Classics 8.559205 naxosdirect.com/search/8559205). In a tribute published by NMC, Aitken says “The music of George Crumb has the quality of an elixir, which keeps drawing you back through intricacies in time to a world you feel you know and look forward to enjoying but as many times as you have experienced it, the slightest change takes you to a different place, somewhere you have never been before and never thought of, but will never forget.” I said something similar in a July 2020 review of Metamorphoses Book I: “There are many references to Crumb’s earlier compositions and in many ways these new works sound familiar. One sometimes wonders ‘Why does Grandpa keep telling the same stories?’ but listen carefully; you’ll find vast new worlds buried within them.”

In December Bridge Records released Volume 20 in their ongoing series devoted to Crumb’s complete works (BRIDGE 9551). Metamorphoses Books I & II features a remastering of Book I (2015-2017) and the first recording of Book II (2018-2020) performed by Marcantonio Barone, to whom the second book is dedicated. Subtitled Fantasy Pieces (after celebrated paintings) for amplified piano, each of the 20 depicts a different painting by such artists as Picasso, Chagall, Dali and Gauguin. In the excellent and extended booklet notes by Crumb scholar Steven Bruns we learn that “Rather than aiming for precise musical analogs, Crumb responds to the ethos, the characteristic tone of the painting, and often to the title as well. The music explores a dazzling expressive range, and Crumb positions the movements in each Book with the mastery of an expert gallery curator.” You can read my impressions of those in the first book here: thewholenote.com/index.php/booksrecords2/editorscorner/30201-editor-s-corner-july-2020. Book II opens with two paintings by Paul Klee and includes others by Andrew Wyeth, Simon Dinnerstein, Gustav Klimt, Georgia O’Keeffe and the abovementioned Gauguin, Picasso and Chagall. The set ends with a stunning and ethereal interpretation of van Gogh’s The Starry Night. 

As always with amplification in Crumb’s pieces, the purpose is not to produce loud effects, although there are a few jarring interpolations, but rather to make the most subtle effects audible. The pianist is required to venture inside the piano to pluck and strum and dampen strings, use fists and other implements, vocalize and employ a variety of small instruments to expand the solo piano into a real orchestra of timbres. Barone worked extensively with Crumb for two decades and his understanding of the sensibility, and his command of the techniques required, and often invented, by the composer makes this recording definitive. Bridge Records here provides an exhilarating tribute and important addition to the recorded legacy of this master composer. The Complete George Crumb Edition now numbers 21 CDs and one DVD and is currently available at a special price (US$190) from the Bridge Records website (bridgerecords.com). 

The oratorio Am I Born by David T. Little with libretto by Royce Vavrek (Bright Shiny Things BSTC-0152 brightshiny.ninja) is another spectacular work that finds its inspiration and context in a painting. The painting in question is Francis Guy’s 1820 Winter Scenes in Brooklyn, depicting a neighbourhood destroyed for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Originally composed in 2011 for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Am I Born was the first collaboration between Little and Vavrek, who went on to great success with the operas Dog Days and JFK. This SATB version of the oratorio was commissioned by Trinity Church Wall Street where it premiered in 2019. Opening with big bass drums blazing and full fortissimo chorus reminiscent of Carmina Burana, the listener is captivated immediately. Throughout its half-hour duration the drama does not let up, although there are moments of respite along the way and beautiful soprano solos by Mellissa Hughes before the haunting denouement. The libretto draws on Ananias Davisson’s 1816 hymn Idumea with its lyric “And am I born to die? / To lay this body down! / And must my trembling spirit fly / Into a world unknown?” The solo soprano personifies Guy’s painting, which hangs in the Brooklyn Museum. She gradually draws consciousness and understanding from the crowds of spectators passing by each day, until, urged on by the chorus, she is “born” out of the frame and enters a confusing and lonely present-day reality. At that point, the philosophical speculation “am I born to die?” is modified to the much more pressing and immediate: “am I born?” Hughes and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street are accompanied in this powerful performance by the NOVUS NY orchestra, all under the direction of Julian Wachner. 

