by John Sunier | Jul 31, 2012 | Classical CD Reviews
ANTHONY PAUL DE RITIS: “Devolution” = Legerdemain; Chords of Dust; Devolution – Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid)/Boston Modern Orch. Project/Gil Rose – BMOP Sound 1022, 49:30 [Distr. by Albany] *****:
Anthony Paul De Ritis is the chair of the Department of Music and Multimedia Studies at Northeastern University. I have heard good things about De Ritis’s music and its reliance on an eclectic, crossover combination of sound sources as well his skill at writing captivating music that unfolds in real time. De Ritis had studied with Kyle Gann, with whom I am familiar and also philosophy with Richard Fleming. De Ritis is, clearly, a bit of a visionary, himself and I find all three of these pieces new, refreshing and fascinating to listen to.
Of the works heard here, Chords of Dust, is the oldest (from 1992) and carries a special significance for the composer. The title comes from that of a poem by his father, Paul Anthony De Ritis, who was a poet and inspiration to his son. There is a real sentimentality and reflective sound to the work. Chords of Dust is easily the most “traditional” sounding work on this program but the melodies are attractive, the orchestration is lush and the effect is quite nice. I found this work wholly engaging.
Legerdemain (“Slight of hand”) stems from 1994 and was composed for the U.C. Berkeley Symphony and Jung-Ho Pak. This brilliantly ethereal, wispy work is also a good example of what became De Ritis technique for incorporating ever changing electronic sound sources into traditional acoustical textures; a model he acquired from studying the work of French composer Gilbert Amy. In Legerdemain, the electronic component is actually that of the orchestra modified during performance (in real time) by a reverb/delay unit and synthesizer. There are some chance elements in the score and the sound to the audience is frequently difficult to distinguish between that produced by the live instrumentalists or the synthesizer modified sounds just heard. In listening to the piece, it is frequently difficult to hear where the acoustical sources end and their electronically mixed antecedents begin; but that makes for some truly interesting and sonically vivid effects.
By far, though, the most unusual work here as well as the most compelling reason to get this recording is to experience Devolution, a “concerto” for “DJ” and orchestra – in this case the DJ is the true Renaissance man, Paul D. Miller (AKA “DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid”). Just the premise is utterly astonishing: a live turntable jockey with a vast array of mixing, digital processing devices and effects at his disposal plays with a live symphony orchestra. What makes this piece unique is almost exclusively the talents and skills of Miller (DJ Spooky). This is not at all some hokey mélange of hip-hop with orchestra. Miller is a very creative and talented musician/sound painter who has collaborated with Robert Wilson, Steve Reich, Yoko Ono and Ryuichi Sakamoto; among others. The collaboration between De Ritis’s score and Miller’s real time live manipulations and interjections makes this a work that is truly organic and can be heard differently each time it is performed. The resultant sounds – collision of styles, really – are all tonal but takes the listener through components that resemble minimalism, hip-hop, techno, aleotory and even some oddly appropriate direct quotes from Ravel’s Bolero and the Beethoven 7th! (The use of those two excerpts is not really “tongue in cheek”. The originals have a dark, somewhat mysterious presence that De Ritis uses – as have others before him.) There is almost no way to describe this music; it must be heard. Orchestra, live electronics and sampled environmental sounds at times fight for dominance and, mostly, blend together.
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project under the vision of director Gil Rose has become one of the nation’s premiere new music ensembles where blazingly new and different music by some of today’s most cutting edge composers get bold, convincing performances. I was not as familiar with Anthony Paul De Ritis (let alone DJ Spooky/Paul Miller) as I should have been entering into this recording. This is daring but brilliant music – in particular Devolution – and deserves to be heard. I should think that any lover of new music would really like this and most people would at least be transfixed by the creativity.
—Daniel Coombs
by John Sunier | Jul 31, 2012 | Classical Reissue Reviews
The Great Violinist Endre Wolf: The Complete Tono Recordings, 1947-1951 = AULIN: Humoreske; BACH: Sarabande from Partita No. 2 in D Minor; BARTOK: Hungarian Folk-Tunes (arr. Szigeti); BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 “Spring”; Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”; BRUCH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26; MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 “Turkish”; PAGANINI: Caprice No. 5 (arr. Maciewski); RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Flight of the Bumble Bee; TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 – Endre Wolf, violin and cond./ Antoinette Wolf, p./ Danish State Radio Sym. Orch./ Thomas Jensen (Tchaikovsky)/ Erik Tuxen (Bruch)/ Copenhagen Ch. Orch./Endre Wolf (Mozart) – Danacord DACOCD 714/715 (2 CDs) 76:56; 79:07 [Distr. by Albany] ****:
“Elegance and sheer wizardry” provided the epithets for the appearances of violinist Endre Wolf in London at the Proms during the 1958 season. Born in Hungary in 1913, he studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Jeno Hubay and Leo Weiner. His later work in Sweden, especially Gothenburg, provided him a passport that kept him safe in Hungary during WW II before he emigrated out of harm’s way. Wolf and pianist Annie Fischer formed a powerful duo: she, too, having been confined to Sweden (both were Jewish) during WW II. Wolf gained posts in Copenhagen and Stockholm as a professor of violin. Most welcome in Britain, Wolf found an appointment in 1954 to Professor at the Royal Northern College of Music. Endre Wolf died in 2011 at age ninety-seven.
Despite the Danacord cover data, the recordings contained in the two disc traverse the period 1947-1951, the Bach, Aulin, and Paganini pieces having been recorded in Sweden. The Copenhagen Chamber Orchestra listed in the Mozart Concerto (1949) is a pick-up ensemble created from players in The Royal Orchestra and The State Radio Orchestra. The Tchaikovsky Concerto (1949) with Thomas Jensen (1898-1963) opens the set in a typical, cut edition; it still permits Wolf to highlight his silken Stradivarius, played with precision and artful taste, particularly in the second movement Canzonetta. For a moment, Wolf’s desire to include some of Tchaikovsky’s redundancies in the last movement made me think that the Allegro vivacissimo would remain intact, but no, Jensen takes a hefty cut to the coda. Still, the reading, despite some remaining swish in the acetates, captures our fancies and desire for Russian energy, and warrants re-hearing.
The Mozart “Turkish” Concerto (1949) maintains a demure salon scale, but the individual work in the strings and French horn moves blithely and without mannerism. Wolf’s approach proves intimately vivacious; one might venture “galant” as the appropriate epithet. Wolf’s runs and explosive sforzati flow effortlessly, consistently ingratiating. The cadenza, Joachim’s, fluent and persuasive, testifies to a technical mastery that conceals its fine art. A leisurely Adagio plays for the Mozart melodic magic, pregnant pauses marking off the periods in the rounded phrases. Again, subtlety and nuanced inflection mark the last movement, Rondeau: Tempo di menuetto, whose colorful, janissary trio section, while rhythmically captivating, does not break the “watchmaker’s” precision endemic to Wolf’s elegant playing.
The Paganini Caprice No. 5 in A Minor (rec. 1947) has piano accompaniment, an arrangement favored by Francescatti and Heifetz as well. The multiple stops and ricocheted bow find fluent exercise by Wolf, whose descending scales end with a grand flourish. I knew nothing of Tor Aulin (1866-1914), but his ternary Humoreske (rec. 1947) has an easy panache, well suited to Wolf’s parlando and legato style, and the piano part enjoys a salon beauty of its own. The Bartok (rec. 1950) reflects Wolf’s own Hungarian/Magyar ethos, highly expressive and impassioned, as well as eminently folk-derived. The third dance suggests a gypsy flute accompanied on the cimbalom. No. 4 provides a lovely romance, the double stops’ adding to the plangent moment. Bach, the father of all invention, finds one representative moment (rec. 1947) in the Sarabande from the Unaccompanied D Minor Partita, BWV 1004. The inward virility of the playing makes us want more, say the Chaconne. The Flight of the Bumble Bee (rec. 1950) buzzes and wobbles in its zanily aerodynamic maneuvers, a commentary on the elusiveness of beauty?
Disc 2 proffers large works, beginning with a sensitive reading of the G Minor Concerto by Bruch (rec. 1949) with Erik Tuxen (1902-1957). The deliberate pacing and the highly expressive style remind me at several points of the Bustabo/Mengelberg collaboration, especially for Wolf’s digging into the strings for added weight. As romantically as the rhetorical phrases project themselves, the speed and the directness of expression eliminate any false exaggeration (the polar opposite of Mengelberg) and rather chisel the work to classical proportions. The grand leisure of the Adagio; Andante sostenuto must be relished by connoisseurs of noble, intimately warm fiddling. Wolf’s raspy drive in the last movement, Allegro energico, more than compensates for any lack-luster sound from the acetates of the period, and Tuxen certainly urges his Danish State Radio players to share Parnassus with their esteemed soloist.
The two Beethoven violin sonatas, the “Spring” (rec. 1949) and the “Kreutzer” (rec. 1951) each reveal a studied, thoroughly comfortable musician with an innate rhythmic certitude and unerring intonation. The performances satisfy as well anything in the Milstein legacy in these works, and that is saying something. Wolf takes the opening movement repeat in the F Major, and the result opens the piece up in its breadth as well as in its bucolic charm. A rare moment in Wolf has to this wonderful Adagio molto espessivo slow movement. One of his pupils credits his “calm hands,“ and the concluding Rondo of the Op. 24 testifies to the characterization of Wolf’s serene playing. The forever-volatile “Kreutzer” does not suffer from over-refinement in Wolf’s playing; he rather relishes the ferocity and rive of the opening movement. What quite enthralls us are the exceptionally long lines into which Wolf realizes Beethoven’s periods. A taut line holds the extended Andante con variazioni as a motley string of sophisticated pearls. The Presto finale releases anything like pent-up energies in Wolf, and a wild and witty dance we have. Someone ought to consider issuing those Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn concertos by Wolf languishing in records maintained by the London Proms.
Hardly a word in the accompanying booklet about pianist Antoniette Wolf, except that she was Wolf’s first wife. She can well play the piano, and she fits Endre’s style seamlessly.
