Modern and Contemporary

Mark Haney – Placentia Bay: Summer of 1941
Meaghan Williams; Various Artists (plus string quartet, string orchestra and vocal ensemble)
Independent (markhaney.bandcamp.com)

Concept albums, historically more the domain of rock and pop than terrifically performed and recorded symphonic music with a storytelling narrative, and a Canadian historical focus, can be somewhat polarizing creations. Not only does one have to like the music, but there is also the issue of the narrative that needs to be compelling enough to thread throughout an entire recording, hueing thematic coherence to all the sounds contained within. Add to the mix the fact that, as it was in my case, you are jumping in at the final installment of a storytelling trilogy that began with 2010’s Aim for The Roses and is ending here with Placentia Bay: Summer of 1941, exploring the secret meeting between Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt off the coast of Newfoundland that resulted in the “Atlantic Charter,” one might be forgiven for thinking this to be a difficult entry point.

But not so when you are in the skilled musical hands of composer, creative community builder, and interdisciplinary artist Mark Haney, with excellent contributions by the Vancouver double bassist Meagan Williams, a small orchestra of first-rate west coast musicians and the vocal ensemble musica intima. The recording stands on its own as a satisfying musical achievement and fine symphonic musical artefact.Should you be inspired (as I was) to go back to the beginning of the trilogy, a musical coherence emerges, despite the differences of theme and subject matter, that only adds luster to this recording and its creative brain trust. 

Magnus Lindberg – Viola Concerto, Absence, Serenades
Lawrence Power; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Nicholas Collon;
Ondine ODE 1436-2 (ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=2.2&oid=7270)

If “tradition” was ever a prison for Magnus Lindberg, then he has broken free by scaling its inner dynamic with this remarkable Viola Concerto. He has cast the instrument, often presumed to be in “no-man’s land… between the dazzle of the violin and the warm sonority of the cello” (from the booklet notes) to become an almost new instrument, increasing the scope of its authentic sonority with new malleability in tone textures. 

Just as Lindberg’s Viola Concerto delights in testing the soloist’s virtuosity to the limit – a challenge that Lawrence Power successfully negotiates with aplomb, the two other works on this disc – Absence and Serenades – test the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra by manipulating rhythmic intricacies and dense harmonies, also mining a vein of lyricism that opens up unexpected possibilities for something akin to melody. 

Absence characterizes the orchestra as one massive voice with myriad individual protagonists each with its own particular character. This generates the work’s momentum. 

Serenades puts the ensemble at the centre of gravity of Lindberg’s sense of light, shade, energy and lyricism. With Nicholas Collon at the helm the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra appears to have lived this – and the rest of this music – for decades.

Sofia Gubaidulina: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan; Rejoice! Sonata for Violin and Cello
Baiba Skride; Harriet Krijgh; Elsbeth Moser; NDR Radiophilharmonie; Andrew Manze
Orfeo C230121 (orfeomusic.de/CatalogueDetail/?id=C230121)

Sofia Gubaidulina has described herself as “the place where East meets West,” which is as accurate a categorization as any. Her Tartar-Slavic background and the influence of Eastern philosophies is clear in many of her attitudes towards spirituality and its expression. Whether writing for small ensembles, large orchestras or even solo instruments her work explores a wide range of sonorities in order to create music that is extraordinarily still and serene, leaving the listener with a sense of timelessness rare in Western music.

Among her most radiantly contemplative chamber works are Rejoice! and Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan. The former work features a hauntingly beautiful setting in which Gubaidulina offsets her vast landscape with spare, orchestral writing that soars with mystical impressionism. 

In her Triple Concerto Gubaidulina creates an unusual, yet enthrallingly beautiful sound-world using all the resources of the three featured instruments – violin, cello and a traditional Russian bayan or button accordion – embedded in a symphonic orchestra. Here the solo instruments  play beautiful lamenting melodies and strange, agitated, wheezing sounds over chant-like passages from the ensemble. 

In this repertoire both Rejoice! and the Triple Concerto stand out for their radiant beauty. This rapturous  performance by Harriet Krijgh, Elsbeth Moser and Baiba Skride and the North German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze  is consistently sensitive to the works’ intricate subtleties.

Crossroads
Ksenija Sidorova; Sinfonietta Riga; Normunds Šnē
ALPHA 1090 (outhere-music.com/en/albums/crossroads)

Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova’s Crossroads features arrangements J.S. Bach’s music and later works by composers influenced by that master. She plays both solo and in ensemble with Sinfonietta Riga under conductor Normunds Šnē. Her accordion pictures show a right-hand piano keyboard. The left-hand button side appears to have a switch activated traditional chord stradella bass, and free bass multi octave single note bass buttons.

Bach’s famous three movement Concerto in D Minor, BWV1052 opens. Bach’s first 1720’s version featured solo organ and 1730’s version solo harpsichord, both with orchestra. Future arrangements by others include solo piano, violin, recorder and heavy metal guitar! Sidorova’s accordion arrangement has wide-pitched contrapuntal lines for both hands, colourful blending with orchestra, and tight accordion and orchestra contrasts in alternating sections. 

Composer Sergei Akhunov’s solo accordion Sketch III has lyrical broken chords and single note lines. His Bach-inspired five movement Concerto Chaconne Bach has SO much to listen to from an opening mysterious low orchestral feel, high-pitched held accordion notes “squealing” above repeated orchestral chords, modernizing percussion hits and reflective calms. Dobrinka Tabakov’s virtuosic Baroque style The Quest: Horizons for solo accordion and orchestra features wide-ranging volumes with touches of contemporary sounds. Solo works Beyond Bach by Gabriela Montero, arranged by George Morton and Sidorova, and Sidorova’s arrangement of her childhood favourite Bach’s Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639, highlight Sidorova’s impressive musicianship and breathing bellows control.

This is accordion and orchestra at their very best. A standing ovation for all!