Connecting Cultures: Four hand music from around the world (CD Review)

 by Karl Nehring

Dvořák: Slavonic Dance, Op 46. No. 8; Slavonic Dance, Op. 72 No. 2; Mozart: Andante and Five Variations in G major, K. 501; Wang Jianzhong: Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon; Gong Huahua: Mountain Harvest: Manuel de Falla: Two Spanish Dances from “La Vida Breve”; Amy Marcy Cheney Beach: Summer Dreams, Op. 47; Florence Beatrice Price: Three Negro Spirituals – I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray; Lord I Want to Be a Christian; Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (arranged by Henry Levine). Deborah Moriarty and Zhihua Tang, piano. Blue Griffin BGR633

 

This is one of those releases about which I just wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The program looked to be a mix of composers both familiar and unknown, the performers were both unknown to me, and I wondered what the arrangements for piano four hands would sound like – especially Rhapsody in Blue. For piano four hands? Really?? But no matter what questions or doubts I or any potential listener might have about this or any other recording, the music itself is what actually counts, so I just popped the disc into the player, settled into my listening chair, grabbed the remote, and pushed the PLAY button.

 The familiar melodies of the two Dvořák Slavonic Dances open the program with energy and enthusiasm from the four busy hands at the keyboard, with the sound matching the performance, lively and assertive – just right for this music. The following Andante and Five Variations by Mozart are in a more stately, buttoned-down style, but they still have an element of the dance about them, which the two pianists clearly communicate. Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon by Wang Jianzhong (1933–2016), turns out to be as perfectly pleasant as its title implies, with a rhythmic pulse beneath and some fluttering melodies in the upper registers. Mountain Harvest by Gong Huahua (b. 1978) makes a different impression with its more serious, slightly dissonant sound. That said, it is not a forbidding piece; if anything, it has moments of playfulness and mystery. Overall, it is an intriguing work, one that invites repeated listening. 

 

It's then back to more familiar names, although not all of the music will be familiar to most listeners. From Manuel de Falla we get Two Spanish Dances from his opera La Vida Breve, which as you might expect, receive a splashy, extroverted performance from the two pianists, who are both on the faculty at the Michigan State University College of Music. The two women pianists next bring us music by two distinguished  American women composers. Amy Beach (1867-1944) was the first American female composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra (the Boston Symphony Orchestra premiered her “Gaelic” Symphony in 1896), while Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953) was the first African-American woman to have a composition performed by a major orchestra (the Chicago Symphony performed her Symphony in E Minor in 1933).  Beach’s Summer Dreams comprises a half-dozen short musical sketches titled The Brownies, Robin Redbreast, Twilight, Katy-dids, Elfin Tarantelle, and Good Night. The first (which is the longest at 3:46) is dance-like, the next four (none of which is lasts more than two minutes) are generally playful, and then Good Night (longer again at 2:59) is, as you might expect, calmer in mood. Price’s Three Negro Spirituals are simply her brief arrangements of three spirituals: I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray (1:53), Lord I Want to Be a Christian(4:03), and Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit (1:32). Hearing the first of these immediately brought to mind the gospel stylings of Keith Jarrett in some of his solo improvisations, such as in parts of his Köln Concert recording on ECM. The longest of these, Lord I Want to Be a Christian, is slower, more intense, and quite moving in its own way. 

 

The two pianists end their program with a rousing rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. This is a piece that has been played and recorded aa a concert piece for piano and full orchestra, as a more jazz-oriented piece for piano and jazz band – but who would have thought it would work so well as played on one piano by two pianists? These two artists did, and they were right. This is a marvelous performance of the work, exciting and involving from start to finish. With more than 74 minutes of well-recorded music from around the world including this revelatory performance of Gershwin’s showstopper, Connecting Cultures is an exciting new release.

New Releases, No. 31 (CD reviews)

By Karl W. Nehring

Yolanda Kondonassis: Five Minutes for Earth. Takuma Itoh: Koholā Sings (Humpback Whales); Michael Daugherty: Hear the Dust Blow; Aaron Jay Kernis: On Hearing Nightbird at Dusk; Chen Yi: Dark Mountains; Máximo Pujol: Milonga para mi Tierra; Reena Esmail: Inconvenient Wounds; Gary Schocker: Memory of Trees; Keith Fitch: As Earth Dreams; Jocelyn Chambers: Melting Point; Philip Maneval: The Demise of the Shepard Glacier; Patrick Harlin: Time Lapse; Zhou Long: Green; Nathaniel Heyder: Earthview; Daniel Dorff: Meditation at Perkiomen Creek; Stephen Hartke: Fault Line. Yolanda Kondonassis, harp. Aziza Records AXD-71349.

Classical music lovers who have been around for a while may well remember the harpist Yolanda Kondonassis from her many wonderful albums for the Telarc label. If you are one of those folks, then you should be please to learn be pleased to learn that abundantly talented Cleveland-based musician recently released a new album titled Five Minutes for Earth, a splendidly informative and entertaining trailer for which can be seen at her website: https://www.yolandaharp.com. As it turns out, Ms. Kondonassis is also committed to a cause and is using music as a means of communicating her concern. Briefly put, the CD documents the music that itself is a reflection of a larger project of the same title, a multimedia presentation that features the music as part of a multimedia presentation, as she explains in her liner notes. “FIVE MINUTES for Earth is a project that both celebrates our planet and illuminates our challenge to preserve it. In 2020, I asked each of the composers featured in this collection if they would consider contributing a work for solo harp of approximately five minutes in length that expresses a powerful experience inspired by Earth in one its many conditions or atmospheres. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of their immediate responses and set about assembling this labor-of-love project. The endeavor quickly expanded to include a live, multi-media concert, a unique video for each track, a separate published collection of Earth-inspired solos for younger harpists, and most importantly, the opportunity for harpists all over the world to perform these innovative works for solo harp by some of today’s most lauded composers. Every verified performance of any of the works from the FIVE MINUTES for Earth collection, anywhere in the world, will result in a monetary contribution to a recognized earth conservation organization sponsored by my non-profit foundation, Earth at Heart. FIVE MINUTES for Earth is also a metaphor for the urgent and compressed timeframe for our global community to embrace and implement solutions to our fast-growing environmental crisis.” With so many composers being represented, all of them contemporary, the natural expectation would be to hear a quite varied batch of compositions, ranging from the engagingly melodic to the not quite sure what to call that but whatever. For these ears, it was a pleasant surprise never to encounter a single instance of the latter. From the opening pleasant strains of Takuma Itoh’s Koholā Sings with its bent notes, an effect I had not expected to hear from a harp, followed by Michael Daugherty’s gently atmospheric Hear the Dust Blow, through the shortest cut, Jocelyn Chambers’s Melting Point, which manages to convey a sense of gentle urgency in less that two minutes, and the longest cut, Zhou Long’s Green, a gorgeous 8-minute tone poem for harp – throughout these tracks and the rest, 15 in all, the overall feeling evoked by the music is one of beauty and peace. (It is ironic in a way that an album so committed to engagement can be so useful for escape. Concerned about global warming? Just put on this CD and chill out…) The album cover folds out to reveal thumbnail photos along with brief paragraphs about each of the 15 composers, a nice touch. As you might expect, the harp seems bigger than life, but is very well captured by the engineers. All involved in this release are to be commended for bringing such fresh and vital new music into our world. Brava and bravo!