—Gary Lemco
by John Sunier | Jul 31, 2012 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews
BIZET: The opera Carmen, 3D Blu-ray (2011)
Performers: Christine Rice (Carmen), Bryan Hymel (Don Jose), Ris Argiris (Escamillo), Children’s Choir & Girls Choir, Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus/ Constantinos Carydis
Director: Francesca Zambello
3D Director: Julian Napier
Studio: RealD/Opus Arte OA 3D 70960 [Distr. by Naxos]
Video: 1.78:1 for 16:9 1080p HD color
Audio: French DD 5.1 (English only on extras, no subtitles)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese
Extras: (not in 3D) “Carmen and Filming in 3D,” “ Adding Depth to Opera,” “Carmen the Opera”
Length: 175 minutes
Rating: ****
RealD decided since this was to be the first filming of a real opera in 3D, why not do the world’s most popular opera? So they did. They first had a series of special showings in theaters thruout the world in 2011, then released this 3D Blu-ray. It’s unfortunate they didn’t release a 2D version at the same time or make this one of those 3D packages which also contain a standard 2D DVD and Blu-ray, so a wider audience could appreciate it. Perhaps their thinking was that this production had too much competition in the 2D DVD & Blu-ray area. It was shot during several live stagings in London. (The first of the extras on the disc details some of the efforts they had to go thru in filming it.)
Carmen is probably the most-filmed opera in history. Cecil B. De Mille even did a silent version in 1915. The Met and La Scala opera TV broadcasts in the theaters have been a big success because they offer the ultimate wealthy insider’s view at a fraction of the cost and trouble—great closeups of the performers, no need for opera glasses, clear super titles, fine intermission features, wonderful surround sound, etc. Now with 3D the last step in bringing the viewer onto the opera stage has been achieved. You get a view you could only dream of. It works amazingly well, making me want to see other operas in 3D ASAP. Maybe the Met series will try that…
There is a depth of field behind all the singers, and it’s real—not something dreamt up by the stage designer. You get a feeling of intimacy with the characters on the stage, drawing you more into the opera. You get a taste of the realism to come in the opening backstage shots and of the audience in the opera theater. You really feel as though you are there. (No complaints about the 3D glasses causing a too-dark image; I change my set for 3D from the usual “Custom” setup to the brighter “Vivid” setup, only with the high brightness turned down slightly.)
The four leads are all excellent in both vocal form and acting. Christine Rice’s Carmen is suitably sexy and outrageous, and Greek baritone Argiris makes a suitably swaggering Escamillo. A problem with all operas is that the most musical voices are not always couched in the most pleasing and attractive bodies. This production found good and attractive primary singers, and the crowd scenes are to be commended for not being all attractive bodies. This is not a Zeffirelli-filmed production; it’s still an operatic stage with simple sets, and there are musical and acting-wise competitors, but the 3D does make you feel part of the production—gives you a unique sense of scale.
—John Sunier
by John Sunier | Jul 31, 2012 | Audio News
XPAND 3D Creates Home Theater Division – XPAND, whose professional 3D systems are used by over 5000 cinemas in more than 50 countries, and who make the universal 3D shutter glasses optimized for the different brands of shutter-glasses 3D displays, has established a new HT division to serve the needs of systems integrators and HT customers. XPAND’s YOUniversal 3D glasses accommodate to every person’s eyes and facial structure being different, and each wearer’s viewing requirements and home HT system being different. The glasses come in a variety of colors, sizes and styles, and can be configured to communicate with IR and RF 3D systems. There is also an optional XPAND AE125 IR emitter to provide full coverage in domestic HT installations where the 3D sync signal the glasses require is impractical to achieve from the screen.
HDtracks Presents Historic Blue Note Jazz Hi-Res Downloads – Six classic jazz albums from the legendary catalog of Blue Note are being made available in either 96K/24bit or 192K/24bit hi-res stereo quality as downloads from HDtracks. These albums have been digitally remastered from their original analog tape masters and are being made available in hi-res for the first time. Previously unheard clarity, depth and tonal purity can be realized in these downloads, and each album has the original LP sleeve notes plus additional photos and newly-written essays. Artists are John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, Eric Dolphy, Wayne Shorter and Larry Young. Many other classic jazz, rock and pop albums are being offered for the first time in hi-res on the HDtracks site.
Sceptre Ships $999 50-inch LCD HDTV – Sceptre—a supplier of LCD and LED TVs and PC monitors—has a new 50-inch 1080p LCD TV at big box stores which it says has the lowest energy consumption in its class. The set has SRS TruSurround HD virtual-surround technology with bass enhancement, a 4000:1 contrast ratio, three HDMI ports and a USB port, and it can swivel up to 30 degrees.
Networked Audio Replacing TVs & Notebooks in Sales – According to new research by Futuresource Consulting, sales of audio products are expected to rocket thru to 2016 and beyond, with dedicated speaker docks and networked speakers leading the charge. Networking features being introduced in dedicated speaker docks aid the former. A spokesman said that the benefits of streaming to and from audio devices is driving a demand for networked audio—including multi-room audio and music streaming from smartphones and from the Internet. Home theater kits and AV receivers will also see dramatic growth, partly due to the inclusion of networking features.
by John Sunier | Jul 30, 2012 | Pop/Rock/World CD Reviews
The Blasters – Fun on Saturday Night – Rip Cat/BMI RIC 1108, 35:39 ***:
(Phil Alvin – co-producer, guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals; Keith Wyatt – guitar; John Bazz – bass, backing vocals; Bill Bateman – drums; Exene Cervenka – vocals (track 2); Eddie Nichols, Jeff Neal – backing vocals; David “Kid” Ramos – bajo sexto)
If you wanted to put together a list of groups crucial to American roots music (the confluence of early rock and roll, r&b, country, blues, rockabilly, folk and more), the Blasters should be in the top ten. The Blasters formed in 1979 in Downey, California soon after the West Coast punk rock scene began to take shape. While the band (started by siblings Dave and Phil Alvin with bassist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman) was influenced by urban blues masters such as T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and more, the Blasters’ energetic shows garnered a following among punk fans and stalwarts like X, the Gun Club and others, who also fused similarly-informed music into their set lists. The band declined somewhat when chief songwriter Dave Alvin left the group, but the Blasters have survived, off and on, ever since. During the past decade the Blasters reformed for a string of live performances, which were documented on the concert record, Trouble Bound, a 2002 release which featured material from two performances at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Another series of reunion shows produced a second concert package, The Blasters Live: Going Home (issued in 2004 on CD and DVD). A new studio album, 4-11-44, was released in 2005, two decades after the Blasters’ last LP, Hard Line, came out in 1985. Now, the Blasters have returned again with a lean, 36-minute roof-raiser, Fun on Saturday Night, which keeps the flame alive with a solid, rocking collection of covers and one original.
This time out Phil Alvin (vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica) is united with co-founders Bazz (bass, backing vocals) and Bateman with guitarist Keith Wyatt (who joined in 2008) plus two special guests: Exene Cervenka (X/the Knitters), who is paired with Alvin on an erstwhile Johnny Cash/June Carter Cash song, and Kid Ramos, who adds his string skills to select material. The core quartet kicks off with the jump-oriented “Well Oh Well,” Tiny Bradshaw’s pre-rock, 1950 smash single. This is the kind of hand-clapping and foot-stomping rnb which is readymade to get the party started. Bateman keeps the backbeat thrumming while Wyatt intensifies the arrangement with distorted amplified guitar which has a nasty growl, matched by Alvin’s grainy vocals. Another shindig groover is the title track, an upbeat jaunt which mixes Chuck Berry-styled rock and roll with and driving blues-rock. While Wyatt lays out a six-string solo reminiscent of the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Jimmie Vaughn, the rhythm section hops the beat into high orbit. The only original is Alvin’s dark, end-of-romance ditty, “Breath of My Love,” a doo-wop-inspired track where the protagonist’s bi-polar girlfriend takes paranoia to a threatening, scary level. The punch-line puts the “hero” in jail on a domestic violence rap for defending his life.
There are several noteworthy standouts. Alvin duets with Cervenka on the Cash/Carter hit “Jackson,” which emulates the Man in Black’s strut made famous on Cash’s 1968 classic live release, At Folsom Prison, where “Jackson” was one of several top songs. The Blasters provide stronger instrumental bite and slant more heavily toward rockabilly, which supplies more sting to the outlaw tale: Wyatt once again delivers hard-cutting guitar lines which at times hint at Luther Perkins’ rhythmic stance. Another gem is a surprising rendition of James Brown’s “Please Please Please,” a longtime Blasters concert favorite never before recorded. Alvin’s gravelly voice doesn’t replicate or equal Brown’s soulful swagger, but does help furnish this translation some needed grit. The lean arrangement, however, could have benefited from some complementary horn (oh for the days when former Blasters’ member Steve Berlin wailed away on sax!) or some punctuated guitar. More successful is the old-time country cover, “The Yodelin’ Mountaineer,” an obscure, 1946 B-side for J.E. Mainer’s Mountaineers, an outfit which blended traditional string band music with early bluegrass. Alvin’s yodeling, while dead right, is a bit out of left field, although the Blasters’ contemporary rhythm gives this piece a modern spin, and the electric guitar places the timeworn tune into an interesting, new framework. The Blasters conclude with another unexpected but familiar venture: “Maria, Maria,” which takes one of the Blasters’ best cuts, “Marie, Marie” and transforms it into a Tex-Mex inclined, Spanish-language ballad highlighted by Kid Ramos’ bajo sexto (a 12-string guitar often used in Mexican music). While older fans may bemoan the drastically-changed interpretation, it definitely gives something well-known a novel perspective. All in all, Fun on Saturday Night is a genuine and confident return-to-form, although the lack of a shouting sax or a really rollicking piano (not to mention the absence of Dave Alvin) means this material is not on par with the Blasters’ heyday nor can the twelve numbers replace Blasters’ classics found on American Music (1980) or the group’s self-titled 1981 release.
TrackList: Well Oh Well; Jackson; Breath of My Love; Fun on Saturday Night; No More Nights by Myself; Love Me with a Feeling; I Don’t Want Cha; Please Please Please; Rock My Blues Away; Penny; The Yodeling Mountaineer; Maria Maria.
