Recent Releases No. 46 (CD Reviews)

by Karl Nehring

Steve Reich: The String Quartets. Reich: WTC 9/11; Triple Quartet; Different Trains. Mivos Quartet (Olivia De Prato & Maya Bennardo, violins; Victor Lowrie Tafoya, viola; Tyler J. Borden, cello). Deutsche Grammophon 486 3385

 

American composer Steve Reich (b. 1936) once said that he “never expected to write a string quartet,” but as music author/radio host John Schaefer notes in his liner note essay, “that all changed in 1988, and the solution was as simple as it was elegant: Reich treated the string quartet as a single, composite instrument. Suddenly, the format of soloist with recorded tracks, used in the ‘Counterpoint’ works, made sense. The result was Different Trains… the piece wove together voice samples with multiple layers of string quartet, three of them pre-recorded and the final layer performed live. It was the first of three pieces Reich would compose for the Kronos Quartet. The purely instrumental Triple Quartet followed in 1998, and WTC 9/11, built around voice samples relating to the World Trade Center attacks, in 2010. This recording marks the first time that all three have been gathered in one place, and it was the composer himself who suggested that the Mivos Quartet take on the challenge.”

 

When I mentioned I was reviewing this CD to Bill Heck, he said that he just could not bring himself to listen to the first selection on this recording, finding it too emotionally upsetting. I understand his feelings. WTC 9/11, with its recorded telephone sounds and voices bringing back memories of that tragic day, truly does pack quite an emotional wallop. But it also connects on a musical level, as the quartet echoes the speech patterns of the voices while also providing a pulse that drives the music forward with a restless, relentless sense of energy. Reich says of his Triple Quartet that it was inspired by the energetic ending of Bártok’s String Quartet No. 4. The work is not for twelve strings, as the title might seem to imply, but rather is a relatively brief string quartet in three movements. The opening movement begins with a rhythmic pulse that shifts toward a dance rhythm, the second movement at times has a hint of Middle Eastern sounds and at times incorporates a striking echo effect, and then the third movement begins tentatively but gathers energy that builds into a frenetic dance. Different Trains once again features the quartet playing over the sounds of a prerecorded soundtrack, this time of train sounds and voices from America before WWII, Europe during the war, and finally after the war. The pulsing sound of Reich’s writing for the strings lends itself well to evoking the feeling of trains, and the members of the Mivos Quartet seem to be able to lean right into this music with full conviction. The idea of mixing prerecorded sounds with voices might sound gimmicky, but it works; moreover, the engineering team has done an excellent job of making everything cohere. Fans of Steve Reich should rejoice at having these three works brought together in these three first-rate performances.

Chicago Clarinet Classics. Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977): Sonata in One Movement for Clarinet and Piano; Stacy Garrop (b. 1969): Phoenix Rising for Solo Clarinet; Leo Sowerby (1895-1968): Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, H 240a; Shulamit Ran (b. 1949): Spirit for Solo Clarinet (in memory of Laura Flax); Teresa Reilly (b. 1976): The Forgiveness Train (for two clarinets)*; Robert Muczynski (1929-2010): Two Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 43. John Bruce Yeh, clarinet; Patrick Godon, piano; *Teresa Reilly, clarinet. Cedille CDR 90000 218

 

John Bruce Yeh (b. 1957) joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1977 as bass clarinet by Georg Solti at the age of 19, the first Asian musician ever appointed to the CSO. Two years later, he was named assistant principal and E-flat clarinet. He is now the longest-serving clarinetist in CSO history, so it is not surprising that a series of events including being asked by the Chicago-based Cedille label about recording the Leo Sowerby’s Wind Quintet would eventually lead to this album. In the course of researching Sowerby, Yeh discovered his Sonata, a large (26:32) four-movement work that forms the centerpiece of this album. It is a solidly entertaining work; given that it was first published in 1944, I am surprised not to have come across a recording of it before. While doing his research, Yeh next discovered the Tcherepnin Sonata, the sprightly little (5:04) piece that leads off the program with a burst of joyous energy. 