Daniel Hope: America. Gershwin (arr. Paul Bateman for violin, jazz trio, and string orchestra): Gershwin Song Suite; Sam Cooke (arr. Bateman for voice, violin, and piano): A Change Is Gonna Come; Bernstein (arr. Bateman for voice and string orchestra): West Side Story Suite; Florence Price: Adoration (arr. Bateman for violin and string orchestra); Copland (arr. Bateman for violin and string orchestra): At the River; Hoe-Down; Ellington (arr. Bateman for violin and string orchestra): Come Sunday; Weill (arr. Bateman): American Song Suite; Ward (arr. Bateman for violin and chamber orchestra): America the Beautiful. Daniel Hope, violin; Zurich Kammerorcherster; Marcus Roberts Trio (Marcus Roberts, piano; Jason Marsalis, drums; Rodney Jordan, bass); Joy Denalane, vocals; Sylvia Thereza, piano; Joscho Stephan, guitar; Alexander Ponet, percussion. Deutsche Grammophon 4861940.

The South-African born British violinist Daniel Hope (b. 1973) evidences a special connection to the USA in the dedication for this release, declaring: I dedicate this album to my great aunt, “Tante” Leni, who escaped Germany at the eleventh hour and who became the greatest American I ever met. He further evidences that connection to the USA by devoting the lion’s share of the program to jazz, as a quick perusal of the titles – and performers – listed above will quickly reveal. And not only does the Marcus Roberts Trio play a prominent musical role, but the liner notes feature a conversation between hope and Roberts that revolves around the question, “What makes music sound American?”  I have argued many times in Classical Candor that jazz can be thought of as a form of chamber music; Roberts and Hope converse along similar lines. Moreover, the music on this release effectively brilliantly bridges the gap between “jazz” and “classical,” expertly melding the two into music that swings and sings makes you appreciate the creativity of the composers and the virtuosity of the performers, regardless of their nationality, citizenship, or musical background. The selections and the arrangements do not come across like a routine run-through of familiar tunes. Instead, they are energetic, probing, sophisticated arrangements that allow Hope, the Marcus Roberts Trio, Ms. Denalane, and the other musicians to display their considerable talents. Hope’s violin soars in many of the cuts, but never do you get the sense that Hope is trying to draw attention to himself; rather, his playing always seems to be in service of the music, clearly expressing his love for these tunes. At a time when there is so much division and hatred being sown by dark forces in our country, music such as this is reminder of what is worth preserving and fighting for in our blessed land. What a wonderful album for these troubled times!  

Joyce DiDonato: Eden. Ives: The Unanswered Question; Rachel Portman: The First Morning of the World; Mahler: Rückert-Lieder-II. "Ich Atmet' Einen Linden Duft!";  Biagio Marini: Scherzi E Canzone Op.5, III. "Con Le Stelle in Ciel Che Mai"; Josef Myslivecek: Oratorio Adamo Ed Eva (Part II) Aria: "Toglierò Le Sponde Al Mare" (Angelo Di Giustizia); Copland: Poems of Emily Dickinson for Voice and Chamber Orchestra, I. Nature, the Gentlest Mother; Giovanni Valentini: Sonata Enharmonica; Francesco Cavalli: Opera la Calisto (Act I, Scene 14), Aria: "Piante Ombrose" (Calisto); Opera Orfeo Ed Euridice WQ. 30, Danza Degli Spettri E Delle Furie. Allegro Non Troppo; Scena Misera, Dove Son! from Ezio WQ. 15 (Fulvia); Aria: "Ah! Non Son Io Che Parlo..."; Handel: Dramatic Oratorio Theodora HWV 68 (Part I), Aria: "As with Rosy Steps the Morn" (Irene); Mahler: Rückert-Lieder, IV. "Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen"; Wagner: 5 Gedichte für Eine Frauenstimme WWV 91 (Wesendonck Lieder), IV. "Schmerzen"; Handel: Opera Serse HWV 40 (Act I, Scene 1), Recitativo: "Frondi Tenere E Belle"; Aria: "Ombra Mai FÙ" (Serse). Joyce DiDonato, Mezzo-Soprano; Maxim Emelyanychev, direction/harpsichord. Il Pomo D’oro. Erato 0190296465154.

American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is known in the opera world primarily for her powerful voice but also for her engagement and activism in behalf of social causes. A quick glance at the list of titles will reveal no protest songs, but Eden does feature DiDonato’s powerful voice attempting to convey through song what she considers to be an important cause. As she asserts on the back cover of the CD package: “EDEN is an invitation to return to our roots. It is an overture to engage with the sheer perfection of the world around us, to consider if we are connecting as profoundly as we can to the pure essence of our being. It is a clarion call to contemplate if our collective suffering isn't perhaps linked to the aching separation from something primal within and around us. This is a vivid musical exploration through the centuries to remember and to create a new EDEN from within.” To be honest, I’m not sure how much the listener will be inspired to create “a new EDEN from within,” but on the other hand, I’m quite confident that most listeners will find this release to be just how Ms. DiDonato has described it: “is a vivid musical exploration through the centuries to remember.” Vivid it certainly is, and wide-ranging, in repertoire, performance, and sound. She has a powerful, expressive voice, which for this release she (and/or the producers) has chosen to pair with a relatively small chamber orchestra for accompaniment, which makes her voice sound all the more powerful. Actually, though, she starts off less assertively, using her voice in place of the trumpet in Ives’s The Unanswered Question. As a devoted fan of Mahler, I particularly enjoyed her renditions of his lieder, but there are assuredly performances here to please a wide range of music lovers as she and Il Pomo D’oro work their way through a wide range of musical selections. The sheer power and color of her voice, the sheer depth of feeling she brings to her singing are wonders to behold. Lyrics are included in the liner notes, enabling the listener to become more involved in the musical proceedings. All in all, this is truly a first-class release.

KWN

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (CD review)

Jeffrey Biegel, piano; Bruce Anthony Kiesling, Adrian Symphony Orchestra. Naturally Sharp Records.

By John J. Puccio

Ever since bandleader Paul Whiteman commissioned American composer George Gershwin to write a jazz-inflected concerto for piano and orchestra, practically every popular pianist since then has elected to record it. Gershwin himself premiered the work with the Whiteman band in 1924, but, surprisingly, there was never a definitive version of it. This was in part because Gershwin improvised a part of the piano score during the first performance, and in part because the man who orchestrated the music, Whiteman’s own arranger Ferde Grofe, didn’t have a lot of time to prepare the music for its premiere. Even the opening clarinet glissando was an improvisation of sorts. Then, within a few years, we would see the score re-arranged for pit orchestra and for full symphony orchestra.

The current recording, with concert pianist Jeffrey Biegel as soloist and the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, uses a recent reconstruction of the work by musicologist and Gershwin scholar Dr. Ryan Banagale. As Dr. Banagale writes, “This edition attempts to be as true to the original intentions of the creators as possible.”

Dr. Banagale wrote a book on the subject, Arranging Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue and the Creation of an American Icon (Oxford University Press, 2014), which focuses on the ongoing-and surprising-life of Gershwin's iconic Rhapsody in Blue over the course of the ninety-odd years since its inception. His 2011 Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard University is titled “Rhapsodies In Blue: New Narratives for an Iconic American Composition." Dr. Banagale's critical edition of Rhapsody in Blue here receives its first recording release.