—Doug Simpson
by John Sunier | Jul 30, 2012 | Jazz CD Reviews
Pharoah Sanders – The Pharoah Sanders Story: In the Beginning 1963-1964 [4-CD set] – ESP-Disk ESP-4069, CD 1: 53:07, CD 2: 57:15, CD 3: 47:46, CD 4: 59:38 [6/26/12] (Distr. by Naxos) ****:
(Disc 1: Don Cherry Quintet: Cherry – cornet, piano; Pharoah Sanders – tenor sax; Joe Scianni – piano; David Izenzon – bass; J.C. Moses – drums. Paul Bley Quartet: Bley – piano; Sanders – tenor sax; Izenzon – bass; Paul Motian – drums
Disc 2: Pharoah Sanders Quintet: Sanders – tenor sax; Stan Foster – trumpet; Jane Getz – piano; William Bennett – bass; Marvin Pattillo – drums
Disc 3: Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra: Ra – piano, celeste; Sanders – tenor sax; Black Harold {Harold Murray} – flute, log drums; Al Evans – trumpet; Teddy Nance – trombone; Marshall Allen – alto sax, flute, percussion; Pat Patrick – baritone sax; Alan Silva, Ronnie Boykins – bass; Clifford Jarvis, Jimmhi Johnson – drums
Disc 4: same as Disc 3, add Art Jenkins – space voice)
New York City in the early to mid-1960s could be a tough time for jazz artists who were operating outside of the norm. One of the those musicians who struggled when he arrived in the Big Apple in 1961 was tenor saxophonist Farrell Sanders, who is better known as Pharoah Sanders (an appellation bestowed on Sanders by Sun Ra, an early supporter). Sanders’ lean years, punctuated by sleeping on the subway, pawning his saxophone and donating blood for cash, eventually improved as Sanders got gigs around town and the backing of fellow likeminded musicians. Sanders appeared with and recorded frequently, from 1965-1967, in John Coltrane’s group, although Sanders was never an official member. But before Sanders’ name became synonymous with avant-garde and free jazz, he worked with other jazz players as he honed his own unique skills and sound.
The pre-Coltrane days are the focus of the 4-CD archival anthology, The Pharoah Sanders Story: In the Beginning 1963-1964, which includes studio and live sessions featuring Sanders with the Paul Bley Quartet, the Don Cherry Quintet, Sun Ra & his Solar Arkestra as well as the short-lived Pharoah Sanders Quintet. The set also has interviews with Sanders, Sun Ra, Cherry, Bley and ESP producer Bernard Stollman.
Sanders’ first benefactor was Cherry. The two performed at a Pratt University student art exhibition and Cherry invited Sanders to a studio session. That unreleased material fills the first half of CD 1. The quintet consists of Cherry (on cornet and piano), Sanders, pianist Joe Scianni, bassist David Izenzon (who would later be in Ornette Coleman’s band, and also participated in Paul Bley’s quartet) and in-demand drummer J.C. Moses (who was with Cherry in the New York Contemporary Five, and afterward was with Eric Dolphy and Rahsaan Roland Kirk). The five tunes display Sanders’ emerging tone, although it’s not clear when the music was recorded (either early 1963 or early 1964: imprecise studio notes don’t help). Up first are two distinct takes of Cherry’s “Cocktail Piece,” which are idiosyncratic and collectively improvised: the pieces are obviously influenced by Coleman’s harmolodic theory, but both versions also reveal Cherry’s mélange style where various melodic lines are juxtaposed. “Cherry’s Dilemma” is also an open-ended venture, with solos from Izenzon and Scianni, and incorporates some high-rolling drive from Moses, who keeps the track moving as fast as a bebop number. The Cherry session closes with two notable cuts. There is an animated elegy, “Remembrance,” which would become part of a broadened medley on Cherry’s 1965 LP Complete Communion; and Cherry concludes with a rough-hewn, four-minute solo piano pastiche of Thelonious Monk themes: this is unmistakably a rehearsal or warm-up which is historically intriguing but otherwise negligible. The second half of CD 1 contains a May 1964 studio engagement with Paul Bley’s quartet: Bley on piano, Sanders on sax, Izenzon again on bass and Paul Motian on drums. The music, all written by Carla Bley, includes two takes of “Generous I” and “Walking Woman” and one rendering of “Ictus.” While the context exhibits dissonance and free-form interpretative exploration, the music has a character different from the Cherry session. The difficult melodic lines often ebb and rise, thus providing a controlled sense of chaos. Sanders executes some enthusiastic and occasionally brusque tenor soloing but never strays beyond the framework of Bley’s music and does not pull energy away from the other musicians.
Most Sanders fans may find CD 2 the most appealing, since it has two extended Sanders pieces, the 26-minute foray “Seven by Seven” and the 23-minute long “Bethera.” Both creations are bookended by Sanders interviews where he comments about playing with or getting to know other musicians, who would subsequently have larger impacts on jazz, such as Billy Higgins, Archie Shepp and Marion Brown. The two lengthy tracks have been reissued several times as Pharoah’s First, so if someone is only interested in these two tunes, they might forego this 4-CD collection. Alongside Sanders is a little-known unit: trumpeter Stan Foster (not the pop and show band arranger), pianist Jane Getz (who also had credits with Charles Mingus, the unrelated Stan Getz and others), bassist William Bennett and drummer Marvin Pattillo (who also worked with Sonny Simmons). Caveat emptor: despite the extensive solo space afforded to everyone, this is fairly subdued if contrasted to what Sanders did later. Both Getz and Foster are given lots of solo room, but a noticeable obstacle is the quintet plays bebop-influenced changes, while Sanders does not: he clearly wants to go outside of predictable restrictions, but mostly curbs his ambition in order to complement the rest of the musicians. One can hear the beginning of Sanders’s Coltrane-impacted tone, especially at the start of “Seven by Seven,” where there is a hint or two of Sanders’s characteristic sax screech, which he returns to at the tune’s end, where there are also some trumpet/sax exchanges. But Foster and Sanders do not truly connect to each other. Things do not improve on “Bethera,” where Foster and Getz have expansive solos, but function as if Sanders is not in the same room. The backing musicians probably would have sounded okay supporting someone like Gene Ammons or Sonny Stitt, but they do not balance Sanders with their bop-ish conventions.
CDs 3 and 4 comprise Sanders’s brief tenure with the Sun Ra Arkestra, when Arkestra mainstay John Gilmore left the group to tour with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The two live programs were taped at New York City’s Judson Hall on Dec. 30-31, 1964 (the first show is offered in stereo while the second is in mono). While Sanders definitely fits into Sun Ra’s otherworldly oeuvre, these recordings are ensemble efforts which celebrate Sun Ra’s vision, and focus on a collective expression for multiple instruments, so Sanders’s contributions, although not trivial, are necessarily minor compared to the larger group interaction. Some of this material was initially brought out in 1976 as Sun Ra: with Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold, which ESP-Disk’ reissued and expanded a few years ago for the CD market, and promoted as a complete set with 45 minutes of hitherto unreleased music, with accurately annotated personnel listing and updated liner notes. A highpoint of the 12/30/64 concert is the 22-minute translation of “The Shadow World,” an intense and progressive piece which includes a generous Sanders sax solo. Unfortunately, the concert volume is low and this becomes a problem when quieter instruments such as the bass take center stage. Another stand-out is “We Travel the Spaceways,” which melds mainstream moments with ethno-musical segments, and which had been issued only a couple of months prior on Sun Ra’s first New York album, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra. The final disc is prime Sun Ra Arkestra music and the mono sound in no way impairs the listening experience, although the muted volume is still a concern. Flutist Black Harold (Harold Murray) is prominent on two parts to “The Voice of Pan,” while there is an energetic hard bop/r&b fusion which propels “Rocket Number 9,” where the three-sax front line (Sanders, Marshall Allen on alto and Pat Patrick on baritone) is excellent. A four-minute percussion solo, “The Talking Drum,” seems too much, but overall this is music Sun Ra enthusiasts will appreciate if they have not heard it before. Both CDs are accompanied by more interview sections, where Sun Ra discusses being a neglected musician; and Sanders mentions how he met Coltrane. The boxed set also has a 32-page booklet with discographical notation, photos, and comprehensive liner notes by Russ Musto. The ESP-Disk label has provided online excerpts from The Pharoah Sanders Story (CD 1 here, CD 2 here and CD3 here) so prospective buyers can preview selected interviews and music.
TrackList: CD 1: Pharoah Sanders interview; Cocktail Piece (first variation, take 1); Cocktail Piece (first variation, take 2); studio engineer announcement; Cherry’s Dilemma; studio engineer announcement; Rememberance (first variation); Thelonious Monk Medley: Light Blue/Coming on the Hudson/Bye-Ya/Ruby My Dear; Don Cherry interviews; Paul Bley interview; Generous 1 (take 1); Generous 1 (take 2); Walking Woman (take 1); Walking Woman (take 2); Ictus; after session conversation.
CD 2: Sanders interview; Bernard Stollman interview; Seven by Seven; Bethera; Sanders interview.
CD 3: Sanders interview; Dawn Over Israel; The Shadow World; The Second Stop Is Jupiter; Discipline #9; We Travel the Spaceways.
CD 4: Sun Ra interview; Gods on Safari; The Shadow World; Rocket #9; The Voice of Pan (part 1); Dawn over Israel; Space Mates, The Voice of Pan (part 2); The Talking Drum; Conversation with Saturn; The Next Stop Mars; The Second Stop Is Jupiter; Pathway to the Outer Known; Sun Ra interview; 3 Sanders interviews.