Like George Crumb, Sofia Gubaidulina (b.1931) has shown no signs of slowing down creatively in her later years. To honour her 90th birthday Deutsche Grammophon has released a disc of world premiere recordings of two recent works and the earlier The Light of the End, written in 2003 for the Boston Symphony (deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/gubaidulina-nelsons-repin-12472). Andris Nelsons conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig for which Gubaidulina has served as composer-in-residence since 2019. The last-mentioned work is based on a fundamental conflict that characterizes the physics of music, namely, the irreconcilability between the natural overtone series, played here by the horns, and the tempered tuning of the rest of the orchestra. This conflict leads to a series of dramatic crescendos and climaxes and is illustrated to exemplary effect in a duet between solo horn and solo cello. 

The disc opens with Dialog: Ich und Du (Dialogue: I and You // Violin Concerto No.3). It was written for Vadim Repin in 2018, and he is the soloist here. This and the companion piece The Wrath of God are extrapolated from Gubaidulina’s oratorio On Love and Hatred (2016-2018), which constitutes her appeal to humankind to follow God’s commandments and to overcome hatred through the conciliatory power of love. The title of the violin concerto deliberately recalls religious philosopher Martin Buber’s Ich und Du (I and Thou) which describes the world as “dichotomous,” contrasting two things that are opposed or entirely different, here represented by a conversation, often interrupted, between the solo violin and the orchestra. The Wrath of God is a shimmering depiction of the Day of Judgement, or Dies Irae, for enormous orchestral forces. “God is wrathful, He’s angry with people and with our behaviour. We’ve brought this down on ourselves,” the composer explained in the preamble to the first performance in an empty Vienna Musikverein in November 2020, a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Gubaidulina has dedicated the piece “To the Great Beethoven” and we can hear hints of the Ninth Symphony peeking through in the dramatic finale.

Speaking of Beethoven, following on their recording of his complete works for cello and piano, Yo-Yo Ma has once again teamed up with Emanuel Ax, this time with violinist Leonidas Kavakos, on Beethoven for Three – Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5 (Sony Classical yoyoma.lnk.to/SymphoniesNos2and5). The arrangements are by Ferdinand Ries, under Beethoven’s supervision (No.2), and the contemporary British composer Colin Matthews (No.5). 

It must be a daunting task to adapt the full resources of a symphony orchestra to just three players, even if we concede that the pianist’s two hands can render separate independent lines. Still we must realize that in Beethoven’s day arrangements were the norm, and in many instances the only opportunity to experience great works of orchestral repertoire. Recordings were still a hundred years in the future and orchestral concerts beyond the reach of most people. I am pleased to report in this instance both of the arrangements are convincing and satisfying. On the one hand I am amazed at how the trio is able to convey the musical scope and range of emotion of these familiar orchestral masterworks. On the other, I was intrigued to realize how reminiscent some of the movements were, especially the scherzo of the second symphony, of Beethoven’s early actual piano trios. I suppose that’s not really a coincidence.  

Satisfying as I found this recording, likely another result of COVID-imposed restrictions, I must confess it inspired me to revisit the cycle of nine symphonies in all their orchestral majesty, and for this I chose Simon Rattle’s live set from 2002 with the Vienna Philharmonic (EMI Classics). So thanks to Kavako, Ma and Ax for an inspirational and illuminating experience, and for an excuse to look up some old friends.

Founded 20 years ago, the Claremont Trio (Emily Bruskin, violin; Julia Bruskin, cello; and Andrea Lam, piano) has been commissioning works for much of its existence that expand the repertoire and in some instances push the traditional boundaries of the contemporary piano trio. Queen of Hearts (Tria Records amazon.com/Queen-Hearts-Claremont-Trio/dp/B09RQDVRVV) brings six of these works together with compositions by Gabriela Lena Frank, Sean Shepherd, Judd Greenstein, Helen Grime, Nico Muhly and Kati Agócs. Frank’s Four Folk Songs draws on her Peruvian heritage on her mother’s side for a set that ranges from lyrical to playful and to frankly disturbing. Shepherd’s Trio was commissioned for the opening of Calderwood Hall in the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum, Boston. It was inspired by the architecture of Renzo Piano and the three movements consider different aspects of the construction. Most compelling is the finale, Slow Waltz of the Robots.  

Muhly’s Common Ground (2008) and Agócs’ Queen of Hearts (2017) mark the earliest and latest works on this compelling CD. Muhly’s title refers to the ground bass à la Purcell that appears in the final section of the work. Agócs also employs a repeating bass line, in this case alternating with a lyrical melody. She tells us that “A life fully lived may see challenges that can seem insurmountable. The work’s variation structure, by representing tenaciousness and ingenuity – continuously finding new ways to respond – ultimately reveals an inner strength and an emotional core that hold steadfast and unshaken no matter how they are tested. The title Queen of Hearts […] symbolizes resilience, magnetism, nobility, empathy, decorum, a flair for the dramatic, and a distinctly feminine power.” This piece makes a powerful end to a diverse disc with fine performances right across the board.