According to Mr. Biegel: "I have performed the many guises of Rhapsody in Blue since the age of nine. In 1997, when performing the ‘Annotated Rhapsody in Blue,’ arranged by Dr. Alicia Zizzo, which owns many sections of missing piano material from original sources, I had questioned the Gershwin family about having a new edition with the original orchestral material and the piano material together. Here we are, and it is now available, thanks to many involved. It is truly an honor to have the permissions necessary to make this recording happen, as well as generous donor support to bring this recording to life for today's listeners and for historic purpose."

Most important in the performance is the fact that Mr. Biegel has performed the work countless times and seems to know every nuance of the music. He keeps the score driving forward, with an infectious bounce yet a subtle refinement as well. The orchestra, with its own brief solos, accompanies Biegel with a spirited yet tasteful polish. But his is the soloist’s party, and Mr. Biegel makes the most of it, his one-on-one sojourns into Gershwin’s jazz experiment completely mesmerizing. Yes, he simply steals the show, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. No matter how many other recordings you already own of the Rhapsody in Blue, this one is a must-have companion.

Engineer Christopher Momany and recording mixer Bruce Kiesling recorded the music at Dawson Auditorium on the campus of Adrian College in June 2021. The orchestral parts are exceptionally well recorded, with plenty of space, width, dimensionality, frequency balance, and particularly dynamics. The piano is well integrated, too, if a tad close. It projects a solid tone, with crisp articulation in abundance. So the sound rounds out a wholly successful new outing for Gershwin’s perennial favorite. Count it among my favorites of the year.

Mr. Biegel has made his recording of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue available for digital download (Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora) and in limited quantities of CDs. For details, visit https://www.jeffreybiegel.com/.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Bernstein: Songfest (CD review)

Also, Gershwin: An American in Paris; Copland: An
Outdoor Overture. James Judd, Wolf Trap Opera; National Orchestral Institute
Philharmonic. Naxos 8.559859.

By John J. Puccio

This album is another in Naxos’s “American Classics”
series, and they could hardly have chosen three more representative American
composers for the program. The Gershwin work, An American in Paris, is a
certified classic, and the other two, Copland’s Outdoor Overture and
Bernstein’s Songfest, while not quite of the same elevated rank,
certainly represent the field. Conductor James Judd leads singers from the Wolf
Trap Opera in Bernstein’s vocal piece, and the National Orchestral Institute
Philharmonic, which I admit I had never heard of before, handles the orchestral
work.

The disc begins with one of the gems of American music, An
American in Paris by George Gershwin (1898-1937), which was first performed
in 1928. The work is a musical description of an American’s visit to Paris in
the 1920's, strolling about and taking in the sights and sounds of the city.
The novelty of the current recording is that it uses a new, 2019 critical
edition of the score that offers Gershwin’s original orchestration, as the
cover jacket announces, “unheard for 75 years--leaner, more angular and
transparent, it also employs the correct use of the iconic taxi horns, for a
new sonic experience.”

Maestro Judd takes the Gershwin music at a sprightly pace,
not frenetically fast but quickly. It reminded me of the old movie If It’s
Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, where a group of American sightseers take a
whirlwind tour of Europe. Under Judd, Gershwin’s American takes something of a
whirlwind tour of Paris. Still, the tourist appears to be having fun, and
that’s the main thing. Judd captures the colors and textures of Gershwin’s
music in an imaginative and ultimately rewarding reading.

The second item on the program is An Outdoor Overture,
written by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) in 1938. Along with the ballet Billy
the Kid, An Outdoor Overture helped to establish Copland’s
reputation as a composer of “Americana,” an idiom for which he will forever be
associated.

Copland called it An Outdoor Overture because after
the composer played a piano sketch of the music for a friend who was
commissioning it, the friend said it had “an open-air quality” about it.
There’s no doubt it has a vigor and airiness about it reminiscent of the
wide-open American West. It’s a kind of mini Billy the Kid or Rodeo,
and James Judd and his crew perform it with an appropriate vitality and flair.

The final selection of the album is Songfest: A
Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra written in 1976-77 by
teacher, composer, pianist, and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). He
wrote it to celebrate America’s Bicentennial Year, and used it as a musical
setting for the verses of thirteen American poets, from Frank O’Hara and
Lawrence Ferlinghetti through Julia de Burgos, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes,
June Jordan, Anne Bradstreet, Gertrude Stein, e.e. cummings, Conrad Aiken,
Gregory Corso, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Here’s the thing, though: While Judd and his ensemble do a
fine job with the score, I’ve never been particularly fond of the music.
Bernstein is more art song here than popular song, so don’t expect another West
Side Story from the composer. That being the case, Judd, as I say, his
ensemble and soloists do a first-rate job presenting the music and poems with a
dramatic effect and poignant affection.

A healthy set of booklet notes and song lyrics complement
an excellent presentation of the music. Oh, and in case you’re wondering about
the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, it’s a group formed each June
by the musicians of the National Orchestral Institute, “chosen through rigorous
international auditions” and focused “on creating future musicians and leaders
in the world of orchestras.”

Producer, engineer, and editor Phil Rowlands recorded the
music at the Elsie & Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall at The Clarice Smith
Performing Arts Center, College Park, Maryland in June 2018. The orchestral
sound is uniformly excellent, among the best I’ve heard from Naxos. It has
clarity, width, depth, air, dynamics, frequency range, the works. It may not be
as transparent as some audiophile recordings, but it’s close. I enjoyed it
immensely. The vocal music, too, is clearly presented, although it betrays
minor traces of edginess in the upper registers. Not enough to spoil the show
but present, nonetheless.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Pianissimo! (CD review)

The Chicago Debut Concert. Pianists Svetlana Belsky, Elena Doubovitskaya, Irina Feoktistova, and Susan Merdinger. Sheridan Music Studio.



Yes, Pianissimo in music refers to a passage or movement played softly or very softly. But Pianissimo! also refers to an ensemble of four very talented pianists. As described in the disc's accompanying booklet, "Pianissimo! was first formed in December 2014, and recently appeared in several venues for "Make Music Chicago." As soloists and duo pianists, the four women have appeared in major concert halls and on TV and radio around the world, recorded a number of CD's, "and won numerous awards and honors, as well as accolades and rave reviews from major publications for their outstanding performances and programming."



The four members of Pianissimo! consist of Dr. Svetlana Beisky, critically acclaimed as "a passionate pianist and scholar," performing extensively in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Next is Dr. Elena Doubovitskaya, "a native of Russia who established herself as a solo and collaborative musician after moving to the US in 1998." In addition, there is Irina Feoktistova, "a graduate of the Petersburg Conservatoire, Russia," who has performed in the major halls of Russia, Europe, and the United States. And Susan Merdinger, a Steinway Artist who has been hailed as "tender and impassioned" (Glasgow Herald) and "breathtaking" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

On the current album they present their Chicago debut concert, which includes selections for piano two hands, piano four hands, two pianos four hands, two pianos eight hands, and four pianos, three of the pieces being world-premiere performances. The track list follows:



  1. Beethoven: Egmont Overture (arr. T. Herbert)

  2. Rimsky-Korsakov: Fantasy on Scheherazade (arr. M. Zelenaia; world premiere)

  3. Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre

  4. Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italienne (arr. A. Ton/S. Belsky)

  5. Gershwin: Fantasy on "The Man I Love" (arr. A. Tsafsman)

  6. Lutoslawski: Variations on a Theme by Paganini

  7. James Stone: Rip Current

  8. Ilya Levinson: Fireball (world premiere)

  9. Ilya Levinson: Broadway Medley for Classical Pianists (world premiere)

Pianissimo

The opening overture from Beethoven shows off what can happen with eight hands at two pianos, and it's a rich and rewarding experience. The performers are brilliant in their own right, each a virtuoso, but together they are unmatched, and the playing produces an enriching few minutes.



