The Musical Clock and other Timeless Masterpieces
Suzanne Shulman; Valerie Tryon
Marquis Classics MAR 81471 (marquisclassics.com)

Yes, a clever title for a most interesting programme of music, mostly for flute and piano but with two compositions for solo flute, impeccably performed by Camerata co-founder Suzanne Shulman and pianist, Valerie Tryon. From the opening Allegro vivace from Haydn’s The Musical Clock (the first of five) you can hear the great chemistry between the two, and it gets even better; by the fifth Tryon has proven that you can double tongue on the piano as she matches Shulman’s double-tonguing wizardry! The Sonata in B-flat Major K378 by Mozart is next. Originally composed for violin, it gives the performers something a little more substantial to work with. The Andantino second movement gives us an opportunity to hear Shulman’s dark low register. (Thank you, Suzanne Shulman, for playing this in the original key, not the transcribed for flute version!)

Next up is an intoxicating dose of wistful fin-de-siècle melancholy, a sonata by the very accomplished but little known French composer, Mélanie Bonis, followed by Francis Poulenc’s wonderful – can I say iconic? – Sonata, in which Shulman was tutored by Jean-Pierre Rampal, for whom it was written. Need I say more!

The two last pieces are Harry Somers’ Etching – The Vollard Suite and Milton Barnes’ Music for Solo Flute, to both of which Shulman brings such artistry that I am convinced that these two pieces by Canadian composers are truly timeless masterpieces.

Transcendental – Daniil Trifonov plays Franz Liszt
Daniil Trifonov
Deutsche Grammophon 479 5529

The Tchaikovsky Project – Pathétique; Romeo & Juliet
Czech Philharmonic; Semyon Bychkov
Decca 483 0656

A formidable pairing of the great Symphony No.6 with the Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture featuring Russian conductor Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic launches The Tchaikovsky Project on the Decca label, a multi-year endeavour devoted to re-examining the composer’s greatest orchestral works. Was it really 26 years ago that Bychkov recorded the Pathétique with the Concertgebouw? How appropriate that the major work on the initial disc in this new series should contain an underlying theme of mortality!

Completed in 1893, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.6 takes the listener on a highly personal journey, and the Czech Philharmonic under Bychkov’s competent direction has no difficulty conveying the sense of tragic resignation. Well-articulated phrasing highlighted by the luxuriant strings and brilliant brass makes this performance a true odyssey. The four contrasting movements are all marked by a technical precision and warmly romantic sound that particularly befits one of the composer’s final works.

The Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture from 1869 has long been a favourite with audiences for its interpretation of the familiar story of ill-fated love. Without overly sentimentalizing the score, Bychkov draws the full range of tonal colours from the orchestra – from the prophetic opening of the fight scenes, to the lyrical love theme and on to the cataclysmic finale.

This is a fine beginning to a promising series. Bychkov wrote: “I’ve loved Tchaikovsky’s music ever since I can remember – and like all first loves, this one never died.”

Bruckner 2
Orchestre Métropolitain; Yannick Nézet-Séguin
ATMA ACD2 2708

Ravel
Yuja Wang; Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; Lionel Bringuie
Deutsche Grammophon 479 4954

DG’s latest issue of Yuja Wang is the fifth in a row of the pianist’s bestselling discs. It has already earned Gramophone magazine’s prestigious Editor’s Choice Award, probably the best recommendation today. The young Chinese virtuoso has cut through the music world like a hurricane, an elemental force, in a few years her fame skyrocketing her to the very top. I was lucky to see her at Koerner Hall a few years ago when I literally staggered out of the concert totally astounded.

The record definitely lives up to its stellar reputation. Dashing through the Ravel Concerto in G Major with her customary bravura she is totally in her element, youthful and impetuous, having the time of her life with this somewhat jazzy, very entertaining and exciting concerto. The phenomenal technical skill notwithstanding, she is also a mature pianist. This is well-demonstrated in the lyrical second movement where she creates a gorgeous sound painting with her extraordinary touch and colouring. I have heard this piece many times and it is always dazzling, but here the overall compositional structure truly shines, as both the pianist and the conductor (Lionel Bringuier) clearly understand it and have tremendous chemistry working towards a common goal.

The completely different Piano Concerto for the Left Hand is considerably more difficult, with a mysterious opening of a theme slowly emerging from darkness; as the piano enters we witness an almost titanic power in Wang’s left hand. As the pace quickens in the march-like mid-section there is dazzling showmanship, exhilarating to listen to in a recording of demonstration quality with full frequency and wide dynamic range. Top recommendation.