—Doug Simpson
by John Sunier | Jul 30, 2012 | Classical CD Reviews
Arias for Anna De Amicis = Arias by Niccolò JOMMELLI (Armida abbandonata); MOZART (Lucio Silla); GLUCK (Orfeo ed Euridice); Giovanni Battista BORGHI (Il trionfo di Clelia); Josef MYSLIVEČEK (Romolo ed Ersilia); JC BACH (Zanaida); Pasquale CAFARO (Antigono) – Teodora Gheorghiu, sop./ Les Talents Lyriques/ Christophe Rousset – Aparte AP021, 77:14 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:
We know little about Italian soprano Anna Lucia de Amicis (ca. 1733-1816) aside from the fact that she seemed to wow every major composer she came into contact with, and both composers and critics sang her praises, Leopold Mozart saying she sang like an angel, and Charles Burney in awe of her stunning high E-flat and the fact that she was able to execute a true staccato. Her fame spread near and far both for her musicality and acting ability, and evidently she possessed that rarest of diva qualities—humility—which endeared her to everyone, and enabled her to retire while still at the top of her game.
This CD, not unlike many others of recent vintage, is dedicated to her through some of the works she inspired in composers of the time. The list is impressive—the 16-year-old Mozart’s Lucia Silla is one of the devils of the catalog, its bel canto trickery a challenge to the most seasoned of sopranos as the young composer was flashing his furiously colorful feathers to the entire music world at the time. The other pieces are also nothing to sniff at; Niccolò Jommelli’s Armida abbandonata aria reminds us that there were composers other than Mozart capable of moving us, while the stunning talents of Mysliveček manifest themselves in an aria from his delightful heroic opera Romolo ed Ersilia from 1773. It should be noted that her type of voice and brilliant characterizations inspired the course of opera seria and led a whole generations of composers to create maddening difficult stage presentations that would never have happened if not for the talents of a select few like De Amicis.
Teodora Gheorghiu (no, not related to that Gheorghiu) is quietly making a name for herself on the worldwide stage with her impressive technique-laden vocalizing, dead-on in those attributes that so marked De Amicis’s own singing, though perhaps without all of the strength. My reading of the descriptions of De Amicis’s singing lead me to believe that this was one powerful woman, and Gheorghiu’s voice is rather white-toned and almost nasal in spots—it is not particularly powerful. But she makes the most of what she has and is able to convince even the most jaded listener of the value and rightness of her turns of phrase and colorful runs, and just tackling a recital like this takes a lot of confidence—and guts. Rousset and forces play splendidly, and the sound is clean and clear if somewhat dry. Recommended for an hour of enthralling entertainment from days long gone by, and surely missed.
—Steven Ritter
by John Sunier | Jul 30, 2012 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews
Ernest Ranglin – Order of Distinction, Blu-ray (2012)
Director: Mark Waldrep
Performers: (See below)
Studio: AIX Records AIX85047 [Distr. by Naxos] (7/31/12)
Video: 3D 1080p HD Video (1920 X 1080) for 16:9 display
Audio: 2.0 PCM Audio 96khz/24 bits Stereo Mix; 5.1 Dolby True HD “Stage” Mix Perspective; 5.1 Dolby True HD “Audience” Mix Perspective; 5.1 Dolby Digital (Stage and Audience Perspective);No Dynamic Processing/ No EQ/ No Artificial Reverb
Extras: Audio tests, rehearsal videos, interviews, “The Roots of Reggae,” explanations, etc.
Length: 88 min. +30 for extras
Ratings: Video **** Audio *****
(Ernest Ranglin, electric guitar; Monty Alexander, piano, electric bass, and melodica; Phil Chen, electric bass, bantar; Richard Bailey, drums, and congas. With special guests – Joey Altruda, Elliott Easton, Robbie Krieger-electric guitars; Laurence Juber, acoustic guitar; Jeff Lorber, electric keyboard; Adrian Young, drums; Alana Davis, Elan Atias, vocals; Brian Jobson and Steven Soles, background vocals)
I have heard many Blu-ray discs dedicated to musical performances. Many boast quite impressive lossless surround sound to go along with the usual Blu-ray quality video. However, nothing prepared me for the quality of sound found on Order of Distinction, which presents Jamaican jazz guitarist Ernest Ranglin in a small studio setting accompanied by the rhythm section of Monty Alexander, Phil Chen, and Richard Bailey. In addition, several guest guitarists, including Robbie Krieger from The Doors, get their chance to accompany Ranglin. Two tracks feature vocalists Alana Davis and Elan Atias.
This Blu-ray provided me with the most authentic “in concert” sound I have ever experienced outside of an actual live setting. The vibrancy, warmth, and crystalline fidelity can not adequately be described. My home theater, system consisting of seven speakers and a subwoofer, sounded like I had been missing something all this time. It was jaw dropping. Mark Waldrep, Ph.D, of AIX Records, makes recordings using true HD sound. Utilizing stereo pairs of advanced microphones, world class preamplifiers, and digital to analog converters fed into a HD digital recorder running at 96kHz/24 bits. This is done without equalization, compression, or artificial reverberation or overdubbing. Waldrep points out that the use of Blu-ray format allows AIX to simultaneously playback HD Surround Audio and HD Video for the first time ever. I am not an audio engineer, but my ears can attest to the fact that Waldrep has succeeded in providing true state of the art acoustics.
From the late 1950s onward, Ranglin is credited with helping bring on the birth of ska, and has been called the “father of ska.” For many years he has played with jazz pianist Monty Alexander, and from the joyous expressions that you see from Alexander on this Blu-ray, it was a happy reunion. Ranglin also provided inspiration for reggae artists, and in the 1970s he toured with Jimmy Cliff. He was awarded the designation of Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government for his contribution to Jamaican culture.
Included on this Blu-ray are two compositions that Ranglin is most well- known for his guitar lines, “My Boy Lollipop”, and “Hurts to Be Alone.”
Ernest is very laid back in his playing showing little emotion as he plays, letting his fingers do the singing. The joy of his guest guitar accompanists, is palpable, as they know they are playing with the master. The two tracks above are vocals and Alana Davis and Elan Atias add a soulful touch to the proceedings. Guest guitarist Joey Altruda plays accompanying guitar on six of the twelve tracks and is a great foil for Ranglin. The mix of their playing is exquisite.
The 30 minutes of extras include an interview with Ranglin, a rehearsal video, a short vignette on the Roots of Reggae, and interviews with several of the guest artists paying homage to Ranglin.
By the way, I found the True HD “Stage Mix” to be the most pleasing of the mixes to my ear. For fans of Mr. Ranglin or jazz guitar in general, this is a must purchase. At $29.99 presently on Amazon, this is the bargain purchase of the summer for audiophiles.
TrackList: 3 Pope, Satta Massagana, Grandfather Clock, Spur Tree, Pimento Walk, Ranchin’, Many Rivers to Cross, My Boy Lollipop, Hurts to Be Alone, Ball of Fire, Straight Flush, Pocomania
—Jeff Krow
by John Sunier | Jul 30, 2012 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews
Total Recall (Mind-Bending Edition), Blu-ray (1990/2012)
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Ironside, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Studio: Lions Gate [7/31/12]
Video: 1.85:1 for 16:9 1080p HD
Audio: English, French or German DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German
Extras: New restoration, Commentary track by both Schwarzenegger & Verhoeven, New interview with Verhoeven, Making-of featurette, “Models and Skeletons: The Special Effects,” “Imaging Total Recall” documentary, Photo gallery, Restoration comparison, Theatrical Trailer
Length: 113 minutes
Rating: *****
This was one of the first Philip K. Dick stories to be made into a film, whereas now he’s considered one of the top writers to adapt into sci-fi films. The idea for the film had many ups and downs in Hollywood, and was originally conceived with first Richard Dreyfus and then Patrick Swayze in the role taken by Schwarzenegger. (Our review of the previous Blu-ray of Total Recall is here. More on its “restoration” later.) Shot in Mexico City to save money—though it was still a big-budget movie—the film couldn’t have happened without Schwarzenegger’s promotion of it, which even went to leaning on the studio to provide more money for the production. A sequel was planned but dropped because of Schwarzenegger’s bid for Governor of California. Right now there is a new Total Recall in the theaters, but it’s a re-run of the original story—not a sequel, only without either the trip to Mars or Arny. Boo!
This is Arny’s best action movie and his acting is really not bad at all. (One of the Amazon reviewers gushed that she could listen all day to Arny saying Mahs instead of Mars.) But it’s directed by his pal the crazy Dutchman Verhoeven, so be ready for lots of over-the-top needless gory violence. Instead of the milk-toast type of hero first envisioned for the film, Arny is Douglas Quaid—a blue collar jack-hammer worker with a beautiful wife (Stone). Against her wishes he goes to a company whose TV ads he has seen about implanting artificial memories in clients. They will make him a secret agent on Mars, which is now settled with human inhabitants. But it turns out he really is leader of an underground group there. Or maybe it’s all a dream.
The plot moves on with much violent action as Arny finds ways to escape his manipulators and help the protest movement. It involves a villain who controls everything on Mars, including being able to turn off the breathable air for the protesters under the domes. Also the woman of his dreams, instead of the fake wife installed with him along with his memory having been erased and changed.
This was one of the last big-budget movies to have nearly all its special effects done with various rubber and plastic gadgets, miniatures and appliances rather than cgi. The few outdoor scenes on Mars look OK, and they’re not all miniatures—the director found an area where the earth was all red and they could shoot there. The mutant special effects also came in for criticism, but I thought they were passable. The special effects person working on the JohnnyCab robot got a bleeding ulcer from being browbeat by those in charge for not achieving enough of a realistic mouth movement, but I thought its primitive robotic appearance was perfect. As was the much-labored-over fake woman’s head with its slices. But the problem with that, which I haven’t seen any reviewer mention, is that when the slices all part the real head that is revealed is briefly not Arny’s but some sort of special effect head that is obviously not his! Finally, the popping-out eyeballs when characters are dumped on the Mars surface without air are just plain silly and spoil this otherwise effective sci-fi classic. I’m surprised Verhoeven left all those closeups in.