 

Yeh notes that “with these two contrasting Sonatas, grouped with Robert Muczynski’s 1983 Time Pieces, already a classic with clarinet players, my long-time piano collaborator, Patrick Godon, and I had the basis for an album. Jim [Ginsburg, producer at Cedille] agreed that diversity in the form of three 21^st-century clarinet works by outstanding composers with whom I’ve had decades-long associations, would be the ideal complement to this collection. Accordingly, we are delighted to present the first recordings of Stacy Garrop’s 2017 Phoenix Rising for Solo Clarinet, Shulamit Ran’s 2017 solo clarinet work Spirit, and my wife Teresa Reilly’s recent clarinet duet, The Forgiveness Train(2020).” All the composers have ties to Chicago – thus the album’s title. Although the whole album is enjoyable, especially if you are happen to be as big a fool for a clarinet as I am other highlights include the three pieces by women composers: Stacy Garrop’s colorful and evocative Phoenix Rising, in which Yeh is able to produce some startling tones from his instrument; Shulamit Ran’s Spirit, dedicated to a dear friend of the composer and expressing a wide range of emotion; and Teresa Reilly’s Train of Forgiveness, on which Yeh and Reilly play together, clearly enjoying the opportunity. 

 All of the music on this generously-filled (76:51) CD, though, is enjoyable. Don’t let the fact that this is music from the 20^th and 21^st centuries from composers with names that may be unfamiliar give you the idea that this must be music that would be harsh and forbidding. This is not music that is dissonant, strident, screaming, or screeching. No, it is music that is enticing to the ear. Not syrupy sweet, but rather thoughtful and enduring. There are liner notes with helpful essays on the music and background information about the performers, and the sonics are up to the usual high Cedille standard.

 

Recent Releases, No. 8 (CD Mini-reviews)

By Karl W. Nehriing

Concertos for Mallet Instruments. Alexis Alrich: Marimba Concerto;
Karl Jenkins: La Folia; Ned Rorem: Mallet Concerto. Evelyn
Glennie, percussion; Jean Thorel, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. NAXOS
8.574218.

Although this recording was only recently
released, it was recorded back in 2013. I have no idea why it took so long to
get released, but I am certainly glad that it did, for it is a delight. I would
think that by now, most classical music lovers are familiar with the featured
soloist. As the liner notes boldly assert, “Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first
person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a career as a
full-time solo percussionist. As an eclectic and innovative musician and
composer, she is constantly redefining the goals and expectations of
percussion.” Her influence can be seen here, as she gave the world premiere of
the Alexis Aldrich (b. 1955) Marimba Concerto (as explained in a brief
overview of the work by the composer herself), an energetic, extroverted work
in three movements that is quite entertaining. She was the dedicatee of La
Folia by Karl Jenkins (b. 1944), a more stately dance-rooted composition
for  marimba and strings that builds in
energy as it moves along. The final piece on the program, the Mallet
Concerto by Ned Rorem (b. 1923), features Ms. Glennie on vibraphone and
xylophone in addition to marimba. It is quite a colorful work with an ending
movement titled “An Ending” that is aptly named for reasons beyond the obvious.

David Gompper: Cello Concerto; Double
Bass Concerto; Moonburst. Timothy Gill, cello; Volkan Orhon, double
bass; Emmanuel Siffert, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. NAXOS 8.559855.

Reading the booklet notes included in this
release made me pause for a few moments to reflect on the truly international
nature of today’s classical music landscape. American composer David Gompper
(b. 1954) studied music in London, taught music in Nigeria, received his
doctorate at the University of Michigan, taught for a year at the Moscow
Conservatory as a Fulbright Scholar, and now serves as a professor at the
University of Iowa, while Emmanuel Siffert is a Swiss conductor leading a
British orchestra. The program includes three recent Gompper compositions,
leading off with his two-movement Cello Concerto (2019), the
first moment of which is intense - and nervous sounding, with some vigorous
playing by Gill. The second movement is much different in mood, unsettled and
skittish, seemingly directed more inward than the more extroverted first
movement. Not a lyrical piece, but not without some appeal, at least for those
with an interest in contemporary music. The concluding Double Bass Concerto (2018)
is less successful, at least to these ears. Orhon is clearly a master of his instrument,
but he seems to be fighting against chaos. Perhaps that was what Gompper
intended, but it does not make for an appealing musical experience. The final
piece on this CD, Moonburst (2018), is more successful, evoking as it
does a sense of darkness and apprehension. At times, the sound seemed to more
than a hint of an edge in the upper midrange; as it turned out, a quick check
of the back cover credits revealed an engineering team whose names I did not
recognize. I shall be wary should I encounter them again.  