Milhaud & Ginastera
Andrée-Ann Deschênes
Independent (aadpiano.com)

Los Angeles-based Canadian pianist Andrée-Ann Deschênes has a thing for Latin American piano music. Her first CD was a collection of piano music from Cuba and Brazil. And in August, the Humber College grad – presently a doctoral music student at California’s Claremont Graduate University (CGU), with a teaching gig at Cal State LA – released Milhaud & Ginastera. Her second indie effort – in a recent interview with CGU’s magazine, The Flame, Deschênes calls herself an “indie pianist” (followed by, “if there’s such a thing!”) – offers two sets of dances for solo piano: one largely inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s neighbourhoods; the other, a well-known trio of Argentinian dances.

After a two-year stay in Rio (1917-18), French composer Darius Milhaud composed his 12-dance suite, Saudades do Brazil. Untranslatable, “saudade” suggests a feeling of longing, melancholy or nostalgia, a fixture in the music and literature of Brazil. In that same Flame interview, Deschênes says she chose these pieces “because they are such unique little gems of music.” And they are, each one its own, self-contained iteration of saudade, some poignant and dark, others more playful with driving rhythms. All tonally interesting, harmonically colourful and utterly charming. Deschênes captures the essence of saudade, tapping into an emotional connection to the material – you sense she’s both moved by it, yet at the same time, focused on the task at hand, technique crisp and clean.

Alberto Ginastera’s Danza Argentinas are also gorgeous gems, and Deschênes executes them deftly and sensitively; the middle, an achingly beautiful invocation.

Deschênes’ disc is a gem. ¡Fantástico!

Charles Wuorinen – Eighth Symphony; Fourth Piano Concerto
Peter Serkin; Boston Symphony Orchestra; James Levine
Bridge Records 9474 (bridgerecords.com)

In his heyday, conductor James Levine was known as a staunch advocate of the American high modern school of practitioners of Arnold Schoenberg’s serial method, commissioning new works from Elliott Carter, Milton Babbitt and Charles Wuorinen during his tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony. Bridge Records, with considerable philanthropic support, has now issued a commemorative disc of two major works from the last man standing of that compositional triumvirate. The first of these, Wuorinen’s Eighth Symphony, bears the arcane subtitle, Theologoumena, defined by the composer as “a private non-dogmatic theological opinion.” Make of that what you will. Formally it is cast in a conventional order of three fast-slow-fast movements, expressed in a no-compromise, often abrasive, language. That language is nevertheless in many ways a very traditional and approachable one; there are no extended instrumental techniques or a smidgen of spectralism to be found in his highly contrapuntal style. The first movement of the symphony is a wild ride of unbridled energy, dense and frenetic; the second movement is marginally more restrained, while the finale brings the percussion and piano to the fore for a thunderous conclusion. The ensemble of the Boston musicians is pushed to the edge in this high tension recording of the 2007 premiere performance.

The performance of Wuorinen’s compelling Fourth Piano Concerto from 2005 is considerably more assured, in large part due to Peter Serkin’s admirable mastery of the demanding solo piano part and the composer’s more lyrical approach in this work. All three movements of the concerto maintain a constant, mercurial energy leavened with explosive outpourings of orchestral frenzy. This is tough music to love, but easy to admire.

Wind blown – Sonatas for wind instruments by Peter Hope
Various Artists
Divine Art dda 25137
(divineartrecords.com)

A Land So Luminous – Music by Richard Causton; Kenneth Hesketh
Continuum Ensemble; Philip Headlam
Prima Facie PFCD051 (thecontinuumensemble.co.uk)

Richard Danielpour – Songs of Solitude; War Songs
Thomas Hampson; Nashville Symphony; Giancarlo Guerrero
Naxos 8.559772

On the day the Twin Towers fell, Richard Danielpour was at the composers’ retreat in Aaron Copland’s former Peekskill, NY, home. His artistic response to 9/11 was to begin work on Songs of Solitude, settings of six scathing Yeats poems. Danielpour’s melodic, rhythmic and colouristic predilections link him to Copland and Bernstein, two fellow New York-based composers of Jewish ancestry. Echoes of Copland appear in the cycle’s orchestral opening and closing; Bernstein is channelled in the jazzy Drinking Song. The longest song, lasting nine of the cycle’s 28 minutes, sets Yeats’s most famous poem, The Second Coming, but the music fails to match the power of these often-quoted lines.