I spoke earlier about musical works inspired by paintings. I have experienced two artistic epiphanies in my life, one visual and one audial. The first was on a family trip to Washington in my teenage years when I turned a corner in the National Gallery and came face to face with Salvador Dali’s The Sacrament of the Last Supper. I gasped and said to myself “Oh, that’s what they mean by a masterpiece!” The second was in 1984 when I attended the CBC Young Composers’ Competition and had the most visceral musical experience of my first 30 years. Paul Dolden’s The Melting Voice Through Mazes Running, which won the only prize in the electroacoustic category that year, was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Although it sent some audience members rushing to the exits with hands pressed over their ears, it held me riveted to my seat and ultimately inspired me to commission a new Dolden work (Caught in an Octagon of Unaccustomed Light) for my radio program Transfigured Night at CKLN-FM. Now, some three and a half decades later, Dolden has published his entire catalogue of works and writings and I’m very pleased that Nick Storring has agreed to review The Golden Dolden Box Set in these pages. Storring is a composer in his own right, a generation younger than Dolden, who uses some similar techniques in his own work. I believe his insights are extremely apt and articulately expressed and I welcome him aboard the WholeNote team. 

We invite submissions. CDs, DVDs and comments should be sent to: DISCoveries, WholeNote Media Inc., The Centre for Social Innovation, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4.

David Olds, DISCoveries Editor
discoveries@thewholenote.com

Golden Dolden Box Set
Paul Dolden
Independent (pauldolden.bandcamp.com)

In 1988 Canadian electroacoustic composer Paul Dolden (b.1956) started creating Below The Walls of Jericho – the first instalment of a three-part series that invoked the biblical story of Jericho, whose walls crumbled from the sheer power of sound. Though a number of Dolden’s earlier pieces – notably Veils (1984-5) – also employed multi-layered swarms of studio-recorded acoustic instrumentation, this was his first work to display an explicit preoccupation with sonic excess. Many of Dolden’s ensuing pieces also exhibit varying degrees of fascination with loudness, density, and velocity – enough for detractors to label his music, brazen or over-the-top.

It might therefore seem fitting that his latest offering occupies a similarly massive scope. Golden Dolden, is a career-spanning digital compendium featuring ten hours of music (including seven unreleased works), 34 scores, six hours’ of lectures, and a generous serving of text. The virtual box-set’s reverse-chronological avalanche may indeed be overwhelming, but immersing oneself in it reveals the depth of Dolden’s vibrant, utterly singular vision. He does often favour thick, saturated textures comprised of hundreds upon hundreds of active layers, but this vast collection is full of contrast, contradiction, imagination, and, yes, beauty. 

Even at its most claustrophobic (such as on the aforementioned Jericho series) his music’s prevailing drive seems more inquisitive than destructive. The composer’s liner notes may be dismissive of his early catalogue’s underlying nihilism or postmodern posturing, but the swirling microtonal maelstroms are always projected through a radiant sheen of awe and wonder.

Quatuor Saguenay (formerly Quatuor Alcan) celebrates its 33rd anniversary this year, and while three of the members have been together for almost 30 years, the new CD Mendelssohn – Ravel – Sollima is the first recording with first violinist Marie Bégin (ATMA ACD2 2846 atmaclassique.com/en).

The ensemble says that Bégin brings freshness and a colour to the project that particularly suits the two major works on the CD, Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E Minor, Op.44 No.2 and the Ravel String Quartet in F Major. Certainly the former is bursting with life and the latter full of shimmering warmth in lovely performances.

Federico II, the first movement from Italian composer Giovanni Sollima’s Viaggio in Italia closes the disc. Written in 2000, its percussive rhythms and bursting energy provide a perfect finale.

The Montreal classical guitarist Jasmin Lacasse Roy recorded, mixed and produced his self-issued CD Météores (fanlink.to/meteores), an album he describes as “an eclectic homage to a neighbourhood that deeply inspires me with its laid-back atmosphere imbued with artistic energy – Montreal’s Mile End district.” The title comes from his desire to have each piece “shine like a meteor.”