The next item, the Rimsky-Korsakov fantasy, displays the talents of all four players on four pianos, making the number that much plusher and more opulent in sound and content, and making for a touching and exciting interpretation. And so it goes through the familiar repertoire of names like Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, and Rachmaninov in fantasies, variations, and single numbers. (The Danse Macabre for two pianos, eight hands, is particularly thrilling.)



Then there are the two newer selections from the Russian-born composer Ilya Levinson, selections that receive world-premiere performances. They have a more modern sensibility, of course, yet they take us back to an earlier period of twentieth-century American music, too, especially the Broadway medley arranged for four pianos. It pairs up favorite Broadway show tunes with seamless transitions to produce a rollicking good time. The four skilled pianists will make one forget all about Broadway pit orchestras in their lush and luxurious readings.



I should add, as well, that the disc offers a healthy seventy-six minutes of playing time, making the concert not only entertaining but also good value for the dollar.



Engineer Edward Ingold recorded the concert live at the Merit School of Music, Anne and Howard Gottlieb Hall in September 2015. Would I rather have heard Pianissimo recorded in a studio than live? Of course, it would no doubt have sounded even better without the constraints of a live audience present. Nevertheless, we have what we have, and I'm sure Pianissimo fans will enjoy the experience of the live moment. Besides, the wide dynamics of the presentations help to make up for any minor live deficiencies. For example, while there could be more presence, more high-end sheen, more brilliance, and more hall ambience on offer, the intensity of the music making always shines through and lights up the room.



Still, I really could have done without the applause at the end of each selection.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Opera Phantasies from 150 Years (SACD review)

From Bel Canto to Jazz. Volker Reinhold, violin; Ralph Zedler, piano. MDG 903 2134-6.



The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music defines a musical fantasia (or fantasy or phantasy) in several ways, the definition best applying here being "Free and somewhat improvisatory treatments of existing themes, often from operas." OK, to an uninitiated novice like me in the classical realm, that sounds an awful lot like a medley of greatest hits. But what do I know. "Fantasy" (or especially "phantasy") sounds a lot better than "medley." Whatever the case, the music here is remarkably vibrant, pleasant, and soothing as performed by two experts in the field.



On the present disc, German violinist Volker Reinhold and German pianist Ralph Zedler offer five examples of such fantasias (or, again, fantasies, fantaisies, or phantasies, depending on the language) spanning some 150 years of classical music history. What's more, three of them are world-première recordings.



You may remember Reinhold and Zedler from their earlier albums or from my own review of their Sarasate recording. Violinist Reinhold became the concertmaster of the Mecklenburg State Orchestra in 1989. According to the accompanying booklet, Mr. Reinhold "has gone on to perform a wide range of solo assignments and to dedicate himself intensively to chamber music. Additionally, for some years he has often assisted as a concertmaster with several Northern German orchestras. He has a special predilection for the virtuosic violin literature, above all Fritz Kreisler and also Pablo de Sarasate. He has incorporated practically all of the former's music into his repertoire. For many years he has performed successfully with his regular piano partner Ralph Zedler. Mr. Reinhold performs on a 'Mougeot,' a French violin from the 19th century."



As for pianist Zedler, I quoted last time from his Web site: "...he graduated from Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He worked regularly in the singing classes of Liselotte Hammes, Klesie Kelly, Kurt Moll, and Edda Moser. From the autumn of 1999 to January 2011 Mr. Zedler was engaged at the Mecklenburg State Theatre in Schwerin as soloist and Ballettrepetitor, participating in over seventy productions of opera, operetta, musical, oratorio, and ballet. Since 2011 he has worked at capital Opera, the smallest Opera Berlin, devoting himself to the repertoire of forgotten one-act plays. Mr. Zedler's concert career has taken him along with prominent figures such as singers Agnes Giebel, Ulrich Hielscher, Jean van Ree, and Edda Moser." And since the summer of 2016, again according to the accompanying booklet, "...he has been a solo repetiteur at the Volkstheater Rostock."

Volker Reinhold

Anyway, as I've said, here they offer five selections: the first is the Fantasia su motivi della Traviata di Giuseppe Verdi (1871) by Italian violinist, composer, and teacher Antonio Bazzini (1818-1897). Being Verdi opera, the music is understandably sentimental, poignant, and moving. Reinhold's violin is impassioned, as it should be, well echoing the voices on stage, and Zedler's piano accompaniment is unobtrusively sympathetic. Both players benefit from a long experience performing together, and they pretty much play as one. Listening from another room, my wife cheered at the closing passage.



After that is the Fantaisie sur Faust (1869) by Belgium violinist and composer Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881). Here, the fantasy on the music of Gounod is even more virtuosic, more dramatic than that of Verdi. It's also a bit more melodramatic and bombastic, so be aware. Vieuxtemps wrote his own introductions and interludes for the Gounod excerpts, so most of it hangs together, but until the famous music of the final third, little of it exhibits the lyricism of Verdi, despite Reinhold's superb technique and execution.



Next is the Fantaisie sur des motifs de l'opera 'La vie pour le Czar Ivan Susanin' de Glinka (1900) by Czech violinist and composer Frantisek Ondricek (1857-1922). With this fantasy, Ondricek covers more ground than the previous two composers in their fantasies, which may or may not be a good thing. Whatever, Reinhold and Zedler produce a big, robust piece of high intent and vivid contrasts.



Following that is Norma de Bellini, Fantaisie sur la quatrieme corde (1844), again by Henri Vieuxtemps but an earlier composition of his. The gimmick here is that Vieuxtemps instructs that the entire fantasy be played on a single string. Remarkable. And remarkable, too, is Reinhold's playing, which carries out Vieuxtemps's instructions flawlessly.



The final item is the Concert Fantasy on Themes from Gershwin's Opera Porgy and Bess (1991) by Russian violinist and composer Igor Frolov (1937-2013). This is the one fantasy on the program that seems to include every familiar tune from the opera from which it derives. If you like Gershwin, you'll like Frolov's treatment of the themes, and you'll love Reinhold and Zedler's evocatively dreamy, jazzy realizations of the score.



Producers Werner Dabringhaus and Reimund Grimm and engineer Holger Schlegel recorded the music at the Konzerthaus der Abtei Marienmunster, Germany in April 2019. They made the disc in hybrid SACD, which contains a regular two-channel stereo layer for playback on a regular CD player and an SACD layer, which contains a two-channel stereo format, a multichannel format, and a 2+2+2 format for playback on an SACD player. Apparently, the 2+2+2 format utilizes the middle and bass channels to provide a left and right height dimension to the sound, perhaps somewhat similar to what Dolby ATMOS also does. I say "perhaps" because my system is two-channel stereo only, so I listened

in SACD two-channel. Presumably, the 2+2+2 format requires that listeners reconfigure their speakers, something I doubt a lot of people are willing to do, given the scarcity of SACD recordings in general and 2+2+2 recordings in particular. I guess the folks at MDG (Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm) know what they're doing, and I applaud them for it, but I'd be surprised if more than a half dozen people worldwide have set up their sound systems specifically for 2+2+2 playback.