The extras are much more extensive than they were with the first Blu-ray release of Total Recall. The lengthy interview with Verhoeven is fascinating. And some of the details about the production also, such as the fact they couldn’t have actors running very far outdoors in Mexico City because the smog was so bad they would choke for air. Then we come to what the blurb on the package calls the “Restoration Comparison.” I have never seen such a blatant promotional crock presented to the unknowing public before. There is no narration at all, but the left side of the screen usually displays the so-called “restoration” footage while the right side shows the quality of the previous Blu-ray. Sometimes the “restored” shot moves across the screen. What a joke! The “previous quality” has been clearly deliberately ruined with misty and off-color filters of some sort to ostensibly demonstrate a hugely enhanced quality of the new Blu-ray. I have the first Blu-ray (as well as the deluxe DVD release in a red metal Mars can) and although it was not a perfect Blu-ray transfer the quality is nowhere near that poor. There are improvements in contrast and clarity in the new version; black areas are blacker. But that’s about it.
—John Sunier
by John Sunier | Jul 30, 2012 | Jazz CD Reviews
Joey DeFrancesco, Larry Coryell & Jimmy Cobb – Wonderful! Wonderful! – HighNote HCD7241, 58:21 ****:
(Joey DeFrancesco – organ & (trumpet on track 7); Larry Coryell – guitar; Jimmy Cobb – drums)
Fronting a tight swinging trio, organist Joey DeFrancesco along with guitarist Larry Coryell and the celebrated drummer Jimmy Cobb deliver a high octane session that is truly Wonderful! Wonderful!
Now entering his third decade on the jazz scene, DeFrancesco is certainly at the top of his game as evidenced by this eight-track set of standards, ballads, and blues. The 1957 hit single “Wonderful! Wonderful!” originally sung by Johnny Mathis, is the takeoff point for the band’s unembellished version of the song. ”Five Spot After Dark,” the Benny Golson classic, is given a somewhat bluesy reading with Coryell and Cobb interjecting the appropriate inflections. ”Wagon Wheels” as interpreted by The Sons Of The Pioneers might have remained as part of the cowboy culture had it not been for the Sonny Rollins interpretation in his 1957 gem of an album Way Out West. Now Joey and his cohorts have pushed the tune’s promise into a new sound dimension and listening experience.
It would be an interesting exercise to see how many new jazz releases do not contain a Duke Ellington composition. It seems that it is de rigueur to have at least one Duke tune on any session and this one is no exception. ”Solitude” comes away no worse for wear with some attention-grabbing flourishes offered by DeFrancesco. A couple of original compositions grace the latter part of the album with Coryell doing the honors on “Joey D” and DeFrancesco showing his mettle with “JLJ Blues”. On the former, Jimmy Cobb demonstrates why his drumming was such an integral part of Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue album. While the latter tune may be your standard twelve-bar blues, it is certainly not given a standard interpretation. The band picks up the blues groove with DeFrancesco’s organ wailing away, held together by Coryell and Cobb who lay down their supporting markers.
This album is a succinct definition of how an organ trio should sound.
TrackList: Wonderful! Wonderful!; Five Spot After Dark; Wagon Wheels; Solitude; Joey D; Love Letters; Old Folks; JLJ Blues.
—Pierre Giroux
by John Sunier | Jul 29, 2012 | Classical CD Reviews
ANTON ARENSKY: Five Suites for Two Pianos – Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov – SWR2/cpo 777 651-2, 79:56 [Distr. by Naxos] *****:
There are at least four CD competitors in this set of suites for two pianos, but some of them only provide the first four, ignoring the fifth included on this CD. But there is major confusion in the liner notes speaking of this piano duo as being “here united on one instrument.” That sounds like piano four hands, but the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the expression duo pianists as two pianists playing duets, each at a separate piano. And nowhere does it say anything about piano four hands. Must just be the result of a poor translation from the original German. (The Duo does have some piano four hands material in their ten previous CDs for cpo.)
Upon listening more closely on headphones, I would definitely say this disc is of two pianos—although as with most two-piano recordings, I wish they were spaced further apart. (I love listening to them in the car.) Even the exaggerated left-right spacing of headphones is not enough for me in this case. I don’t understand why they usually nest the two pianos together like that in performance. I once recorded a two piano concert with my binaural dummy head right between them, and they were a couple feet apart. Now that’s a two-piano effect!
Suite No. 2 shares with No. 4 in only being a bit over 13 minutes length. However, No. 5—subtitled “Children’s Suite”—has eight extremely short movements which total 11 minutes. The First Suite has only three movements, while No. 3—subtitled “Variations”—has ten. The Second Suite also has a subtitle of “Silhouetten.” All five are brimming with delightful, simple and direct melodies and miniature dance forms such as Gavotte, Polacca, Menuet, Valse, etc. The music doesn’t sound especially Russian or dated, it’s just light and very enjoyable. No. 4 does part from the slight Tchaikovsky/Chopin influence and shows just a touch of the Scriabinesque if you listen closely. The piano sound—though overly-integrated for me—is excellent. (By the way, the rest of the duo’s names are: Aglika Genova & Liuben Dimitrov.)
—John Sunier
by John Sunier | Jul 29, 2012 | Classical CD Reviews
Recital Favorites by Nissman, Vol. VII = BEETHOVEN: 33 Variations on a Waltz Theme by Diabelli, Op. 120; BARTOK: Two Rumanian Dances, Op. 8a; LISZT: “Ricordanza” from 12 Transcendental Etudes; PROKOFIEV: Prelude, Op. 12, No. 7; March from The Love for 3 Oranges – Barbara Nissman, piano – Pierian 0044, 72:48 [www.ClassiQuest.com] ****:
Virtuoso Barbara Nissman proffers another set of recital favorites (rec. 12-14 June 2009), some of which exert an impressive girth, like her 1823 Diabelli Variations of Beethoven in C Major, one of the monuments to Beethoven’s capacity to turn musical lead into precious gold. Nissman attacks the Diabelli waltz itself with obvious relish, and her brisk attacks and piquant sense of accent keeps us alert throughout. The canon in Variation VI receives a clearly robust sense of line, the right often trickling in sparkling fioritura over a serpentine bass. The consistent sense of musical pulse infiltrates the progression, no matter how well Beethoven disguises the original thirty-two measure theme, with its relatively bland modulation from tonic to dominant. It seems the very triteness of the original allows the manifold applications of Proteus their full range of expression.
The plasticity of the phrasing permits Nissman to highlight Beethoven’s often gruff or impish humor, of which the most obvious example occurs at Variation XXII and its puncture of Mozart’s aria from Don Giovanni. Nissman makes the Variation XV: Grave e Maestoso a sonata-movement all its own, a moment of subtle harmonic inflection that looks back to the middle movement of the Waldstein Sonata and the slow movement of the G Major Concerto. No less rife with bravura, Variation XVIII, a canonic treatment in two parts, enjoys lucid staccati. No. XX, marked Andante, represents the almost static center of the whole, and the dotted whole notes as played by Nissman remind us that Liszt conceived it as “the Sphinx.” The brilliance of Nissman’s filigree in the explosive XXIII, Allegro assai should convince anyone of her prowess in an unabashed etude in the style of Cramer. Much of the contrapuntal intensity and three-hand effects of the late variations upon XXVIII and following adumbrate Schumann even as they borrow Bach’s procedures for gradual harmonic evolution (here to E-flat Major). Nissman paces the slow variations so that they build a cathedral of sound, obviously conscious of the variants’ similarity to ornamented and trilled passages from Beethoven’s Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110. The falling fourth and repeated notes in Diablo’s original provide the fodder for Beethoven’s three-voice fugue which will yield, most impertinently, to the C Major of the last-variation minuet. The sublime and the ridiculous have rarely been juxtaposed in such perfect concord.
Bartok and Prokofiev, Nissman “specialties,” so the Bartok Op. 8a Rumanian Dances enjoy her propulsive sense of motor power in Bartok, aided by duple rhythms and open fourth harmonies. The Magyar folk elements resounds in imitations of bagpipe drones and cimbalom glissandi. Both dances exploit keyboard virtuosity taken from Liszt but applied to a more “authentic” sound model in the Transylvanian ethos. The No. 2 eschews the classical, ternary model, insisting on a rondo structure for a series of pounding or foot-stomping motives, which ring out with distinctive gusto from Nissman’s Steinway.
“Ricordanza in A-flat Major” is the ninth of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes (1852), opening in a gentle 6/4. Busoni dubbed the romantic piece “a bundle of faded love letters,” and commentators see in it correspondences with Chopin’s famous Etude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3. Stunning runs in pearls and cascades counter a parlando melody that speaks the lover’s plaint. Like the A-flat Liebestraum, the piece conveys gestures of longing and amorous regret. Nissman keeps a taut line, and her ornaments project powerfully, much in the lyrically elegant style we know from Guiomar Novaes and Jeanne-Marie Darre.
Nissman concludes with her trump card, the music of Sergei Prokofiev: first, lovely Prelude, Op. 12, No. 7 from his student days and conceived for performance by harpist or pianist. So, a harp of the piano does Nissman make, alternately silky or glittering. The famous March from The Love of 3 Oranges certainly sounds “new” in Nissman’s deliberately marcato rendering, but the slow tempo does clarify some of the internal harmonies and passing dissonances, which we long have taken for granted.
—Gary Lemco
by John Sunier | Jul 29, 2012 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
SAINT-SAENS: Orchestral Works = Danse bacchanale; Omphale’s Spinning Wheel; Phaeton; Dance macabre; Le Jenuesse d’Hercule; Marche militaire francaise; Ov. to “Le Princesse jaune”; A Night in Lisbon; Spartacus; Coronation March – Royal Scottish Nat. Orch./ Neemi Järvi – Chandos multichannel SACD CHSA 5104, 77:40 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
When first picking up this new Chandos SACD I was reminded of the recent Naxos audio-only Blu-ray of Verdi ballet music. Although the Saint-Saens disc has only one dance piece in it—the opening very familiar Danse bacchanale from Samson et Dalila—it is similar in being tonal Romantic period orchestral music and aside from a few standards, less immediately familiar works from both composers.
Estonian conductor Järvi keeps a very full schedule. He is Conductor Laureate of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Music Director Emeritus of the Detroit Symphony, and as of this September will be the new Music Director of the Suisse Romande Orchestra, plus a host of other orchestra connections.