The ten short pieces are not literal depictions of scenes or events, but impressions (Roy wanted an album that “sounds like an impressionist painting”), and they’re terrific, displaying great imagination, technical skill and virtuosity. The whimsical titles include Cast iron rhapsody, Impétuositeration, The nostalgic chronicles of count Rachmanula, Mile End Winter and Midnight disco lounge.

Roy can write great melodies and hooks as well as challenging tours de force, all of it beautifully recorded in a delightful CD. 

On Sylvius Leopold Weiss Baroque Lute Works the Canadian guitarist Alan Rinehart plays selections from the Moscow and London manuscripts, transcribed by him from original tablature for 11 or 13 course lute (Ravello Records RR8056 ravellorecords.com/catalog/rr8056).

Rinehart feels that Weiss’ lute music was overshadowed by keyboard music, especially that of his direct contemporary J.S. Bach, and consequently under appreciated, and the recital here certainly supports that view. The three major works, all with five to seven dance movements, are the Partita in A Minor, the Partita in G Major and the Suite in D Major. An Allegro in E Minor, a Fantasia, the Tombeau sur la mort de M’Comte de Logy, a Gallanterie and a Minuet & Trio complete the disc.

“Travelling bass lines, intricate melodies, and pleasant harmony,” say the booklet notes. Add clean, stylish playing and you have a top-level CD.

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Montreal guitarist Pascal Valois continues his exploration of the guitar during the Romantic era with his new CD Vienna 1840 – Romantic Viennese Music (Analekta AN 2 9197 analekta.com/en).

Valois employs period-appropriate ornamentation, stylistic practices and improvisation in his playing, and for this recording aimed to rediscover the expressive mannerisms widely used in the German Romantic period.

Two of the Six Preludes Op.46 from 1840 by Emilia Giuliani-Guglielmi – the daughter of Mauro Giuliani – open the disc. The Hungarian guitar virtuoso Johann Kaspar Mertz is represented by five selections from his Barden-Klänge Op.13, his Hungarian Fantasy No.1 Op.65 and his arrangement of Schubert’s song Ständchen. Giulio Regondi’s Nocturne “Rêverie” Op.19, with its demanding tremolo work completes the CD.

Valois plays a 1987 Gary Southwell replica of an 1830 Viennese guitar by Johann Georg Stauffer.

Violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann has been recording for four decades, but has never included the Bach solo works. With “great respect for the task at hand” his new CD J.S. Bach Sonatas & Partitas Vol.1 begins to rectify that, and boy, was it ever worth the wait (BIS-2577 bis.se).

The three works here are the Sonata No.2 in A Minor BWV1003, the Partita No.2 in D Minor BWV1004 and the Partita No.3 in E Major BWV1006, and the performances are simply outstanding. Zimmermann is faultless technically, with never a hint of anything less than supreme control and artistry. There’s great clarity of line through the multiple-stopping, added ornamentation in the slow movement repeats and an intelligent approach to tempos.

A spacious, resonant recording ambience adds to a superb release.

The outstanding American violinist Elena Urioste and her English pianist husband Tom Poster follow their superb Jukebox Album release with From Brighton to Brooklyn, another CD overflowing with absolute gems and sumptuous playing that explores composer connections (sometimes somewhat tenuous) with the two cities from their respective countries (Chandos CHAN 20248 naxosdirect.com/items/from-brighton-to-brooklyn-572573).

Paul Schoenfeld’s terrific Four Souvenirs opens the disc with a bang. Three lovely short pieces – Cradle Song, Romanze and Heart’s Ease – by Frank Bridge, who was born in Brighton and conducted in New York – are here, as are the Three Pieces from Suite Op.6 by his student Benjamin Britten, who was president of the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra.

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn; his Two Pieces date from 1926. Also included are Amy Beach’s Three Compositions Op.40, Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in C Minor Op.73 and the absolutely charming – and very Kreisler-ish – Elfentanz by Florence Price.

Once again, this superb duo enchants the listener from start to finish of another gorgeous CD.

Heritage is the debut CD by the young Dominican violinist Aisha Syed Castro, with pianist Martin Labazevitch (Divine Arts DDA25229 divineartrecords.com/recording/heritage). 