Still, that's neither here nor there. In the SACD two-channel stereo format to which I listened, the sound was quite natural, with good positioning of the two performers relative to one another, if miked slightly more to the left of center than I might have liked. The hall provides a pleasant bloom, enhancing the realism of the recording. The violin appears resplendent and the piano dynamic, both instruments rendered as lifelike as one could imagine.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Gershwin Reimagined (CD review)

An American in London. Shelly Berg, piano; various featured artists; Jose Serebrier, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Decca Gold B0028889-02.



The idea of combining jazz artists with a symphony orchestra is hardly new; after all, pop composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) wrote Rhapsody in Blue in 1924 originally for solo piano and jazz band, and it wasn't rescored for orchestra (theatrical and symphony) by Ferde Grofe until several years thereafter. As a result, we have in the record catalogue any number of fine discs by various ensembles, large and small, from duets to full orchestra.



On the present album, we find American pianist, arranger, and orchestrator Shelly Berg (b. 1955), his trio, and various other artists doing Berg's own jazz interpolations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Jose Serebrier. The results are every bit as satisfying as I would imagine Gershwin intended--jazzy, swinging, rhythmic, rhapsodic, and lush. Considering the talents involved, it's the kind of album that's almost self-recommending.



The first two items on the program are the longest: Rhapsody in Blue (23:31 min.), featuring the Shelly Berg Trio in original jazz variations and the RPO and An American in Paris/Home Blues (21:24 min.), featuring American R&B and jazz artist Ledisi Anibade Young and the orchestra.



After those tracks are four shorter items: "I Loves You Porgy/My Man's Gone Now" from Porgy and Bess, featuring American singer (and daughter of composer Henry Mancini) Monica Mancini and Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer Arturo Sandoval and orchestra. Next is "Fascinating Rhythm," featuring American violinist Mark O'Connor and orchestra. After that we find "Three Preludes," with Serebrier and the orchestra. Then the album concludes with "I Got Rhythm," featuring the Shelly Berg Trio and orchestra.

Shelly Berg

Since Rhapsody in Blue is the most prominent piece in the collection and since it represents the best of the selections, let's take a look at it in particular. Serebreir's accompaniment of the piano is nicely jazzy and bluesy, with solid rhythms. He is able to generate a good deal of excitement with his interpretation. Likewise, Shelly Berg's piano solos are lively and invigorating on the one hand, lyrical and introspective on the other. The difference, of course, is that a few minutes into the piece, Berg and his trio go into their own variations and kind of leave Gershwin behind for intervals. It's not at all inappropriate, and I'm sure if Gershwin were alive he would approve. In fact, it gives the old warhorse a new look. So, for most folks who already own multiple versions of the music, this one should provide some much-needed variety in their collection.



For what it's worth, I enjoyed An American in Paris best of all, with Ledisi singing Gershwin's lyrics to the familiar "Home Blues" section. The whole thing is delightfully done and a real charmer. The other soloists are equally spirited and heartfelt by turns for a rewarding whole.



So, all the tracks work well. Overall, they're fairly conventional, except for their new additions, yet they're polished, innovative, and extremely well performed. Obviously, these arrangements would not be first-choice recommendations for people looking for a one and only recording of Gershwin standards. They are for people who already have favorites and want to supplement them.



The booklet notes, incidentally, contain a good deal of information on the artists involved in the production but almost no info on the music. I suppose the folks at Decca think we already know enough about Gershwin and his tunes that they didn't need to add anything more. Fair enough.



Producer Gregg Field and engineer Mike Hatch recorded the music at Air Lyndhurst Studios and Henry Wood Hall, London, releasing the album in 2018. The sound is pretty much in the long-established tradition of Decca stereo recordings. It's very clear and clean, and it has a healthy dynamic range. But it also appears multimiked, with the soloists clearly out in front, and the orchestra taking a literal backseat. It's not at all unpleasant or distracting, just a little different from what you might hear in a concert hall. Indeed, once you get used to it, it is quite entertaining, especially the clarity.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Mathieu: Concerto No. 3 in C minor (CD review)

Also, Gershwin: An American in Paris. Alain Lefevre, piano; Joann Falletta, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Analekta AN2 9299.



Let's start with a little info about Andre Mathieu, a classical composer and pianist who isn't exactly a household name. First, he was born in Quebec, Canada in 1929 and died unexpectedly young of alcoholism and emotional problems in 1968. Fortunately for us, he left behind a large legacy of music, although most of it remains unrecorded. A check of Amazon reveals only a handful of Mathieu recordings, many of them by the artist represented on this disc, pianist Alain Lefevre. He and conductor Joann Falletta and her Buffalo Philharmonic do a splendid job with the music.



According to Wikipedia, "Mathieu's style leaned towards the late Romantic school of Rachmaninov, and his music was influenced by Debussy as well. Mathieu wrote many works for piano." Here, we find his Concerto No. 3 in C minor for piano and orchestra, which he wrote in 1943 under the titles "Concerto Romantique" or "Concerto de Québec."



The concerto, revised and reorchestrated, is highly reminiscent of Rachmaninov from the very beginning. Dark, almost ominous chords open the music, building to a big, rhapsodic flourish, again evocative of Rachmaninov. So, why didn't Mathieu become anywhere near as popular as his Russian counterpart? I've always thought the popularity of any piece of music with the general public is directly equivalent to how melodious it is and how much exposure it gets. With Mathieu, there is the business of its being somewhat derivative, not as soaringly tuneful, and not as well promoted. Which takes nothing away from Mathieu.

Alain Lefevre

The opening movement is rather scattershot to my ear. It's all over the place with one melody bumping into the next, something perhaps attributable to Mathieu being only in his mid teens when he wrote it. It's a passionate, tempestuous affair, and pianist Lefevre seems to take delight in its impetuous nature. As expected, Ms. Falletta and her Buffalo players support him superbly.



The highlight of the concerto is the second-movement Andante, serene and flowing, if not quite reaching the emotional heights of a Rachmaninov. Still, it's a lovely contribution to the piece, seamlessly interwoven with the faster movements and unaffected in its beauty. In the closing movement, Lefevre and Falletta deliver a jaunty presentation, filled with youthful zeal and playfulness.



Accompanying the Mathieu is a far more-familiar work, George Gershwin's An American in Paris, the jazz-inspired piece the composer wrote in 1928 after spending some time in Paris. In the work's original program notes, Gershwin says "My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere." When the music moves into blues, Gershwin tells us "our American friend...has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness." However, "nostalgia is not a fatal disease" and the American visitor "once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life" and by the end "the street noises and French atmosphere are triumphant."



Here, Ms. Falletta and her orchestra take it alone, and they make the most of Gershwin's colorful tone painting. She lends the music a properly joyful, frolicsome atmosphere, combined with an equally appropriate dose of blues when necessary. It's lyrical, jazzy, bluesy, turbulent, and glittering by turns.



Dr. Bernd Gottinger made the recordings live at the Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY in February 2017. The sound he obtained is reasonably natural: warm, modestly reverberant, slightly soft, dark, and distant. The piano appears nicely integrated with the orchestra, too; in fact, it remains an almost neutral presence--clear, rich, and resonant, but never completely dominant as it might be if recorded closer. Again, the sound is fairly lifelike, if not as tonally transparent as the best audiophile recordings, accounting perhaps for its being recorded live. I wish they had deleted the applause at the end of the pieces, though.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Ragtime in Washington (CD review)

Michael Adcock, piano. Centaur Records CRC 3639.