Occurrence: Daniel Bjarnason: Violin Concerto;
Veronique Vaka: Lendh; Haukur Tómasson: in Seventh Heaven;
Puriòur Jónsdóttir: Flutter; Magnús Blöndal Jóhansson: Adagio.
Sono Luminus DSL-92243. Pekka Kuusisto, violin; Mario Caroli, flute;
Daniel Bjarnason, Iceland Symphony Orchestra. SONO Luminus DSL-92243.

This is not just a mini-review, it is a mixed
review, for I believe that I would not stand alone in finding the five
compositions on this release to be quite a mixed bag in terms of their appeal,
even as I respectfully acknowledge that your musical tastes may – and most
likely are – different from mine. As Sly & The Family Stone sang,
“different strokes for different folks.” In any event, Occurrence is the
third in a series of recordings on the SONO Luminus label by the Iceland
Symphony Orchestra that have been dedicated to highlighting the work of
contemporary Icelandic composers, the first two being Recurrence and Concurrence
(no, I have no idea why Occurrence was not the first title in the
series, and I hope I am not turning into too much of an old pedant).

Of the five compositions on the disc
(actually, discs – the library version I am reviewing incudes not only a
standard CD but also a Blu-ray surround sound audio disc), I find two quite
appealing, one amazingly appealing, one difficult and thorny but not without
some appeal, and one that I have tried several times to “get” but find utterly
unappealing. Unfortunately, the three appealing compositions are the short ones
on the disc, combining for less than half the total 70:42 playing time. Leading
off the program is composer/conductor Daniel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto (23:41),
an intense, tightly wound piece that is not immediately appealing but after
several listens I came to at least respect for its concentrated energy. Next is
Veronique Vaka’s  Lendh (11:36),
a tone poem of great energy, its bass notes evoking the elemental geological
forces underlying the fantastic Icelandic landscape and giving your woofers
some cardio. Haukur Tómasson’s in Seventh Heaven (7:13) evokes a
different realm, the sounds seeming to play and shimmer, continually changing
while holding our attention. Next comes Puriòur Jónsdóttir’s Flutter
(20:49), a concerto for flute that try as I might, I never could come to
embrace. I will say this much for it, it contains some truly interesting
sounds. Perhaps others will like it better than I; it is surely an interesting
composition.

The program concludes with Magnús Blöndal
Jóhansson’s Adagio (7:19), which brings about a complete change of mood.
It is reflective, elegiac, and emotionally resonant. As this is such an
amazingly appealing piece, please allow me a few more sentences (thus
stretching the concept of “mini-review” until it snaps, thus sayeth the
pedant). According to the liner notes, Jóhansson (1925-2005) was one of the
first modernists of Icelandic music, composing in 1950 the first Icelandic
12-tone work. “By the 1970s, Jóhansson’s career was in decline. After the death
of his wife , he fought a long and demeaning battle with alcoholism and
composed nothing between 1972 and 1980. He returned with the stunningly simple Adagio
for strings, celeste, and percussion in 1980.” Stunningly simple, but also
stunningly beautiful. The engineering (I will admit to getting a kick out of
seeing that it was mixed and mastered using Legacy Audio speakers – see my
brief bio below) is excellent, as are the liner notes. Recommended to those
with a curiosity about or appreciation for contemporary music.

Reich: Music for Two or More Pianos;
Eight Lines (for ensemble); Vermont Counterpoint (for flutes and
tape); New York Counterpoint (for clarinets and tape); City Life
(for ensemble). Jörg Schweinbenz, piano; Anne Parisot, Delphine Roche, flutes;
Andrea Nagy, clarinets; Klaus Simon, piano, conductor, Holst-Sinfonietta. NAXOS
8.559682.