Recorded in England in April 2019, it’s an album of works with primarily American and Latino roots, including Una Primavera para el Mundo by the Dominican composer Rafael Solano in his own arrangement made specifically for this recording. There are three numbers from Bernstein’s West Side Story, tangos by Piazzolla (Oblivion), Carlos Gardel (Por Una Cabeza) and Albéniz (España Op.165 No.2), the latter arranged by Kreisler, who also arranged the Granados Spanish Dance No.5 and the Danse Orientale from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherezade.

William Grant Still’s Suite for Violin and Piano, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Deep River and Aisha’s Dance from Khachaturian’s Gayaneh ballet fill out a captivating program that ends with Aisha’s Prayer, Labazevitch’s arrangement of traditional hymns built around Amazing Grace.

The signing of Castro and the launch of this CD were announced with great fanfare, and it’s easy to hear just why Divine Arts is so excited. She’s clearly a talent to watch.

There are two sets of complete works this month:

Violinist Gil Shaham is joined by reduced forces of the SWR Symphonieorchester under Nicholas McGegan on the 2CD set of Mozart Violonkonzerte Nr.1-5, along with the Adagio In E Major K261 and the Rondo in C Major K373 (SWR Classic SWR19113 naxosdirect.com/search/swr19113cd).

The concertos were written when Mozart was a full-time violinist at the Salzburg court, the final four in an astonishing six-month period in late 1775. 

Shaham, who always has a radiant clarity to his playing, accurately described here as “flawless technique combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit,” is in superb form. McGegan is an expert in 18th-century style, and together they make wonderful music on a simply outstanding and beautifully recorded set.

Jennifer Kloetzel is the cellist and Robert Koenig the pianist on the 3CD set of Beethoven: The Conquering Hero, Complete Works for Cello and Piano (Avie AV2450 avie-records.com/releases).

The five cello sonatas are here, together with the three sets of variations and the Sonata in F Major for Piano with Horn or Cello, Op.17. The piano is a 19th-century Blüthner 9-foot grand and the cello a 1901 Camillo Mandelli. There’s a lovely balance in the recording, a clear piano sound that never overwhelms and a warm, rich cello tone.

Kloetzel has been playing the cello sonatas since she was eight years old, so it’s no surprise that we’re in very good hands here. Koenig is an outstanding partner.

The Armida Quartett continues its ongoing series of the composer’s complete string quartets with Mozart String Quartets Vol.4 (Avi Music 8553205 armidaquartett.com).

The three-movement String Quartets No.4 in C Major K157, No.6 in B-flat Major K519 and No.7 in E-flat Major K160, written in 1773 during a journey to Italy are paired with the String Quartet No.19 in C Major K465 “Dissonance” from 1785, a work foreshadowed by the traces of dissonance in the three earlier quartets by the 17-year-old Mozart.

The Armida Quartett has been collaborating with G. Henle Verlag on their Urtext edition of Mozart’s string quartets, and their study of the manuscript and early edition sources has resulted in stylistically authoritative interpretations and finely detailed performances.

The final volume in the series is scheduled for release in April.

The American-based Ukrainian violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv is the soloist on Poems & Rhapsodies, with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine under Volodymyr Sirenko (Centaur CRC3799 amazon.com/Poems-Rhapsodies-Solomiya-Ivakhiv/dp/B09NSYKL93).

They are joined by cellist Sophie Shao in the little-heard but quite charming Saint-Saëns work La Muse et le poète Op.132 (the publisher’s title, not the composer’s) which began life as a piano trio.

Ivakhiv displays a clear, bright tone and technical assurance in competent readings of Chausson’s Poème Op.25 and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, but really excels in the remaining three works on the disc. The simply lovely American Rhapsody (Romance for Violin and Orchestra) from 2008 by the American composer Kenneth Fuchs is heard between two works by Ukrainian composers: the 1962 Poem in D Minor for Violin and Orchestra by Anatol Kos-Anatolsky (1909-83); and the Carpathian Rhapsody from 2004 by Myroslav Skoryk (1938-2020).

The young English violinist Emmanuel Bach is paired with pianist Jenny Stern on Lennox in Paris – Music for violin and piano by Lennox Berkeley, Lili Boulanger & Francis Poulenc (Willowhayne Records WHR070 willowhaynerecords.com).

Berkeley lived in Paris from 1926 to 1932, studying with Nadia Boulanger and Ravel and counting Poulenc among his musical friends. Only one of his works here – the Violin Sonata No.1 – was written during that time, the Sonatina dating from 1942 and the Elegy and Toccata Op.33 Nos. 2 & 3 from 1950.

Bach’s playing seems quite tentative, not being helped by an over-prominent piano balance, and one can’t help feeling that these are works deserving of far more colourful and insightful performances.

The French pieces fare much better. There’s a lovely touch in the Boulanger pieces – Nocturne, Cortège and D’un matin du printemps – a sweet tone and nice feel to the middle movement of the Poulenc Sonata, and some assured playing in the Heifetz transcriptions of Poulenc’s Mouvements perpétuels and Presto in B-flat Major.

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Restless Nation – The Music of Andy Teirstein features works that were inspired by world music traditions (Navona NV6397 navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6397). 

The Cassatt String Quartet performs the title work, its impressions of a year-long family expedition evoking “the fierce energy” of American fiddling. 

On Secrets of the North the Mivos String Quartet is joined by Marco Ambrosini on the nyckelharpa, the traditional Swedish keyed fiddle, in a work that incorporates elements inherent in Swedish folk music.

Azazme Songs, Suite for String Quartet, Oud and Dulcimer was composed after a four-day trek with Azazme Bedouins across the Aravah desert. They are not direct transcriptions but rather impressions gleaned, the dulcimer representing the sound of the Bedouin sumsumia, a strummed psaltery-type instrument. The Mivos String Quartet performs again, with the composer playing dulcimer and Yair Dala on the oud.

Teirstein plays a brief harmonica solo to open Letter From Woody with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra under Jirí Petrdlík. Inspired by one of the letters that Woody Guthrie wrote to his future wife, it “draws on traditional American folk string bowings and energies.”

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Messiah
Karina Gauvin; Ensemble Caprice; Ensemble Vocal Arts-Quéébec; Matthias Maute
Leaf Music LM247 (leaf-music.ca)

Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin, German-born Matthias Maute and the ensembles he conducts, Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble Vocal Arts-Québec, present a new recording with highlights from Handel’s Messiah.

Although it would be easy to dismiss the recording as “another Messiah,” this interpretation is a unique and valuable contribution to the large number of recorded offerings of Messiah. Dictated by COVID restrictions in place at the time of recording, the chorus includes only 12 voices. Although, unlike the large choruses of contemporary times, this reading does somewhat align with musicological research that estimates the original performances of Messiah comprised only 16 men and/or 16 boy choristers. More controversial for Messiah and Baroque music purists are the many chorus sections with notable faster tempi than what modern ears are used to as well as unusual and sometimes chopped phrasing as in the opening of the “Hallelujah” chorus. 

Artistic choices notwithstanding, this Messiah offers an intimate experience that never feels underpowered because of its smaller effective. Both ensembles offer solid musicianship and musicality; Gauvin, renowned for her performances of Baroque repertoire, is at ease and delivers her usual abilities with elegance, depth and conviction.

The album also offers two new choral works Hope and Belief by Jaap Nico Hamburger on a text from Polish Jewish writer Isaac Leib Peretz (1852-1915) and O Magnum Mysterium by conductor Maute based on the sacred Latin text of the same name. Both works featured prominently in the Mini-Concerts Santé, a Maute initiative that provided uplifting concerts to thousands during the 2020 lockdown.

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Amata Dalle Tenebre
Anna Netrebko; Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala; Riccardo Chailly
Deutsche Grammophon B0034484-02 (deutschegrammophon.com)

The great soprano, Anna Netrebko, is the epitome of the larger-than-life opera star; a diva who ought to be credited with perpetuating the mysterious appeal of the genre. She has the prodigious gift not only of reaching extraordinarily high notes – her high C is sung with electrifying charisma – but she also graces the roles she brings to life with a tragic grandeur. There can also be no doubt that she is Riccardo Chailly’s operatic muse. The repertoire on Amata Dalle Tenebre certainly suggests that she has been so anointed – literally and figuratively – with the ink-black heartbreak of these arias. 

Netrebko can easily lay claim to being the diva assoluta of our time. The disc is kicked off by the dark honeyed voicing of Richard Strauss’ Es Gibt ein Reich, moulding the lyric from Ariadne auf Naxos as if with molten lava. Then she proceeds to unveil – from her palpitating heart – the elemental ache of her very being with her touching evocations of Verdi’s Aida, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Manon Lescaut. Netrebko’s Dido from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is a deeply cathartic evocation of grief.