First, it might prove helpful to hear an authoritative definition of the musical genre known as ragtime, so here is what the Encyclopedia Britannica says about the subject: Ragtime is a "propulsively syncopated musical style, one forerunner of jazz and the predominant style of American popular music from about 1899 to 1917. Ragtime evolved in the playing of honky-tonk pianists along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in the last decades of the 19th century. It was influenced by minstrel-show songs, blacks' banjo styles, and syncopated (off-beat) dance rhythms of the cakewalk, and also elements of European music. Ragtime found its characteristic expression in formally structured piano compositions. The regularly accented left-hand beat, in 4/4 or 2/4 time, was opposed in the right hand by a fast, bouncingly syncopated melody that gave the music its powerful forward impetus.



"Scott Joplin, called 'King of Ragtime,' published the most successful of the early rags, 'The Maple Leaf Rag,' in 1899. Joplin, who considered ragtime a permanent and serious branch of classical music, composed hundreds of short pieces, a set of études, and operas in the style. Other important performers were, in St. Louis, Louis Chauvin and Thomas M. Turpin (father of St. Louis ragtime) and, in New Orleans, Tony Jackson."



On the present recording, pianist Michael Adcock plays a wide-ranging assortment of ragtime tunes, from Scott Joplin to William Bolcom and John Musto. Mr. Adcock's Web site describes him as follows: "Hailed for his prodigious technique and praised by the Washington Post for an 'unusually fresh and arresting approach to the piano,' pianist Michael Adcock has cultivated a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician and pre-concert lecturer. Recipient of the 1998 Lili Boulanger Memorial Award, Mr. Adcock was also a prizewinner in the 1996 Washington International Competition and the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competitions in Chicago and New York. Mr. Adcock gave his Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut in December of 1998. Mr. Adcock earned Master's, Artist Diploma and Doctoral degrees from Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Leon Fleisher and Ellen Mack, and was adjunct faculty in theory and chamber music. Mr. Adcock took his Bachelor's degree from Oberlin College-Conservatory and attended secondary school at North Carolina School of the Arts."



Because Scott Joplin considered ragtime a form of classical music and because Mr. Adcock is primarily a classical pianist, it is no wonder that Adcock takes a kind of classical approach to the music. His playing is more subtle, more reserved, more intimate than most other performers I've heard in this genre. It's quite beautiful, but it is also a bit different and, at the same time, refreshing.



The selections on the album:

  1. Scott Joplin (1868-1917): Bethena (A Concert Waltz)

  2. Henry Lodge (1885-1933): Red Pepper Rag

  3. Scott Joplin: The Easy Winners

  4. George Gershwin (1898-1937) and Will Donaldson (1891-1954): Rialto Ripples

  5. Scott Joplin: Palm Leaf Rag

  6. Thomas Benjamin (b. 1940): That Old Second-Viennese-School Rag

  7. William Albright (1944-1998): Sleepwalker's Shuffle

  8. William Albright: Scott Joplin's Victory

  9. William Bolcom (b. 1938): Incinerator Rag

10. William Bolcom: The Brooklyn Dodge

11. William Bolcom: Last Rag

12. William Bolcom: Fields of Flowers

13. John Musto (b. 1954): Recollections

14. John Musto: In Stride

15. Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941): Grandpa's Spells

16. Bob Zurke (1912-1944): Old Tom-Cat on the Keys

17. Scott Joplin: Solace

Michael Adcock

Interestingly, the popularity of ragtime has ebbed and flowed. As the encyclopedia mentioned, its height of favor was from about 1899 to about 1917, the end of the First World War. Then it got pretty much shoved aside by various other kinds of jazz. However, a revival occurred in 1973, thanks to the film The Sting, with Marvin Hamlisch arranging and playing Joplin's music. Hamlisch's single from the soundtrack, "The Entertainer," even became a top-ten hit. The irony is that the movie's time setting was 1936, well after the heyday of ragtime; but it didn't matter. For a while, ragtime was back in the public eye. And then, well, the music sort of faded into obscurity again, so it's good to have Mr. Adcock's new album.



Favorites on the disc? Of course. Since "Bethena" has been well liked for over a century, Adcock leads with it. He presents it in an attractively gentle manner, bringing out the more-plaintive, lyrical waltz characteristics of the music. Likewise is Adcock's handling of the crowd-pleasing "The Easy Winners" takes on a sweeter quality than usual. Then he follows with the more upbeat "Red Pepper Rag," which like Gershwin's "Rialto Ripples" gives the pianist room to rock.



Still, as I say, Adcock's classical leanings may be more than a bit disconcerting to people more attuned to traditionally hell-bent interpretations. For the rest of us, the playing is superb and the renditions charming and affectionate. That's doubly the case for Adcock's reading of Thomas Benjamin's delightful lampoon of Arnold Schonberg via Scott Joplin in "That Old Second-Viennese-School Rag." So, even the modern things from Benjamin, Bolcom, Albright, and Musto come off well. Joplin's "Solace" brings the program to an appropriately tranquil and comforting end.



It's all highly entertaining (and not a little enlightening), which is the whole point of music.



Producer Michael Adcock and engineer David Shoemaker recorded the music at Calvary United Methodist Church, Frederick, Maryland in May 2017. The results are quite good.



First, however, a digression. Many years ago (1982 to be exact), the late Dave Wilson of Wilson Audio had just recorded a pair of albums he called "Ragtime Razzmatazz" with pianist Mark P. Wetch. Dave invited me to listen to the actual piano in the actual location he recorded the albums and then to hear the music in his living room through his big WAMM (Wilson Audio Modular Monitor) super speakers. With my eyes closed, the sound of the real thing and the sound of the recording were pretty much alike, especially as Dave had recorded the piano very close, and when we were listening to the real thing, we were sitting very close.



Now, I mention this because there are similarities between Dave's recording and this newer one from Centaur. Both are fairly close up, and both capture the sound of the instrument in a similar fashion. Dave's recording, though, used a huge, Kroeger "hard-tuned" honky-tonk-sounding upright piano. Mr. Adcock plays a fully restored New York Steinway D from PianoCraft. Big difference. So, yes, Adcock's piano has less obvious ring and reverberation, a softer, mellower, and more precise sound, nicely captured by the sound engineer in a modestly reverberant setting, with a mild fuzz or buzz around the strings. Dave went for an authentic saloon sound; Centaur projects a more classical concert-hall presentation. Both are worthy of the music, which works so well in both mediums.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto (CD review)

Romantic Piano Classics from the Silver Screen. Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano; Hugh Wolf, BBC Symphony Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Cleveland Orchestra. Decca 289 460 503-2.



The movies have forever used classical music as themes and background, from the earliest silent films and their piano and organ accompaniment to today's big-screen, multichannel blockbusters. Stanley Kubrick practically revived the entire classical-music scene with his groundbreaking films. But of the five items on the Decca disc under review, only the ersatz Warsaw Concerto was written directly for a film, Dangerous Moonlight, in 1941. All the other pieces derive from existing classical material.



The other works included are parts of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto. These selections featured in the films Brief Encounter, The Seven Year Itch, The Story of Three Loves, Groundhog Day, Rhapsody in Blue, and Manhattan.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays all of the music almost painfully romantically, yearningly, wistfully, rapturously, if not always so forcefully as you might find elsewhere. The Rachmaninov Adagio, for instance, lacks much fire in spite of its ecstatic nature. The orchestras, Cleveland under Vladimir Ashkenazy for the Rachmaninov selections and the BBC Symphony with Hugh Wolf for the others, play in lush, gushing accompaniment. It's all appropriate for the temperament of the compositions, so I'm not complaining, you understand.



