By Karl W. Nehring
library has been forced to close its doors again because of the coronavirus
pandemic. Sadly, it was only open for a couple more days after I had finally
been able to enter it at last and check out the new music releases that I commented
on previously for Classical Candor. (https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/11/some-new-releases-cd-mini-reviews.html) Not to worry, though,
because although its doors have been closed to the public except for that one
brief interlude (or was that whole episode merely a dream?), the library has
been functioning quite efficiently on a drive-through basis. Buoyed by my
experience with discovering new releases on that one brief but magical venture
through the library door, I decided to do some searching on their website to
see what other new classical releases they might have obtained recently. I
there found some interesting items, some of which I am still in the process of
auditioning and digesting, others for which I am pleased to offer some brief
but, let’s hope, helpful commentary on below. Enjoy and stay safe, my
friends...
Johann Johannsson and
Yair Elasar Glotman: Last and First Men. (Deutsche Grammophon 4837410)
The late Johann
Johannsson composed some truly remarkable music during his relatively brief
career. Among his notable achievements were several movie soundtracks that are
enjoyable to hear even divorced from their films (e.g., his soundtrack to the
film Arrival, a stimulating sci-fi film based on an ingenious short
story by author Ted Chiang titled “The Story of Your Life”). The copy I
obtained from the library includes both the CD of the soundtrack and a Blu-ray
disc of the movie, which I have not yet watched but plan to presently. The
music is haunting, moody, sometimes spooky, with acoustic instruments, voices,
and synthesized sounds blended together to great effect. If you are already a
fan of Johannsson, you’ll want to give this new release a listen.
MacMillan: Symphony
No. 5 “Le grand Inconnu”; The Sun Danced. Mary Bevan, soprano; Harry
Christophers, The Sixteen and the Genesis Sixteen, Britten Sinfonia. (CORO
COR16179)
Sir James MacMillan (b.
1959) has given us here two large-scale works for chorus and orchestra that are
based on religious themes. The Sun Danced (2016) was commissioned by the
Shrine of Fatima in Portugal to mark the centennial of a religious miracle,
while his Symphony No. 5, le grand Inconnu” (2019) is said by the composer to
evoke the mystery of the Holy Spirit. MacMillan explains in the liner notes
that the French phrase “Le grand Inconnu” refers to the mystery of the Holy
Spirit in a way he cannot find in the English spiritual tradition. Musically,
both pieces are expressive and colorful, showing the composer’s skill and
imagination in powerful measure. A particularly gripping effect is the quiet
breathing of the choir that opens the Symphony, a musical effect that
brings to mind the idea of “the whisperings of the Spirit.” The soprano Mary
Bevan really shines in The Sun Danced, with orchestra and chorus
providing many moments of power and light. Both pieces have an exuberance that
sweeps the listener away; indeed, one need not be religious to appreciate the power
of MacMillan’s musical vision and the glory of the musicians who bring that
vision gloriously to life.
7. Osmo Vänskä, Minnesota Orchestra. (BIS 2386)
One of the highlights of
my musical life was attending a concert performance of the Mahler Symphony
No. 7 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Claudio Abbado.
Given that JJP has already posted a fine in-depth review of this BIS release (https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/08/mahler-symphony-no-7-sacd-review.html), I will simply second
his opinion that this is a very fine recording indeed. It is an excellent
performance featuring an especially adept interpretation of the final movement.
In addition, the sound of the orchestra has been captured with superb
engineering, making this release worthy of an enthusiastic recommendation to
all Mahler fans.
Prokofiev: Suites
from The Gambler and The Tale of the Stone Flower. Dima Slobodeniouk, Lahti
Symphony Orchestra. (BIS 2301)
This SACD of orchestral
music by Prokofiev contains just what you would expect from orchestral suites
by the Russian master: music that is colorful, expressive, energetic, and
entertaining. Many music lovers are no doubt familiar with the colorful
orchestral suites from his ballet, Romeo and Juliet. The first suite on
this disc, Four Portraits and Denouement from “The Gambler” is derived
from an opera rather than a ballet, but the other suite is based upon his
ballet The Tale of the Stone Flower. Interestingly enough, I noted in my
listening sessions that there was some music that seemed quite parallel to some
music from Prokofiev’s ballet score for the star-crossed lovers, but it is certainly
no scandal to hear a great composer stealing from his or her own catalog,
especially when the end product is so rewardingly entertaining, as it is here.
Sandwiched between these two suites is an earlier composition by Prokofiev, his
brief but soberly expressive Autumnal Sketch. The engineering is
first-rate, which is what we have come to expect from BIS, one of the few
labels that still lists the equipment used in the production, a fun touch that
brings to mind those heady audiophile days of the 70s and 80s.
Nos. 5 & 1. Gianandrea Noseda, London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live
LSO0802)
I thought it seemed a
bit surprising to see the reverse numerical order of the symphonies in the
title of this release. Perhaps the producers figured that the 5th is the more
popular Shostakovich symphony of the two so they needed to list it first? Not a
big deal, just a bit odd, so perhaps that was the point: christen it a bit
oddly to draw some extra attention in a crowded marketplace. Whatever. A bigger
surprise awaited me when I got home, opened the cover, and realized that there
were two shiny toruses in the package, one for Symphony No. 5, the other
for -- you guessed it -- Symphony No. 1. I had assumed both works would
have fit on one SACD, but that might have been stretching it. There are no
fillers included on either disc, but given that the package sells for a
relatively modest price, value is not really an issue. Both symphonies are well
done, recorded in live performance but engineered superbly. Symphony No. 1
is played with just a bit less playfulness than I would like to hear, but is
still a delight. Similarly delightful is Noseda’s version of No. 5, an
interpretation that seems to strike a balance between hope and despair. For the
price, this 2-SACD set would be a great way for someone new to Shostakovich to
be introduced to his symphonies.