It’s good to have such rousing versions of the familiar ballet music from Samson et Dalila, as well as Omphale’s Spinning Wheel and the Danse macabre. The orchestra’s leader, Maya Iwabuchi, is the violin soloist in the latter. The longest work on the SACD and the longest of the composer’s many symphonic poems is The Youth of Hercules. Its musical themes concentrate on the opposition between pleasure and virtue. The next longest track is the rarely-heard “Grand Concert Overture,” Spartacus. As with nearly all of these ten works, it comes from the first half of the composer’s career, and was inspired by the Roman gladiator’s unsuccessful revolt in 73 BC. Only the closing March comes from later in Saint-Saens’ composing life. It was written in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII, during a time of positive Anglo-French diplomatic activity.
—John Sunier
by John Sunier | Jul 28, 2012 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
MATTHEW WHITTALL: Leaves of Grass, 12 Preludes for piano after Walt Whitman – Risto-Matti Marin, piano – Alba multichannel SACD ABCD 333, 63:13 [Distr. by Albany] ****:
Matthew Whittall is a Canadian composer currently residing in Finland, where he appears to have made somewhat of a splash, having been awarded a three-year artist grant by the Finnish Cultural Foundation in 2011. This is my first exposure to him, and it is a curious one.
I must say what he has done here takes a lot of nerve as the results are so highly personal and revealing. Okay, most artists when interpreting poets are revealing a personal side, but here Whittall lacks the advantage of the poetic texts themselves as this is a work for piano, and not everyone is going to come away from this music even remotely convinced of the composer’s take on these masterpieces. What he has done is selected a series of twelve poems by American poet Walt Whitman and given his instrumental (specifically pianistic) “take” on each of the works. While someone like Hindemith might be more instructive in a choral masterwork like When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, giving us a personal and textually considered interpretation of Whitman, Whittall freely admits that not everyone will agree with his “personal distillations of the atmosphere of each poem.” In other words, he is not trying to explain or portray Whitman’s work in any sort of concrete manner, but instead is looking to provide a general “feeling” that each piece inspires in him. This may or may not be mannered after specific meaning in the texts but also individual words or even emotions conjured up by phrases not necessarily pertinent to the overall meaning of the poem. In other words, here anything goes.
The music itself is post-impressionistic, not at all outside the more rigorous moments of Debussy’s wilder side, but also redolent of expressionistic harmonies as well, something I think even Ligeti would appreciate. Overall I found Whittall’s opus most engaging and thought-provoking, while his ability to compose for the piano is on a very high level indeed. Pianist and friend Risto-Matti Marin is on top of this sometimes fiendishly difficult music with aplomb, and the beautiful yet subdued surround sound makes for an excellent listening ambiance. This is well worth a try, and will surprise many. I look forward to hearing more from Mr. Whittall.
—Steven Ritter
by John Sunier | Jul 28, 2012 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
RENE CLAUSEN: All that Hath Life and Breath Praise ye the Lord; O magnum mysterium; The Tyger; The Lamb; Mass for Double Choir; Magnificat; Prayer; O vos omnes; A New Creation: Set me as a seal – Kansas City Chorale/ Charles Bruffy – Chandos multichannel SACD CHSA 5105, 62:25 [Distr. by Naxos] *****:
Rene Clausen is the longtime conductor of the Concordia Choir at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and one of the most beloved choral composers in the United States and worldwide. His early training consisted of stints at St. Olaf College (also a choral landmark) and the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana. Clausen’s music is freewheeling, tonal, slightly eclectic, and beautifully wedded to the texts he chooses, more often than not religious in nature yet devoid of any sort of overt-sugary sentimentality. His melodies are exceptionally expressive while his harmonies perfectly support the communicative abilities of his intentions.
This well-selected collection highlights his career from early to more recent, including such stellar “hits” as the opening All that Hath Life and Breath Praise ye the Lord, written when he was only 25 and since established as a worldwide favorite, Set me as a Seal from his cantata A New Creation, perhaps his best-known work though such assessments are often difficult.
Clausen has been especially successful in writing music according to the abilities of his ensembles, which makes The Tyger and The Lamb all the more exciting for their ability to conjure emotion while using the simplest of means. I found the Magnificat maybe the most melodically alluring while the more daring harmonics of O vos omnes are highly moving. The largest piece here is the Mass for Double Choir, a joint commission of the Kansas City and Phoenix Chorales, not at all stoic or simply a scaffold for the liturgical text, but a series of poetic and descriptive tone poems on the meaning of each movement.
The other pieces are equally engaging and make fine filler. Bruffy’s forces are in top notch condition while Chandos’s capturing of the ambience at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Kansas City translates into truly superb surround sound, from the mellow pianissimos to the forceful fortes, spread to perfection among all the speakers. A record to cherish.
—Steven Ritter
by John Sunier | Jul 28, 2012 | Classical Reissue Reviews
Anthology of Piano Music by Russian and Soviet Composers: Part One (1917-1991) = REVUTSKY: Song, Op. 17, No. 1; ZADERATSKY: Sonata No. 2; ROSLAVETS: 5 Preludes; 2 Poems; FEINBERG: Sonata No. 5, Op. 10; PROTOPOPOV: Sonata No. 3, Op. 6; DESHEVOV: Rails – Tikhon Khrennikov, Jr., p. (Revutsky)/ Fedor Amirov, p. (Zaderatsky, Protopopov)/ Yuri Favorin, p. (Roslavets, Feinberg)/ Nikita Mndoyants, p. (Deshevov) – Melodiya MEL CD 10 01965, 71:10 [Distr. by Allegro] [4/16/12] ****:
Unusual repertory from the relatively unexplored cache of Russo-Soviet piano music (this is Disc 3 of an ongoing edition) opens with music by Lev Revutsky (1889-1977), his Song for Piano, a romantic Ukrainian miniature that could easily pass for obscure Rachmaninov. The 1928 Sonata No. 2 by Vsevolod Zaderatsky (1891-1953) proceeds in a single movement whose mercurial episodes include patterns and figures that combine aspects of Hindemith with pseudo-serial procedures, as diaphanous as they can be aggressively percussive. Several times arrested and confined to a Gulag in Kolyma, Zaderatsky somehow overcame his personal anguishes to compose his three-hour cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano, aligning him to the spirit of both Bach and Shostakovich.
The tissue of Sonata No. 2, more choppily rhythmic than melodic, proceeds in bursts of discordant color, fragmented and persistent. At some thirteen minutes into the Sonata, the music erupts into a toccata of sorts, Bach and Bartok at once. Ensues an extended, moody, dark middle section, chromatic and syncopated to sound like a petulant child’s punishing the keyboard. The whirling toccata returns, quite volatile in the right hand. The last three minutes plays like a funeral march, almost an echo or parody of the opening chords of Rachmaninov’s C Minor Concerto.
Nikolai Roslavets (1881-1944) became a pariah among Soviet composers, his having been ostracized by the Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians. His Two Poems (1920) extend, perhaps more aggressively, mercurial impulses from Scriabin, as do his Preludes (1919-1922). The second of the Preludes quite disturbs our complacency. Like its successor, No. 3, erotic washes of sound become interrupted by nightmarish energies. The pieces resist easy designations as to form, since they tend to dissipate rather than resolve themselves harmonically. No. 5 has to be about the most elusive “nocturne” I’ve heard lately.
Samuil Feinberg (1890-1962) still enjoys legend status as a Moscow pianist. His one-movement Sonata No. 5 (1921) distills more Scriabin, even employing the designation volando to invoke his emotional tenor. Playful, almost Schumann gestures confront darker impulses and turbulent gusts of sound in block bass chords. A central section assumes a dreamier guise, although thick, muddy undercurrent persist. The cascades usher us in a descent of power and mottled light, luminous quicksand. By the end, only phosphorescent shards remain.
Sergei Protopopov (1893-1954) made palpable in his large, one-movement Sonata No. 3 musicologist Boleslav Yavorsky’s “theory of modal rhythm.” Immediately toying with tritones, in the manner of Liszt, Protopopov moves like Alexandre Tcherepnin, within a self-defined universe. Ostinati and polyrhythms clutter the piece, but its tenor at first seems quiet and meditative; later, the dissonances become urgent but not severe. A follower of both Scriabin and Mossolov, Protopopov insinuates eroticism into industrialized space, and the resultant angst has a hazy, convulsive, persuasive energy. Perhaps this mighty Sonata No. 3 stands as Protopopov’s equivalent to Liszt’s Dante Sonata. As a testament to a pianist’s endurance, this Sonata No. 3 provides a marathon challenge.
Finally, the Rails, Op. 16 (1926) of composer Vladimir Deshevov (1889-1955), a miniature in the spirit of Arthur Honegger’s Pacific 231, a “locomotive” study that here begins Presto and proceeds in eighth-note thirds relentlessly to end of the track in C.
—Gary Lemco
by John Sunier | Jul 27, 2012 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews
Footnote, Blu-ray (2012)
Director: Joseph Cedar
Cast: Shlomo Bar-Aba, Lior Ashkenazi, Yuval Scharf
Studio: Israeli Film Fund/Sony Pictures Home Entertainemt 40078 [7/24/12]
Video: 2.35:1 anamorphic/enhanced 1080p HD
Audio: Hebrew DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: Behind the Scenes, An Evening with Joseph Cedar, Previews
Length: 103 minutes
Rating: ****½
Footnote won the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and has been shown at many leading film festivals. It’s certainly far from an action picture; is highly intellectual and about detailed academic scholarly research and the mysteries of competition within the family. It’s a sort of satire on intellect and domestic friction that sometimes achieves high suspense due to the fine acting of all involved.
Eliezer, a crotchety, cranky and perhaps semi-autistic elderly professor of Talmudic studies at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University has been passed over for 20 years for recognition. His son Uriel, however, also teaches at the university and has received wide acclaim for his more popular approach to Talmudic study, including publishing several books. The father feels that everything his son is doing is antithetic to what he himself has devoted himself to all his long life.
Things come to a head when the prestigious board of the university decides to award the coveted Israel Prize—the nation’s most valuable honor for scholarship—to Uriel. However, due to a mixup on phone numbers, someone calls the father first and tells him he has won the Prize. The son is pleased to see his father’s accomplishments finally getting validation, but as the situation becomes increasingly complicated, he has to choose between his own advancement and that of his father. The two become engaged in a bitter confrontation, involving all members of their family. Another crotchety professor, who has long harbored a thoroughly negative opinion of Eliezer, is the main hurdle Uriel has to convince to award the Prize to his father after all instead of to him.
The drama is leavened by some droll humor touches. For example, the meeting room where the board has the son come in to explain about the mixup, is too small, and every time Uriel has to enter or leave some people have to get up and move chairs around, etc. Another sidelight is the constant TSA-type security inspections that Israelis have to endure many times in their day.
—John Sunier
by John Sunier | Jul 27, 2012 | Audio News
Musical Worlds of Victor Herbert at Library of Congress – The Music Division of the Library of Congress will open The Musical Worlds of Victor Herbert from Aug. 16 thru Jan. 26 in Washington D.C., and aftwards it will travel to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA from Feb. 24 thru Aug. 17, 2013. Victor Herbert almost single-handedly moved Broadway into, thru and out of its operetta phase. He was the founder of ASCAP, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and recorded extensively for Edison and Victor. His music is enjoyed renaissance in recent years, marked by new productions of his musicals and a new biography. The rich resources of the Library of Congress can be accessed thru their website: www.loc.gov
Nazi Tattoo Forces Russian Baritone from Bayreuth – Baritone Evgeny Nikitin, who started out as a heavy metal performer, has withdrawn from the lead role in Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman at the Bayreuth opera festival, amid an uproar over the Nazi-related (including swistikas) tattooed on his body. Nitkitin, from a Russian city north of the Arctic Circle, was discovered by Valery Gergiev. Christian Thielemann, conductor of The Flying Dutchman, said “A swastika is a no-go, not only in Bayreuth…” Yet Nikitin will be appearing at the Bavarian State Opera in November in Wagner’s Lohengrin.
Pioneer’s Next Generation of Basic HT Speakers – The new line is similarly-priced but chief speaker engineer Andrew Jones has redesigned the speakers for higher accuracy and smoother response to better handle all from the most subtle music passages to the demands of multichannel movie soundtracks. New woofers include a vented pole piece, increased sensitivity, and a new structured surface cone. The tweeters were completely modified using oversized magnets and new domes for enhanced efficiency and response. A custom-designed wave guide is used to produce a more consistent sound thruout the listening space. The new line has the same TV-molded cabinet construction as previous models, which reduces vibration and ringing. The grills are detachable, and the center channel SP-C22 speaker has been reduced in size to allow it to fit more situations while maintaining performance. The floor-standing towers were made three inches taller to obtain better high frequency dispersion at a seated ear-level. The speakers are now available at prices ranging from $99 to $159. Pioneer’s SMA wireless music system speakers provide the broadest connectivity options of any available, including Apple’s AirPlay, DLNA 1.5, and Wireless Direct. They will be available next month at pricing from $299 to $399.
by John Sunier | Jul 27, 2012 | Classical Reissue Reviews
Emil Gilels plays Russian Music = PROKOFIEV: Piano Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14; Piano Sonata No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 28; Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, Op. 84; Excerpts from Visions fugitives, Op. 22; Toccata, Op. 11; March; SCRIABIN: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 23; Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 30; Preludes, Op. 74; MEDTNER: Sonata in G Minor, Op. 21; TCHAIKOVSKY: 6 Morceaux, Op. 19; GLAZUNOV: Piano Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 75; RACHMANINOV: Daisies, Op. 38, No. 3; Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14; 5 Preludes; Etude-tableau in E-flat Minor, Op. 39, No. 5 – Emil Gilels, piano – Brilliant Classics 9265 (3 CDs) 70:21; 50:54; 78:37 [Distr. By Naxos] ****:
Russian piano virtuoso Emil Gilels (1916-1985) represents another of those Odessa-born musicians whose superb technical means did not obscure the poetry of their conceptions. As early as 1932 Artur Rubinstein predicted a great future for Gilels, and a year later Gilels captured first prize at the All-Union Competition for young musicians. In 1938 he took first prize at the Eugene Ysaye Competition in Brussels, outshining fellow luminaries Flier and Michelangeli. Gilels’ projected 1939 tour of the USA had to be canceled because of the outbreak of WW II. A legend by 1962, Gilels finally could travel to the West, make recordings, and bequeath a considerable legacy to his prodigious talent, an approach brilliant but less percussively corrosive as that of his compatriot Sviatoslav Richter.
This Brilliant Classics assemblage of Russian composers includes recordings made 1951-1984. The all-Prokofiev disc one reminds us that Gilels at eleven heard Prokofiev perform his own music in Odessa, 1927. The 1912 Second Sonata (rec. May 1951) urges the bete noir in Prokofiev, though the Andante reveals the lyric side of an otherwise ironic character. The concluding Vivace, a moto perpetuo, still basks in a glittery wash that a flexible, light hand can bestow. The 1917 A Minor Sonata “From Old Notebooks” in one movement (rec. January 1984) recasts materials from the composer’s student days, energetic and touched by a balletic impulse. The tender second subject, gossamer and wraithlike, projects haunted character to the live audience. The final section, Allegro con brio, wants a heavy touch to convey its often aggressive velocity, a real de force.
The Sonata No. 8 (rec. live January 1967) meant much to Gilels, who had premiered it 30 December 1944. Dubbed a “symphony” for the keyboard, the sonata boasts an embarrassment of riches in musical ideas. Ruminative, the first movement Andante dolce in this last of the “wartime sonatas” moves lyrically and polyphonically, its middle section development quite intense. The last pages almost form a separate movement in their bold, rapid finger work. The Andante sognando indicates “walking in a dream state,” and the tenor remains songful except for those occasional digs from the composer that refuse to cater merely to nostalgia. Prokofiev sets the Vivace in three parts, the outer sections bustling with triplets and leaping figures. Gilels imposes an almost hypnotic power upon the percussive episodes. The central material recaps impulses from earlier in the sonata, the whole often suggesting Prokofiev’s fluid version of Appassionata in his own, idiosyncratic terms. The colossal performance by Gilels elicits a rampage of applause.
The 1915-1918 Visions fugitives after Konstantin Balmont display Gilels’ liquid and alternatively piercing approach to these miniatures, their changing colors and subtle rhythmic shifts tailor-made for his deft touches. The 1912 Toccata in D Minor urges the note D in Byzantine intricacies that keep both hands in a constant flurry of scampering motion, especially in chromatic thirds. If Gilels’ potent Toccata has not convinced us of his sheer digital prowess, his popular arrangement of the March from Prokofiev’s The Love of 3 Oranges (after Gozzi’s play) should refresh our sardonic militancy with its pyrotechnical wizardries.
Gilels recorded Tchaikovsky’s 1883 salon pieces in live concert, date unknown. The Op. 19 set comprises six character sketches, of which the sixth, the Theme original et variations, has had some independent life. Their kinship to pieces by Grieg and Schumann in the same vein quickly becomes evident, as in the trio of No. 2, the Scherzo humoristique. The plaintive Feuillet d’album could just as easily been a part of The Seasons, Op. 37. The Nocturne may have influenced Debussy, who, recall, shared Mme. von Meck’s patronage. The angular Capriccioso offers a modal scale or two and tremolos enough to involve Gilels’ hands in slight variants of its own. Glazunov’s E Minor Sonata in three movements seems relatively conventional, albeit lyrical. Gilels injects no small degree of passion into the first movement, Moderato, which builds up a strong fury from small melodic kernels, with a dreamy second subject. The general structure rather suggests the influence of both the Chopin B Minor Sonata and his Polonaise-Fantasie. Opening like an Anton Rubinstein etude for the wrists, the Scherzo moves feverishly through bold octaves and aggressive, light ostinati reminiscent of Liszt’s La Leggierezza. The Finale is set as an ambitious, thickly textured contrapuntal tour de force, its no obstacle for Gilels, who then enters into cyclical recollections of the two prior movements and a chorale. If the writing occasionally bears a potent Schumann stamp, coincidence is not at work.
Gilels recorded the Rachmaninov selections in December 1977. The transcriptions Daisies and the Vocalise pose no problem for Gilels’ innate poetry. Beginning with the ubiquitous C-sharp Minor Prelude, Gilels applies the leisurely but dramatically apt brush to four others as well: the passionately assertive, “fateful” B-flat Major; the ruminative G-flat Major; the dance-like B Major; and the wonderful G Minor, Op. 23, No. 5, whose middle section rises out of militant impulse to send us aloft with angels. The Etude-tableau trembles with nervous, descending chromatic lines of potent emotional energy. Gilels’ emphasis on the pedal B-flat makes the earth move.
Disc 2 presents Gilels in Scriabin’s rarified world, one Sviatoslav Richter once described as “entirely natural to us, a part of our Russian heritage.” The 1898 Sonata No. 3 (rec. January 1984) is cast in four traditional movements and represents perhaps the last sonata to conform to a classical model. The eight-bar opening motif will recur later, and the second subject of the restless first movement Drammatico rather lulls us in A Major. The Allegretto proceeds rather martially pesant at first, but its 16th notes in the middle section lighten the texture in rivulets reminiscent of Debussy. Scriabin links the Andante to the Presto con fuoco, binding a deep contemplation to the ecstasies and denials of the final bars. Gilels plays the dolcissimo with hazy sweeping gestures, often reminiscent of the third movement from the Chopin B Minor Sonata. Sadly, audience coughing mars the wonderful transition Gilels makes to the explosive last movement. We might hear bits of Tristan in the convulsive figures that surge and plunge with such erotic force. The Drammatico impulse concludes the work, but the effect urges darkness, not light.
The Sonata No. 4 (1903) condenses the form, and Gilels (rec. March 1957) realizes its Andante’s diaphanous motion in voluptuously iridescent figures. The Prestissimo volando bursts forth volcanically, hectic, urgent, undeniable. Gilels’ keyboard has become an erotic whirlwind, gusting and churning in sheets of thunder, lightning, and rain. The last pages, taken at a blistering tempo, achieve a demonic ecstasy that quite overwhelms the audience. The 1914 Five Preludes, Op. 74 move in universe between Russian eroticism and introspective Schoenberg, maybe late Brahms. No. 2 had a potent meaning for the composer, who argued it could played in a multiplicity of perspectives, a mysterium. Phlegm and fire alternate as two reigning humors, the sentiments deliberately ambiguous between cosmic lethargy and sudden solar flares.