In the early days of digital recording, critics complained of too much brightness, hardness, and edginess in the sound. By the Nineties or so, however, record companies had gone out of their way to produce just the opposite, often erring in the direction of too soft a focus. I suppose the works on this disc, recorded between 1994-98, benefit psychologically from the big, warm sound Decca provides them, but the sonics aren't always as clear as an audiophile might like.



The Warsaw Concerto, as an example, receives a far more incisive and transparent rendering from Daniel Adni on EMI's "Classics for Pleasure" label, and Ashkenazy's own, earlier analogue discs with Andre Previn are more lucid (and more heartfelt) than these. Still, if one's audio system tends toward the upper frequencies, as many of today's movie-oriented speakers do, these performances might just compensate. Otherwise, this remains a good collection of mood music, better played and certainly better written than most of what passes for theme music in a lot of today's movies.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Saint-Saens, Ravel, Gershwin: Piano Concertos (CD review)

Andrew von Oeyen, piano; Emmanuel Villaume, PKF-Prague Philharmonia. Warner Classics 01 90295 90848 5.



The first question you might ask about this album is why it contains such seemingly disparate composers as Saint-Saens, Ravel, and Gershwin on the same program. The answer, of course, is that the agenda is not so unusual as you might think. Not only did all three men write piano concertos, but they all in some way or another influenced each another. In particular, Saint-Saens influenced Ravel, and Ravel and Gershwin influenced the other. Besides, the soloist for the album, Andrew von Oeyen, is an American now living in Paris, who says he has fallen in love with French music. Fair enough.



The second question you might ask is, Who is Andrew von Oeyen? He's an American concert pianist, born in 1979, who here makes his piano-and-orchestra debut recording after releasing several solo discs. He began playing the piano at age five and made his first stage appearance at age ten. By age sixteen he was playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and after further studies at Juilliard and Columbia University and wins in several important piano competitions, his career was well on its way. The present disc marks his first release for Warner Classics, with accompaniment by Emmanuel Villaume and the PKF-Prague Philharmonia.



The opening piece on the program is the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, by the French composer Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921). He wrote it in 1868, and it remains among the most-popular of his five piano concertos. Oddly for a modern concerto, Saint-Saens begins his work with a relatively slow movement, followed by a faster second movement that resembles a scherzo, and finishes with a very quick Presto. These mercurial tempo changes prompted the Polish pianist and composer Zygmunt Stojowski to joke that the piece "begins with Bach and ends with Offenbach."



There is no doubting von Oeyen's intensity from the start as he gives every indication that he wants to get our attention. He varies the contrasts about as much as I've ever heard, making the opening movement more balky than ever. Which is neither here nor there; just more emphatic. The second movement is cheerful and bouncy enough, and if anything the orchestra carries it though as much as Mr. von Oeyen. Then in the finale, von Oeyen goes full bore with an all-out assault on the score, sounding exciting enough if a bit too studied for my taste.

Andrew von Oeyen

Next, we hear the Piano Concerto in G Major by French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). He wrote it between 1929 and 1931 after a concert tour of the United States. Its most notable feature is the use of American jazz idioms, which Ravel probably picked up from Gershwin, whose Rhapsody in Blue appeared several years earlier.



I rather enjoyed von Oeyen's Ravel more than his Saint-Saens, which tended toward a want of charm. Maybe it's the combination of American and French expressive styles that suits the pianist. Still, when one has spent years as I have listening to Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (EMI/Warner) play the piece, it's hard to find comfort in anyone else's interpretation. By comparison, von Oeyen never quite displays the imagination or creates the atmosphere that Michelangeli does. Nevertheless, my own quibbles should not distract the listener from enjoying von Oeyen's approach, which is more straightforward yet still jazzy enough to satisfy almost anyone. Additionally, von Oeyen offers us a particularly sensitive slow movement that in itself may be enough to sell the disc.



After that we find the Second Rhapsody by American composer George Gershwin (1898-1937). Here, some folks might quibble about whether the piece is a real piano concerto at all, but I would remind them that by definition a modern concerto is "a composition for orchestra and a solo instrument" (Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music). Gershwin's Second Rhapsody fits the bill. He wrote it for the 1931 Hollywood movie Delicious, on which both he and his brother Ira worked. Initially, Gershwin (and/or the studio) called this particular musical sequence Manhattan Rhapsody, New York Rhapsody, and Rhapsody in Rivets. Shortly afterwards, Gershwin more fully orchestrated it for concert use, titling it the Second Rhapsody. Although other people later reorchestrated the music (most notably Robert McBride some fourteen years after the composer's death), Mr. von Oeyen here plays the original 1931 version.



Following the pattern of getting better as we go along on the disc, Von Oeyen does a splendid job conveying the hustle and bustle of Gershwin's big city. His virtuosity seems always at the service of the music rather than simply drawing attention to itself. What's more, Maestro's Villaume's orchestral accompaniment keeps the rhythms on track and the musical impulses moving forward in suitable agreement. There are no awkward convolutions here, just a polished and stimulating tone picture.



The program concludes with a "bonus track": the Meditation from Jules Massenet's Thais, transcribed for solo piano by Mr. von Oeyen and bringing the total recorded music on the disc to over sixty-six minutes. For me, this was the highlight of the album, a hushed and heartfelt rendition that never lapses into teary-eyed mawkishness.



Producer and editor Christopher Alder and engineer Jakub Hadraba recorded the album at Studio 1, Czech Radio, Prague, Czech Republic in August 2015. The piano sounds solid and well placed from the start, if a mite wide, and the tone rings true. When the orchestra enters in the first movement of the Saint-Saens, it appears dynamic, full, and resonant, if not particularly deep or transparent. While strings sound a touch shrill and fuzzy at times, the overall effect is one of soft warmth rather than forward  brightness (or ultimate clarity).



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click on the forward arrow:

Lang Lang: New York Rhapsody (CD review)

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; various other short pieces. Herbie Hancock; John Axelod, London Symphony Orchestra; various accompanists. Sony Classical 88985332922.



Chinese pianist Lang Lang tells us in a booklet note that he wanted to do an album paying homage to New York City because the city "changed the course of music more than any other in the last 100 years...the city which has inspired and enriched me beyond words, which has become my home away from home...the city that turned Classical into this wonderful mess of new sounds and styles, the genius of Gershwin, of Copland, of Bernstein, jazz, Broadway, the arty punk of Lou Reed, hip hop.... In music, nothing was ever the same again. One of the greatest stories in the history of human creativity was written in this city--and I wanted to tell it."



Lang Lang's hyperbole may be a bit over-the-top, but, like his music making, his passion overflows. Whether his album tells the full story of NYC's contributions to the musical world, listeners will have to judge for themselves. Certainly, he attempts on this disc to cover a lot of bases, mainly in Gershwin's signature work and in a number of shorter selections by other composers.



Naturally, the centerpiece of the program is Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (1898-1937). By now, almost every music lover knows it was bandleader Paul Whiteman who persuaded a brash, young Gershwin to write a jazz-inflected showpiece for him and his jazz orchestra. When Gershwin initially declined, saying he didn't know enough about orchestration to do the work justice, Whiteman assured him that he could get Ferde Grofe to arrange it for piano and orchestra. That was 1924, and Gershwin's classical jazz became a new musical phenomenon.