Stephane Deneve (tracks 4-6), Mathieu Herzog (tracks 1-3, 7-13). Brussels
Philharmonic. (Deutsche Grammophon 4838564)
What looks to be at
first glance just another collection of arrangements for cello of some
traditional favorites turns out to be something more complex, more focused, and
more satisfying than that. The centerpiece of this collection is not a traditional
favorite; rather, it is a new composition
by Turkish composer Fazil Say (b. 1970) titled Concerto for Cello and
Orchestra “Never Give Up,” a quite listenable and rewarding piece of
contemporary music that fits right in with the other selections in this
release, which include impassioned performances of notable compositions such as
Ravel’s Kaddish (if you ever get the opportunity, check out the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “Tree of Life: A Concert for Peace and
Unity,” a moving memorial concert for the victims of the tragic 2918
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, which among other heartfelt performances
included a version of Kaddish with a clarinet taking the lead), Bruch’s Kol
Nidrei, and John Williams’s Theme from Schindler’s List. Voice of
Hope is a truly remarkable release, much more than a random collection of
arrangements for cello. Brava, Ms. Thomas!
Vasks: Viola Concerto;
String Symphony “Voices.” Maxim Rysanov, viola and conductor,
Sinfonietta Riga. (BIS 2443)
Music lovers who have
not yet discovered the entrancing music of Latvian composer Peteris Vasks (b.
1946) will find this new BIS release an excellent gateway into his musical
universe. The CD opens with the more recent of the two works on the program,
his Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra (2014-2015). Those fearful
of contemporary music need not be afraid, this is music to delight rather than
assault the ear. The opening movement in particular is breathtakingly
beautiful, so listeners are likely to be hooked from the outset (shades of the
old strategy of starting off a rock or pop album with a hit song sure to draw
listeners in). Rest assured, though, the rest of the music on the disc is up to
the same high standard of quality. The second composition is one of the first
pieces by Vasks that got me interested in his music back in the early 1990s.
His Symphony for Strings, “Voices” (1991) is more inward-focused than
the Concerto, more allusive than effusive. Again, it is a good place to
start with the music of Vasks, as it employs many of the musical devices that
he will use in subsequent works. It truly draws the listener in, giving the
mind something to turn over while enjoying the compelling sonorities. It is one
of those pieces that upon hearing, you will immediately want to hear again. All
in all, this is an excellent release, highly recommended.
Vicious. Avishai Cohen, trumpet/effects/synthesizer; Uri Ramirez, guitar;
Yonatan Albalak, guitar/bass; Aviv Cohen, drums; Ziv Ravitz, drums/live
sampling. (ECM 2680)
It is certainly not an
original thought to say that jazz is America’s classical music, but I’ll throw
it out there quickly along with another thought that certainly did not
originate with me, that jazz musicians in general tend to have a deeper
understanding of and ability to implement music theory than do classical
musicians. And if you read biographies of and interviews with prominent jazz
musicians, you might well be surprised to find out how many are fans of
classical music. In any event, Big Vicious is a delight: tuneful,
imaginative, and bold in both conception and execution. “Big Vicious” is the
name of both Cohen’s band and the album, which contains 11 compositions: nine
originals credited to Cohen or the band plus two covers, one an arrangement of
the song “Teardrop” by Massive Attack, the other an arrangement of a movement
of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata. (“Hey hey, my my, clas-sic-al will
never die...”)
Bonus Recommendation: Self-Portrait with
Russian Piano. Wolf Wondratscheck, author; Marshall Yarbrough, translator.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, First American Edition, 2020. ISBN
978-0-374-28049-1. It turns out that the library not only carries CDs, but they
also carry books that they are more than happy to have their patrons check out
to read. How cool is that?! Music lovers with a literary bent might enjoy this
somewhat dreamlike novel by the German author, Wolf Wondratscheck. It tells the
tale of a writer who encounters an aging Russian pianist, Suvorin, although as
the novel moves along, it can become hard to separate the fictional author from
the fictional pianist as their stories intertwine. Along the way, we are
regaled with anecdotes and observations about actual musicians such as Clara
Haskil (“Did she speak Russian? Did she speak at all? Did her hands get cold before every appearance, too cold for
Mozart, who would then warm them for her?”), Sviatislov Richter (“Any interest
in success, in seeking admiration for his capabilities as a pianist, was
completely alien to Richter. Success was fining the trail of a discovery, the
hope of finding it. Richter would probably most preferred it if his name didn’t
appear next to the composer’s on the playbill at all.”). Glenn Gould (“Gould
was right to quit early. The guy was just thirty-two! But he had had enough
and he threw in the towel. Good kid, and he had a sense of humor, too. That he
did, you have to hand it to him.”), and Heinrich Schiff (“The worst ones, says
Schiff, are the conqueror types, who turn each game into a tournament, each
concert into a struggle—the killjoys at the conductor’s stand who wave the
queue around like a baton. How little feeling, how little sensitivity they
have.”). This novel is not the easiest to read, but it does tend to suck the reader
in, weaving quite a psychological spell throughout its relatively brief 204
pages.
Finally, allow me to be
so bold as to recommend another jazz recording, this one also by trumpeter
Avishai Cohen. His quintet recording Into the Silence (ECM 2482) is much
different in sound and mood from Big Vicious. It is acoustic, moody,
Cohen at times muting his trumpet and exploring some deeply introspective
spaces both musically and emotionally. It is a simmeringly powerful release
that is beautifully recorded and produced.
KWN