There’s power aplenty, though, in War Songs (2008), inspired, writes Danielpour, by photographs of young soldiers killed in Iraq. Set to haunting Civil War poems by Walt Whitman, four dirge-like, elegiac songs precede the shattering final song, Come up from the Fields Father, at 11 minutes, nearly half the cycle’s duration. I was left both shaken and stirred.

Both cycles were composed for baritone Thomas Hampson, here in characteristically fine voice, fully expressive of the words (texts are included).

Transformations
Aaron Tindall, tuba; various ensembles
Bridge Records 9471 (bridgerecords.com)

Vyacheslav Artyomov – Symphony Gentle Emanation; Tristia II
Russian National Orchestra; Teodor Currentzis; Vladimir Ponkin
Divine Art dda 25144

Artyomov – Symphony on the Threshold of a Bright World; Ave Atque Vale; Ave, Crux Alba
National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia; Vladimir Ashkenazy
Divine Art dda 25143
(divineartrecords.com)

Vyacheslav Artyomov was preparing for a life in astrophysics, but these two symphonies (parts of a tetralogy) are unlike The Planets, unless you think of them as uber-Holst: they cause a visceral reaction and suggest a metaphysical cri de cœur. My initial reaction to them was that they sounded like the soundtrack of some 1940s film noir or an original-series Star Trek episode – which is apt, since they embody mystery and the unknown. In his essay, Musica Perennis, the composer said “Serious music is created by the spirit for the Spirit,” and these twin-released CDs reflect his view of music as a mediator between God and man, but also as science. While I find the Threshold of a Bright World symphony more arresting than the Gentle Emanation, they are both accessible, and while Artyomov is often compared to Arvo Pärt, I hear a little more of Rautavaara.

The orchestration in Ave Atque Vale and Gentle Emanation is a little jarring due to the highlighting of the percussion parts. But Ave, Crux Alba, a choral (Helikon Theatre Choir) and orchestral setting of the Hymn of the Knights of Malta, returns to the majesty and mystery Artyomov is known for in his musical quest for spirituality. Tristia II, based on the 19th-century poems of Nikolai Gogol and with spoken parts read by Russian actor Mikhail Philippov, carries on the potential-soundtrack feel and allows us non–Russian speakers to hear the cries of the artist to God for inspiration; the suspense in the middle tracks suggests Him mulling the petitions over.

Both CDs are in memoriam of the composer’s friend and colleague, Mstislav Rostropovich, and both have expansive liner notes.

Slow Bend
See Through Two
All-Set! A8007 (all-set.org)

Famous Wildlife Movies
Mike Smith
All-Set! A8006 (all-set.org)

Another Helpful Medicine
Aurochs
All-Set! A8004 (all-set.org)

Margins
See Through 5
All-Set! A8005 (all-set.org)

The All-Set! Imprint is fast becoming a beacon of originality as a fast-growing world of boutique and independent contemporary music labels. Its penchant for featuring artful cover graphics that appear more inclined towards corporate identity than visually describing musical content is unusual, to say the least. But nothing could prepare the listener for what to hear on each of their releases; not even the names of rather well-known experimental musicians whose work lies within each release. A case in point is Slow Bend by the bass duo See Through Two.

On this masterful performance by Rob Clutton (bass, banjo and fretless Fender bass) and Pete Johnston (bass) we glimpse music from quite another realm of bass violin, with the sound of the banjo providing not just relief, but occasionally elevating the music to the upper layers of this tonal realm. The personality of each piece is characterized by the rhythmic brevity of its title but often takes the dallying conversation between the two bassists to fascinating harmonic spaces. This adventure that takes as its starting point, in place of metric lassitude, a steady beat which is then stretched and moulded with infinite varieties of rubato. As a result, the rather explicitly titled Range that begins the set to Trail, which suggests not the end, perhaps, but the beginning of another journey, the refreshing overall impression is of a great colouristic soundscape that is rather dynamic and rich in possibility.

In addition to Slow Bend, but completely different in every aspect of music, recent releases have also included Mike Smith’s Famous Wildlife Movies, a fascinating collection of pieces which emerges as an epic in miniature for large ensemble performed with special authority and élan. Two years after Aurochs’ Rational Animals comes Another Helpful Medicine, which seems to have been created in a crucible ignited by an explosion of collective imagination. Finally the recent collection of releases includes Margins by See Through 5, a quintet whose music is characterized by its gaunt sonority, laser-like projection, finely calibrated articulation and uncanny rhythmic equilibrium.