The trouble is, we've got so many recordings of the Gershwin, any new one doesn't have much chance unless it can provide something unique. Depending only upon Lang Lang's legion of fans to buy the disc might not be enough to make a substantial enough profit on the investment of so much time and talent. The "something unique" here is an arrangement for two pianos (Lang Lang and jazz artist Herbie Hancock), accompanied by John Axelrod and the London Symphony. Since the music is a combination of classical and jazz, the two pianists attempt to capture that classical jazz spirit.

Lang Lang

The thing is, Lang Lang is not exactly a jazz artist himself, and I could never always tell exactly which performer was playing which parts. What I do know is that Lang Lang tends to attack the piece at first as though he were playing the Grieg Concerto. It's big and bold, but it doesn't quite capture the essence of Gershwin for me. It reminded me, in fact, of a 1968 recording I reviewed just a few weeks earlier with classical pianist Julius Katchen and Istvan Kertesz conducting the LSO. For me, that older performance was a bit too staid for the fusion of classical music and jazz I've always admired in Gershwin, and so, too, did I find Lang Lang's newer interpretation. Even with the help of Hancock, it comes off a touch too dreamy in some parts and too stiff in others. Happily, though, Gershwin's music is resilient enough to withstand almost any reading, and I'm sure a lot of folks will enjoy this different, more personal approach.



Plus, the reading is long. At over twenty-one minutes the performance lasts a good twenty-five per cent longer than most competing versions I'm aware of. Maybe fans will enjoy the lingering over details, too, but other listeners may simply find some sections slack or lethargic. The interpretation seems to want to romanticize Gershwin's music and only occasionally catches the edgier side of the city that inspired it. Nevertheless, Lang Lang's playing is up to the technical challenges of the work, and he's at his pyrotechnic best here. What's more, the LSO once again prove they can play anything, often at a moment's notice.



Understand, I'm not against newer or different interpretations. In fact, I enjoyed immensely Jeffrey Biegel's trimmed-down performance with Paul Phillips and the Brown University Orchestra on Naxos. And I continue to enjoy Leonard Bernstein's performance on Sony and Andre Previn's on EMI/Warner Classics because both of those performers worked in the popular idioms of jazz, Broadway, and Hollywood as well as classical, and they knew what Gershwin's work needed. Lang Lang's rendering does not convince me that he knows everything about the work, despite the black-and-white cover photo of him in vest and open tie, looking like the stereotypical world-weary Manhattanite.



Anyway, the rest of the program includes other bits and pieces Lang Lang and his producer felt exemplified the New York City experience:



"Story of 'Our Town'" (from "Our Town") with Lang Lang

"New York Morning" with Lang Lang and Jason Isbell

"Empire State of Mind" with Lang Lang and Andra Day

"New York Minute" with Lang Lang and Kandace Springs

"Somewhere" (Dirty Blvd.) with Lang Lang, Lisa Fischer, and Jeffrey Wright

"Main Theme" (from "Spider-Man") with Lang Lang and Lindsey Stirling

"Tonight" (from "West Side Story") with Lang Lang and Sean Jones

"Moon River" (from "Breakfast at Tiffany's") with Lang Lang and Madeleine Peyroux

"In Evening Air" with Lang Lang



These attendant works were more to my liking, although the whole agenda seems too scattered for much extended, concentrated listening. For me, it's more or less background material. Lang's opening piece from Copland's "Our Town" is quiet and sensitive. "New York Morning" is smoothly evocative. "Empire State of Mind" is fairly easy on the ear in a pop-music vein. As is Danny Elfman's "Spider-Man" theme, which tends to dominate the accompanying selections. The performers give Leonard Bernstein's "Tonight" a fairly jazzy treatment, and they do with Henry Mancini's "Moon River" about what they did with the Gershwin, sentimentalizing it too much.



David Lai and Larry Klein produced the Gershwin recording, with Jonathan Allen the engineer, making it at Abbey Road Studio One. Larry Klein and a number of other folks produced and engineered the rest of the selections, recording them in Los Angeles, New York, Manchester, Nashville, and Budapest. Sony Classical released the album in 2016.



The sound is a tad steely in the strings when it's not equally soft elsewhere, but the piano appears quite natural, if a little close-up. The overall impression is a combination, then, of realistic piano sound and somewhat mixed orchestral response. While I didn't find it particularly lifelike, there is certainly nothing to distract the listener from enjoying the music, and the recording's stereo spread and instrumental depth are more than adequate. Of lesser note, there were occasional odd noises I could never account for, noises I heard both on my big living-room speakers while auditioning the album and on my little computer speakers while recording an excerpt for the review.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click on the forward arrow:

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (CD review)

Also, Prokofiev: Concerto No. 3; Ravel: Concerto for Left Hand. Julius Katchen, piano; Istvan Kertesz, London Symphony Orchestra. HDTT, remastered.



Julius Katchen (1926-1969) was an American concert pianist who died of cancer just a few months after recording the present album in 1968. One would never guess from the recording how ill he was; most of the music reveals the vigor and vitality of a man in more than good health. Yet, things happen. The celebrated Jewish-Hungarian conductor in the work, Istvan Kertesz (1929-1973), would himself succumb to a drowning accident a few years later. So, in a way, this is a sort of memorial to both artists and a fitting tribute to both their talents.



First up on the program is Rhapsody in Blue, which as you no doubt know bandleader Paul Whiteman persuaded American composer and pianist George Gershwin (1898-1937) to write back in 1924, suggesting he make a jazz-inflected showpiece for Whiteman and his orchestra. When Gershwin initially declined, saying he didn't know enough about orchestration to do the work justice, Whiteman assured him that he could get Ferde Grofe to arrange it for piano and orchestra. As everyone knows, Gershwin's fusion of classical and jazz became a musical phenomenon.



Katchen's version of the piece with the London Symphony may not be quite the lean, mean classical jazz Gershwin intended, though. Under Katchen and Kertesz, it's more a slightly jazzy classical piece. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's too sedate, too refined, too symphonic, and too somber, but it's close. I think it's just that Katchen was foremost a classical pianist and his naturally elegant style wasn't quite what Gershwin needed. Still, it's a pleasure listening to him play.

Julius Katchen

Next, we find the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major (1930) by French impressionist composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), which Ravel wrote for a pianist who had lost his right arm during the First World War. This one is more up to the style of Katchen and Kertesz. We have it here in one continuous movement, although Ravel once said it was really two connected movements. Whatever, Katchen and Kertesz navigate the somewhat less but still jazz-toned score with more comfort, more-inherent ease, than they managed in the Gershwin. Both men lend a good deal of weight and gravitas to the music without missing any of its rhythmic tonal colors or lush, lyrical qualities.



Finally, we get the Concerto No. 3 in C major (1921) by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). While its arrangement is in a traditional three movements, the second movement is a set of variations ranging from fairly slow to very fast, and the final movement is a brilliant display of virtuosity. Here, too, Katchen and Kertesz shine, with a particularly playful opening Allegro and a dazzling close.



Producer Ray Minshull and engineers Kenneth Wilkinson and Alec Rosner recorded the music for Decca at Kingsway Hall, London, in November 1968. HDTT remastered the album in 2016. The sonics are nicely warm and rounded, with a decent sense of depth and dimensionally. The engineers captured the ambience of Kingsway Hall quite realistically, too, although in terms of balance the piano seems a bit bigger, more forward, than it might appear in an actual concert. Upper mids are sometimes a tad rough as well, although it's not enough to warrant concern. It's a comfortable, enjoyable sound, sure to please most listeners.



For further information on HDTT products, prices, discs, and downloads in a variety of formats, you can visit their Web site at http://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/.



JJP



To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click on the forward arrow: