Alikeness
Mark Fewer, Aiyun Huang, Deantha Edmunds, and Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia
Leaf Music LM 296 (leaf-music.ca/music/lm296)
Listen
Angmalukisaa: No. 1, Round IV (Arr. for Voice & String Orchestra by Robert Carli) by Deantha Edmunds
Épisodes: III. — by Serge Arcuri
Alikeness (Arr. for Percussion & String Orchestra by Yoshiaki Onishi): VIII. — by Jarosław Kapuściński
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Speaking of Mark Fewer, Alikeness features the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia under Fewer’s direction (Leaf Music LM 296 leaf-music.ca/music/lm296). Soprano Deantha Edmunds, a singer-songwriter who has the distinction of being the first Inuk professional classical singer, is active in the fields of opera, throat singing and drum dancing. The CD opens with Edmunds’ performance of her Angmalukisaa (“round” in Inuktut), four songs about personal connections arranged for the orchestra by Bill Brennan, Andrew Downing, Jeff Johnston and Robert Carli. This is followed by a “concerto grosso” with Fewer as violin soloist, Episodes by Serge Arcuri, written in 1998 for the Montreal Baroque Orchestra. While referencing the baroque origins of the form, Arcuri’s three movement work incorporates a romantic sensibility and some modern turns of phrase. Matt Brubeck’s solo work The Simple Life appears next in a lush arrangement by Downing for violin and strings, followed by the third movement of Carli’s “C” from his suite B-A-C-H, another contemplative work featuring Fewer’s violin. The title work, composed in 2015 by Jarosław Kapuściński, associate professor of composition at Stanford University, for the St. Lawrence String Quartet (ensemble in residence at Stanford) and percussionist Aiyun Huang. The mostly quiet work, a bit surprising for a percussion “concerto,” is heard here in an arrangement for Huang and string orchestra by Yoshiaki Onishi. The various percussive instruments are effectively juxtaposed with pizzicato accompaniment at times, and at others with lyrical lines or catch-me-if-you-can chase scenes with the strings. This very effective piece, lasting almost 25 minutes, completes a satisfying disc of unusual repertoire for chamber orchestra.