American composer Steve Reich (b. 1936) is
classified as a “minimalist” composer. His best-known composition, Music for
18 Musicians, is probably the best-known of the minimalist genre, and if
you have never heard it, I would strongly advise seeking it out. There are
several recordings to choose from; from among them, I would suggest you start
with the one on ECM, which was originally released as an LP (now available on
CD and streaming formats) in 1978 and caused quite a ripple of excitement. This
generously filled (73:24) new release from Naxos includes compositions from a
wide swath of Reich’s career, from Music for Two or More Pianos from
1964 to City Life from 1995. All of the selections are clearly minimalist
in that they employ simple chord structures, rhythmic patterns that revolve
around a discernible driving pulse, and an abundance of energy. The earliest
piece, for pianos, is the most abstract-sounding, but after something of a slow
start, it picks up energy as it as it moves along. Reich’s compositions and
these spirited performers project an undeniable feeling of life-affirming joy,
a sense of sheer exuberance, and an expression of gratitude for the ability to
create, perform, and enjoy the sounds of music and integrate them with the with
the rhythms of life. This is a disc well worth an audition even if you have
listened to a Philip Glass recording or two in the past and concluded that
minimalism was not for you…

Respighi: Concerto all’antica; Ancient
Airs and Dances for Lute. Davide Alogna, violin; Salvatore di Vittorio,
Chamber Orchestra of New York. NAXOS 8.573901.

This recording incudes both the unfamiliar
and the familiar. In fact, the Concerto all’antica, originally composed
way back in 1908, receives here its world premiere recording; by way of
contrast, except for the Roman trilogy (Pines, Fountains, and Festivals),
the Ancient Airs and Dances are probably Respighi’s most oft-recorded
compositions. According to the liner notes, “the concerto was first referred to
as a “Concerto in an Ancient Style by an anonymous composer, revised and
orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi, [and] was probably performed in its
reduction for violin and piano. Of course, the anonymous composer was Respighi
himself and he admitted later that he composed the concerto as a joke for
German critics.” As it turns out, the score languished for many decades,
finally being published as Concerto all’antica in 1990, and being
performed here in its first printed critical edition published in 2019 by
conductor Salvatore Di Vittorio. At just over a half-hour in duration, it is a
substantial composition, one that falls easily upon the ears and is quite
enjoyable. Also quite enjoyable – but fans of Respighi already know this – are
the Ancient Airs and Dances, which are presented here in quite enjoyable
performances, bringing the total timing on this disc to more than 80 minutes.
No skimping here! Although when I want to hear the Dances I would more
likely pull out either the venerable Dorati recording on Mercury Living
Presence or the López Cobos on Telarc, the inclusion of the charming Concerto
all’antica on this new NAXOS release makes it well worth recommending to
dedicated Respighi fans. (See also John’s review: https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/search?q=Respighi+Ancient)

Schnittke: Works for Violin and Piano. Includes
Suite in the Old Style; Polka; Tango; Sonata for Violin
and Piano No. 1; Madrigal in memoriam Oleg Kagan; Congratulatory
Rondo; Silent Night. Daniel Hope, violin; Alexey Botvinov, piano.
Deutsche Grammophon 483 9234.

In his liner note essay, violinist Daniel
Hope tells how he first encountered and fell in love with the music of Russian
composer Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) back in 1989 when as a teenager he heard
a fellow student play Schnittke’s Violin Sonata No. 1. As he recalls,
“from the moment I heard it, I wanted more than anything to play this music.
The violinist was playing from a hand-copied score, barely legible, and I
remember approaching him after the concert and pleading with him to let me copy
the parts. That evening began my ‘love affair’ with Alfred Schnittke’s music.”
The now-mature Hope’s performance of the Sonata is the centerpiece of
this collection, and it shows that his love has not dimmed over the years. From
the lighter feeling of the various dance pieces to the searing intensity of the
solo violin performance of the Madrigal in memoriam Oleg Kagan, Hope
brings an expressive, communicative touch to this music that may well cause you
to fall in love with it, too. Schnittke’s arrangement of Silent Night,
which closes the program, is haunting, beautiful, and thought-provoking.
Throughout the album, Hope is well supported by pianist Alexey Botvinov, who
sadly enough becomes a forgotten figure in the otherwise splendid liner notes –
no photo, no mention. If you enjoy violin music, this is a recording you really
ought to audition, for it is a treasure. 