John MacMurchy’s Art of Breath Volume One
John MacMurchy
Independent (johnmacmurchy.com)

Toronto woodwind stalwart John MacMurchy has produced a sonically refreshing album that manages to combine sophistication and accessibility across a variety of musical genres. The eight original compositions contained in Art of Breath flow together in a natural way, a testament to MacMurchy’s writing and arranging skills. The somewhat unusual instrumentation, a septet augmented by vocals and a string quartet, makes for a broad colour palette. The front line of MacMurchy’s tenor saxophone, clarinet and harmonica, Bruce Cassidy’s trumpet, flugelhorn and EVI (electronic valve instrument) and Dan Ionescu’s guitar provide a large ensemble sound with a few twists. Alan Hetherington’s highly informed percussion work adds a nice touch of groove and authenticity to the tracks.

Expat Cafe introduces most of the band with Ionescu’s slightly overdriven guitar tone and soaring approach giving way to pianist Mark Kieswetter’s patiently constructed and harmonically lush solo. MacMurchy and Cassidy build intensity with spirited trading on tenor and EVI. Working Title Blues evokes Art Blakey in its soul jazz vibe and bop-oriented improvisation. Drummer Daniel Barnes and bassist Ross McIntyre swing hard and make concise solo contributions.

Vocalist Whitney Ross-Barris is also the lyricist of Now You’ve Gone Away. Her understated style and economy of phrasing lend themselves perfectly to the Latin-tinged ballad, as does the atmospheric string quartet arrangement and MacMurchy’s soulful harmonica. Yvette Tollar brings her rich voice and poignant delivery to Dandelion Wine, MacMurchy’s hauntingly beautiful elegy to a departed friend.

Micro and More Exercises
Sergio Armaroli Trio with Giancarlo Schiaffini
Dodicilune Dischi Ed 360 (dodicilune.it)

Like friends who should be made for one another but avoid hooking up, improvised and new music have grown closer recently but rarely mesh. Yet the Italian stylists here show how handily this could be done. Percussionist Sergio Armaroli and trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini consistently move between those genres, and assisted by bassist Marcello Testa and drummer Nicola Stranieri put their stamp on 19 Microexercises composed by Christian Wolff, and six extended pieces by Schiaffini. Member of the New York School, Wolff also had improv experience working with the AMM band. Commissioned to write pieces with fewer than 100 notes, Wolff’s bagatelles leave open instrumentation, ensemble size, playing order, transposition and dynamics. Schiaffini’s compositions reflect his background as a pioneer free music player and collaborator with composers Scelsi, Nono and Cage.

Armaroli and the trombonist are the main soloists, with many of the mini-tunes vibrating with contrapuntal contrast between gutty brass lowing and feather-light vibraphone resonations. Like a group painting project, the performance of many Wolff miniatures, such as Microexercise 8, becomes more dramatic when unbroken vibraphone splashes are paired with spiccato string slices. Analogously positioned drum rolls and pops add gravitas to tunes such as Microexercise 15 that, when coupled with blurry trombone blats, resemble a child of show tunes and nursery rhymes. Armaroli’s skill with reductionist marimba chiming elsewhere is augmented Janus-like on Microexercise 20, 21 and 22 where Wolff’s pieces open up so that they could come from an imaginary Milt Jackson-Al Grey session. Replete with walking bass line and drum smacks, Schiaffini romps through the changes and Armaroli displays four-mallet ingenuity.

Bringing jazz feeling to Wolff’s miniatures is balanced by adding notated precision to Schiaffini’s tunes. Testa’s woody bowing and Stranieri’s processional drum breaks keep the bottom balanced, while Armaroli’s percussion collections interpolate polyrhythms plus nuanced tones onto the tracks. Throughout, the trombonist quotes snatches of Italian pop songs and Baroque fanfares with abandon. Most spectacular is Rib, where Schiaffini’s output could come from two different ’bone players: one smooth and unaccented, the other raucous and gutbucket. Structure is never neglected though, as this performance eventually relaxes into sparse new music reflections with spaciousness as prominent as rhythm. Musical masters, this quartet scores as musical matchmakers as well.

Ken Waxman