Her Wagner is perfectly judged. Both arias: Dich, Teure Halle (Tannhäuser’s Elisabeth) and Einsam in Trüben Tagen (Lohengrin’s Elsa) are shaped in majesty and eloquence, transcending the pitch blackness of operatic emotions. Her Cilea is gorgeous, but the apogee of the disc is Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame in which Netrebko plays Lisa with unbuttoned authority and anguished poetic brilliance.

Henze – Nachtstücke und Arien; Los Caprichos; Englische Liebeslieder
Narek Hakhnazaryan; Juliane Banse; Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien; Marin Alsop
Naxos 8574181 (naxosdirect.com/search/747313418176)

Right from the start of Hans Werner Henze’s long and productive career, performers and audiences have connected viscerally with his music – some of the most lyrical, complex, passionate, committed, literate, uncompromising, provocative, confrontational and powerful of its time. Today, ten years after his death, it speaks to us just as directly as ever. 

The works on this recording were never among Henze’s best-known pieces, compelling though all three are. The one I find most moving is Englische Liebeslieder. This collection of love songs is based on poems by Shakespeare, the Earl of Rochester, Joyce and Graves. But the texts are never actually heard. Instead, they are interpreted by a solo cello. With cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan’s open-hearted lyricism, and the responsiveness of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony under chief conductor Marin Alsop, the effect is uncannily intimate – and utterly ravishing. 

In Nachtstücke und Arien, the arias are sung, to exquisite poems by Ingeborg Bachmann. But here the three dreamy instrumental movements work better than the two wistful arias. Soprano Juliane Banse captures the essential theatricality of Henze’s style. But her shrillness and pronounced vibrato dampen the mystery and magic for me.

Los Caprichos transports us to the world of foolishness and folly depicted in Goya’s series of 80 etchings of the same name. Under Alsop’s insightful direction the orchestra captures Henze’s brilliant characterizations, shapely phrases and delightfully clear textures, making this a disc well worth seeking out.

how do I find you
Sasha Cooke; Kirill Kuzmin
Pentatone PTC 5186961 (pentatonemusic.com/product/how-do-i-find-you)

American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke is a two-time Grammy Award winner. Her most recent album, how do I find you, features songs composed by numerous living American composers (Missy Mazzoli, Rene Orth, Frances Pollock, Hilary Purrington, Kamala Sankaram and Caroline Shaw) and written by many living American and Canadian poets and lyricists (Liza Balkan, Mark Campbell, David Henry Hwang and Colleen Murphy).

howdDo I find you is a digital only release in which Cooke partners up with collaborative pianist and Houston Grand Opera principal coach Kirill Kuzmin. Together, they perform 17 newly composed songs commissioned and curated by Cooke during the COVID-19 pandemic. Composers were given the opportunity to write about topics that spoke to them most during the pandemic and this resulted in a wide variety of themes related to the use of social media, social injustice, immigration and environmental concerns, as well as the familiar pandemic themes of working from home, work insecurity, pandemic parenting, general struggles and personal sacrifices. 

Although Cooke’s voice would gain from light text setting revisions and her interpretation of raw and unhinged feelings is, at times, too measured (Dear Colleagues), how do I find you is a compelling album. With music firmly situated in the contemporary American art-song style and up to date lyrics, Cooke and Kuzmin’s interpretations successfully portray the intricacies of pandemic life with relatable depth, seriousness, sarcasm and humour.

EDEN
Joyce DiDonato; Il Pomo D’Oro; Maxim Emelyanychev
Erato (joycedidonato.com/2021/12/07/eden)

Joyce DiDonato’s Eden invites us to examine our relationships and connections to the natural world by exploring themes of identity and belonging as well as our role and purpose in the healing of our planet, ourselves and one another. 

The repertoire offered crosses musical genres and eras, from classical Baroque songs from the 17th century to the modern contemporary and jazzy sounds of the 21st. The songs showcase themes of nature that have fascinated numerous composers, from Handel, Gluck and Mysliveček to Mahler, Ives and Copland. Eden also includes a world premiere recording of The First Morning of the World by Rachel Portman and Gene Scheer, commissioned for the album. 

DiDonato is a well-established versatile singer and little can be added to praise the quality of her voice, her technique, her creativity and her artistry, all equally displayed on Eden. Perhaps most notable is the care in curation which results in a cohesive product offering both vocal and instrumental works that efficiently cross the boundaries of musical genres and eras. 