Weinberg: String Quartets, Vol. 1 Nos.
2, 5, and 6. Arcadia Quartet. Chandos CHAN 20158.

This will be more of a true mini-review,
not at all as a reflection on the quality of the music; in fact, this Chandos
release is so excellent that I want to cut right to the chase and point out
just how excellent it is. Having favorably reviewed (here and here) some previous music by Weinberg
(1919-1996) and having enjoyed other recordings of his music in the past, I
looked forward to auditioning this new Chandos recording of some of his string
quartets. For one thing, I knew that the Polish Weinberg and the Russian
Shostakovich became close friends and shared musical ideas with one another, so
as an ardent admirer of the l Shostakovich’s quartets I was especially eager to
hear Weinberg’s. From the first few notes of Weinberg’s Quartet No. 2, I was
sold. (I should point out that he wrote this before meeting Shostakovich; in
fact, the liner notes speculate that he showed the music to the Shostakovich,
who then used some of the ideas in his own Quartet No. 2). All three
string quartets included in this release are impressive examples of the genre.
They are on the serious side, at times brooding, but never mawkish or
sentimental. When they sing, it is a serious song; when they reflect, it is
deep reflection. Still, this is not forbidding music, nor standoffish music;
rather, it is music that draws the listener in, both emotionally and
intellectually. It is music that both encourages and rewards repeat listening.
The sound quality is also warm and inviting, without edge up high or boom down
low. Informative liner notes that include some engaging historical photos
complete this highly recommendable package. I look forward to future volumes
with eager anticipation.   

Bonus Recommendations:

The Musical Human:
Michael Spitzer. Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 978-1-63557-624-5.

This is a big (400 pp.), ambitious book that might be a
bit much for many classical music fans, but it offers a fascinating take on
music and life that is well worth taking a look at. Spitzer divides the book
into three parts; if nothing else, I would suggest that classical music lovers
would do well to take a dive into Part One (Life), a manageable and focused 132
pages offering some keen insights into our current musical universe. On page
41, for example, we learn that “a preference for consonances gets locked in at
age nine, while non-Western children develop a taste for (to our ears)
irregular tunings and greater dissonance. A centrepiece of Western harmony is
octave equivalence, as when children and adult men sing the same melody an
octave apart (that is, singing eight notes up the scale brings you back to the
same note, but an octave higher). Playing an octave slightly out of tune
creates acoustic interference beats that sound hideous to Western ears, but
quite palatable to people in Bali. In Bulgaria, it is common for choruses to
sing in parallel minor seconds (a semitone apart): one culture’s noise is
another culture’s spice.” In Part One, Spitzer goes on to discuss topics as the
roles that music plays in our lives, the myth of the “musical genius,” the
state of music education, the role of the conductor, and how music is akin to
religion. And what of the rest of the book – Parts Two (History), with sections
titled “Ice, Sand, Savannah and Forest,” “The Tuning of the West,”
Superpowers,” and “Endgames,” and Three (Evolution), with sections titled
“Animal,” Human,” “Machine,” and “Eleven Lessons on Music’s Nature?” I will
leave you with this little teaser from near the end of Part One: “Music’s
oceanic quality allies it with religion. Indeed a key strand of Parts 2 and 3
of this book is that music and religion sprang to life at the same time.” 

Finally, for another take on the
universality of music, you might want to take a look at this recent article on the subject from Nautilus
magazine.

KWN

The Knights: The Ground Beneath Our Feet (CD review)

The Knights. Warner Classics 0825646170982.



As you probably know if you've been following the classical music scene this past decade, The Knights are a New York-based chamber orchestra, formed in the late Nineties by brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen. They began by holding informal chamber-music sessions in their home, inviting friends to share performances with them of new and historical music. Even as their public performances increased and the group grew in size to almost three dozen members (flexible according to need from about a dozen to the full complement), they have retained their original collaborative spirit. According to their Web site, the ensemble's name symbolizes their unceasing quest for searching out things bold and true in the music they play.



The group's Artistic Director, Colin Jacobsen, describes the present album, The Ground Beneath Our Feet, as "a celebration of the concerto grosso, a musical conversation in which two or more instruments are invited to lead a dialogue with the larger whole.... By revisiting the concerto grosso today, we explore the amalgamation of personalities and perspectives that is The Knights, with individual voices coming to the fore throughout the album." Accordingly, the album offers something old (Stravinsky), something very old (Bach), something new (Reich), and something very new (Jacobsen, Aghaei, and The Knights), all of them concertos in their own way.



The more I hear from The Knights, the more I like them. In fact, along with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, The Knights have become one of my favorite American chamber orchestras. They play with a lively precision that always invigorates any music they're performing, and they never seem to stray from the central intent of the score. The selections on this disc are good examples of what I mean.



First up on the program is something new, the Duet for Two Violins and Strings by Steve Reich (b. 1936), with Ariana Kim and Guillaume Pirard, violins. Reich wrote the piece in 1993 and dedicated it to Yuhudi Menuhin. The Knights handle Reich's gently soaring lyricism gently and, well, soaringly. The music and the interpretation enjoy a simplicity and grace that make it a pleasure to return to time and again.

The Knights

Next is something very old, the Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV 1060R, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). The Bach performance is both lively and graceful, something we don't always find in renderings of Baroque music. In my experience you get either one or the other. Yet The Knights have their cake and eat it, too. It's quite a lovely rendering of the piece, with Adam Hollander's oboe blending nicely into the framework of the ensemble, always highlighting the music yet never dominating it. The Adagio displays a special lilt that is quite charming.



After that is something less old, the Concerto in E-flat "Dumbarton Oaks" by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). Stravinsky named his concerto after the historic estate on which The Knights made this recording. The composer was in one of his newer-older moods when he wrote it in 1937, and most of it, inspired by Bach, is rather playful. The Knights seem intent on pointing up this playfulness throughout, and their performance is appropriately joyous. What's more, it's remarkable how effortlessly they can transition from one era in music to another.



Then, we get two pieces that are fairly new. The first of these is the Concerto for Santur, Violin and Orchestra by Colin Jacobsen and Siamak Aghaei. The santur is an ancient instrument, a stringed, hammered dulcimer of Babylonian origin, and here it makes a fine counterpoint to the previous violin concertos. Nevertheless, like them, it produces a sweet, flowing sound, and the rhythms of the music, premiered in 2013, agree with it nicely. When the violin and accompanying strings join in, they produce a most agreeable arrangement.



The final piece is The Ground Beneath Our Feet, written collectively by The Knights. As we might expect from such a collaborative work, the music appears more improvisational than the rest. Jacobsen says that it should sound different each time people play it, so it has a flexible, malleable nature to its moods, tempos, dynamics, stresses, patterns, and tones. There are some interesting Irish, Scottish, and Gypsy inflections in the piece that are fun, as are some closing vocals by Christina Courtin. The Knights are a talented group all the way around.



Like a lot of albums these days, too many for me, this one is a live recording. I suppose it's the most economical way to make records anymore, but it does no favors to the sound. Anyway, producer Jesse Lewis and engineers Jesse Brayman and Jesse Lewis recorded the music live at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC in October 2013.



The miking is a little closer than I would have liked, but I suppose that's the consequence of having to record live and minimize audience noise. The violins seem a tad bright and the whole image a bit too forward for my taste. Still, taste differs, and other listeners may find the sound exactly to their liking. It's certainly clear and detailed, with a realistic dimensionality and a modest touch of acoustic resonance to add to the warmth and flavor of the presentation.



However, I really, really could have done without the applause, which follows each item.



JJP



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