DiDonato’s partners, Ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro and the conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, are historical performance practice specialists and this is reflected throughout the album. Gluck’s instrumental piece Danza degli spettri e delle furie is especially delightful.

From Rags to Riches – 100 Years of American Song
Stephanie Blythe; William Burden; Steven Blier
NYFOS Records n/a (nyfos.org)

This debut album from the New York Festival of Song’s new in-house label NYFOS Records features mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and tenor William Burden accompanied on piano by NYFOS artistic director/co-founder Steven Blier, who also arranged some of the songs. It is taken from a March 2000 live concert recording at Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York celebrating 20th-century American songs including art song, musical theatre, jazz and opera. 

The opening track has happy, energetic Blythe solo vocals in a dance-along rendition of Joplin’s Pineapple Rag, arranged by Blier. Blier’s arrangement of Cook’s vaudeville My Lady Frog is amazing, with opening piano leaping frog line, Burden’s musical singing to higher tenor closing pitches and closing ragtime piano riff. Bernstein’s Broadway song Wrong Note Rag provides a fun change of pace with piano “wrong note chords” hilarious under the vocalists. Nice to hear a more classical piece in the mix here with Samuel Barber’s Nocturne for tenor and piano. Other songs include works by Gershwin, Monk, Weill, Rodgers, Sondheim and Bolcom

The 17 songs comprise a comprehensive, stylistically wide-ranging overview of American songs composed in the last century. Blythe and Burden both sing with clear pitch, articulation and musicality in all the diverse styles. Blier’s rock-solid technique, musicality, accompanying and humour is amazing. His arrangements are musically inspiring. This is a superb release from a live production that includes occasional audience applause. Bravo!

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On Early Music
Francesco Tristano
Sony Classical G0100045975984 (sonyclassical.com/releases/releases-details/on-early-music)

Francisco Tristano studied at four conservatories before graduating from the Juilliard School. Here he turns every last facet of his immense talent as a pianist and composer to interpreting eight pieces of early music juxtaposed with as many of his own creations. 

Breathtaking does not begin to describe Tristano’s talents. After his own highly spirited Toccata we are treated to his version of a John Bull Galliard which combines the pianist’s exceptional skills with the taxing sequences one associates with Bull. Other tracks are as complex; what is more, it is difficult to remember that we are listening to a pianist when so much of this CD sounds as if it is being played on a harpsichord.  

Then there are the slower pieces, notably the surprisingly restrained Aria la folia and Pavan. Tristano also has a keen interest in the works of Orlando Gibbons, selecting four pieces, each with its own stately Elizabethan character. Above all, there is the longest track on the CD, Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Cento partite sopra passacaglie, with an intensity highly appropriate for Tristano’s vigorous technique. 

Which leaves us with Tristano’s surely unique pieces. Ritornello offers no respite to its composer/player, what with its inspiring opening and ever more intense later rhythms. Neither does the breathless Ciacona seconda. It is a brave pianist who would seek to emulate him.

Standing ovations have graced many of Tristano’s performances. This reviewer adds one virtually.

Mozart – Flute Quartets
Sonora Slocum; Joel Link; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt; Brook Speltz
Acis APL98573 (acisproductions.com)

“Recording these quartets was a dream we had as students at Curtis over 12 years ago....” writes flutist Sonora Slocum in her program notes. So it is no surprise that her warmth and depth of feeling also come out in her playing, not as an imposed emotionality but rather as a kind of transparency, through which the message of the music assigned to the flutist can be felt. This is true not only of the slow movements, the sublime Adagio of the D-Major Quartet or the Andante of the G Major, but also, for example, of the brilliant Allegro first movement of the D Major, where Slocum’s effortless virtuosity serves to convey an intensity of feeling no less than that of the slow movements.

This recording, however, also raises the question: are these quartets flute solos with string trio accompaniment or string quartets with the first violin part given to the flutist? Unfortunately whoever mastered the recording chose the former, consistently putting the flute in the foreground and the strings in the background. As an example, in measures 26 and 27 of the G-Major Andante movement the flute and the cello have a brief duo in contrary motion, in which the flute dominates and the cello is in the background, when the sound from both instruments should be equal. 

So while Slocum’s playing is exemplary, the production values of the album do not, in my opinion, do justice to these wonderful works.