Gilels concludes this disc with Nikolai Medtner’s 1910 one-movement G Minor Sonata (rec. January 1954), the composer’s fifth such opus. Russian at its opening, the first section suddenly transforms into a Bach toccata, liquid and light as realized by Gilels. The rocking figures anticipate parts of Rachmaninov’s D Minor Concerto. The music becomes progressively darker and more percussive. The Interludium: Andante lugubre forms the emotional center of this knotty work. Rather in the manner of Liszt, the dark chromatic line resonates in soft dynamics and some delicate syncopes and polyphony. The toccata motif becomes a fierce scherzo that unifies most of the presented themes, the sound a blend of angular Chopin and impish Rachmaninov. A march, in the Schumann maerchen style, accelerates us to the coda, delayed by yet another meditative rumination of great power that build on block chords to a massive final peroration.
—Gary Lemco
by John Sunier | Jul 27, 2012 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 2 in b-flat, Op. 35; Piano Sonata No. 3 in b, Op. 58; Scherzo No. 2 in b-flat, Op. 31; Nocturne No. 13 in c, Op. 48:1; Nocturne No. 14 in f-sharp, Op. 48:2 – Sergei Edelmann, piano – Triton stereo-only SACD OVCT-00074 (2 discs), 39:46, 49:34 [Distr. by Allegro] ****:
After reviewing Edelmann’s previous Chopin disc I expected much of the same on this one, and was not disappointed. Though Edelmann is not a risk taker, and spends much more effort in dotting the “I”s and crossing the “t”s, the approach works very well in his Chopin and only moderately in his Bach.
These two modestly-filled discs give fine accounts of the two canonical sonatas while spicing the stew with a lilting B-flat minor Scherzo and two cautiously crafted Nocturnes. Chopin has enough fancy and adventure built-in that one need not take a ride on the wild side in order to properly present him, and some pianists that do take the risk end up sounding woefully willful and even distorting. Edelmann knows his boundaries and has a firm set of guiding principles in mind before his fingers touch the keyboard, and the results are good, solid, and moving Chopin without any excesses.
These are stereo-only SACDs, and like the previous one is nicely formatted for crystal clear piano sound, even though surround is definitely missed. Well worth acquiring. [Most SACDs of Japanese origin will now be stereo only since that market has little interest in surround sound systems. As witness the luxury SACD decks from Marantz and others…Ed.]
—Steven Ritter
by John Sunier | Jul 26, 2012 | Classical CD Reviews
FRIEDRICH KALKBRENNER: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 85; Piano Concerto No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 107; Adagio ed Allegro di bravura, Op. 102 – Howard Shelley, piano & cond. / Tasmanian Sym. Orch. – Hyperion CDA67843, 68:41 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:
In his notes to this, Volume 56 (!) in Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series, Jeremy Nicholas shares some amusing anecdotes that demonstrate the self-importance of composer-pianist Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785–1849). To be truthful, Kalkbrenner had lots to feel self-important about. In an age that saw the rise of the piano virtuoso, he was the most admired performer of his day, possessed of a technique that must have been nigh phenomenal on the evidence of his concerti, mostly written for his own use. That technique and the music he wrote to showcase it made him a wealthy man.
But back to those funny anecdotes. The best one concerns a certain Frédéric Chopin, new to Paris and soon to bowl it over with his music and playing. Kalkbrenner asked Chopin to play for him and was favorably impressed—but suggested that Chopin could improve his technique by three-year course of study under none other than Kalkbrenner himself. Chopin politely demurred and managed to make a name for himself without further instructional intervention. Kalkbrenner did, however, introduce Chopin to Paris, but even here there was an ulterior motive. As a partner in the firm of Pleyel et Cie, Kalkbrenner managed to make hay by sponsoring the debut of Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto and Variations on “La Chi darem la mano” at the Salle Pleyel—I assume Chopin played the house instrument on that occasion.
As Nicholas also points out, Kalkbrenner’s reputation as a composer has taken hits over the years. Noting the opus number attached to the Third Concerto, one must conclude that his reputation has never recovered, nor will it ever. Yet even if you may never hear Kalkbrenner in concert and will find only a smidgen of his large output on recordings, he’s of more than mere historical interest. The four concerti (the other two appear in Volume 41 of the Hyperion series) feature not merely superbly idiomatic writing for the piano but also a catalog of virtuoso tricks of the trade circa 1830, many of which Kalkbrenner himself introduced. Double notes in octave, machine gun–rapid repeated notes, swirling arpeggios at the speed of light—Kalkbrenner may have learned from the slightly older virtuosi of his own day such as Field and Hummel, but he set the bar even higher and thus influenced the next generation, including Chopin.
Speaking of Chopin, Nicholas maintains that like the orchestral writing in Chopin’s concerti, that in Kalkbrenner’s is mostly there to provide a “cushion” for the piano, but while Chopin’s concerti came early in his career, Kalkbrenner was a seasoned composer by the time he produced his concerti, and I think it’s clear that Kalkbrenner’s writing for orchestra is more accomplished. The musical structure and argument in his concerti is at least as strong as that in the Chopin concerti. The difference in exposure has to do largely with the Chopin name, but in fairness, Chopin’s concerti are melodically and, as a result, episodically more memorable. Nicholas quotes Mendelssohn’s mostly dismissive assessment of Kalkbrenner as a composer who dabbled in stock Romantic gestures. Of course, Chopin was the real thing. Yet as I note, Kalkbrenner manages to be very entertaining as well by the sheer audacity of the technical hurdles he throws at the performer. And there are other felicities to admire: the sturdy sonata-allegro first movements and sparkling (if shallow) rondo finales—evern an unexpectedly commanding Maestoso sostenuto introduction to the finale of his Third Concerto, a rondo that’s especially brilliant (if shallow).
So no great claims are made here for the undying artistic merits of Kalkbrenner’s concerti, but I submit that this is music whose sheer bravura and general cheery propulsiveness makes it more appealing than much of the music of the composer’s contemporaries. A great deal of credit for the success of this release goes to Howard Shelley, who knows his way around the music of the early Romantic era better than just about anyone recording these days. His technique is such a marvel that he makes this demanding music sound easy, which it must have when Kalkbrenner himself played it. I can offer no better endorsement than that. Shelley also conducts from the keyboard, and the well-drilled, robust-sounding Tasmanian Symphony responds with vigor. I snapped up the earlier Kalkbrenner release in this series and now heartily recommend the second and last installment.
—Lee Passarella
by John Sunier | Jul 26, 2012 | Classical CD Reviews
SCOTT BRICKMAN: “Winter & Construction” = Piano Sonata #2; L’Orfeo; Piano Sonata #3; Fiddleheads; Snowball; Knotty Pines; Winter and Construction – Nathanael May, piano/Matt Gould, guitar/Beth Ilana Schneider-Gould, violin – Ravello Records RR7823, 61: 04 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
Scott Brickman, a Chicago native, is a composition professor at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and began playing piano at an early age. Perhaps most interestingly, Brickman admits being interested in twelve tone serialism at an early age as well, having performed a twelve tone Nocturne he had written the summer before. Brickman studied composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he also got involved in composer advocacy, becoming a founding member of the Wisconsin Alliance of Composers in 1984. His doctorate was obtained at Brandeis University where he studied and worked with two members of the Harvard music faculty, Donald Martino and Mario Davidovsky through residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, an educational Artists Colony in New Smyrna Beach Florida.
So, let it be said that I was not familiar with Scott Brickman – nor the UMFK – until now and I immediately found it interesting that these days any composer was still using twelve-tone techniques as a compositional platform. In Brickman’s case, his technique is not strict serialism (as in the Vienna School) and listeners should not approach this interesting collection to hear such. (Brickman states in the packaging notes that he considers what he does “2nd Viennese /U.S. East Coast School”) It is really more a dodecaphonic palate where the harmonies are based on hexachords with a typical octavian context and – all this aside – the results are quirky to be sure but pretty interesting to listen to.
Brickman indicates that he views his works as falling into “categories” that align, to stages of his development as a composer. To an extent, I see the alignments he is referring to, without knowing that much about his compositional output. For example, he says that the Piano Sonatas (of which #2 and #3 are heard here) are reflective and sound like a player improvising. There is certainly an somewhat “improvisatory” quality to these two works I found attractive. I was especially impressed with the somewhat spiky and angular characteristics of the Piano Sonata #2. Pianist Nathanael May handles this complicated fare quite well.
Brickman considers his solo string works (those for violin as well as for guitar) to be “serious and virtuosic.” This collection offers three very unique and interesting works that illustrate the point. L’Orfeo for solo guitar bears three movement titles that reflect on aspects of the Orpheus legend: “Styx”, “Eurydice” and “Morpheus”. This is a complex work requiring much of the guitarist and there certainly is a kind of “struggle” or “conflict” within the sound, much like what the Greek hero endured. Similarly, Fiddleheads for solo violin is a three movement work that contains some “fiddle” playing touches – such as in the very idiomatic “Steady as She Bows” – but also some real demanding and impressive bow shredding, as in the closing “Golem.” Here, too, soloist Beth Ilana Schneider-Gould is a very fine violinist and gives this work some real character. These two players (who perform as Duo46) are brought together in the tuneful, eccentric Knotty Pines (my favorite in this grouping, with its wry references to the Mendelssohn Concerto among other things.)
These same performers, May, Gould and Schneider-Gould, also form the Strung Out Trio and Brickman has written music for them on several occasions. The two works represented here, Snowball and Winter and Construction (a wonderful reference to an old Chicago joke about the only two real “seasons” in the Windy City being… “winter and construction”), are both interesting and entertaining works. Brickman considers these “public pieces” with a certain East Coast frame of reference. Snowball is a very compelling work with a sort of “coldness” that grows into something with some nearly jazz tinged elements. The cleverly-titled Winter and Construction is another very atmospheric work that has moments of jazz here and there and is a quite engaging work!
Scott Brickman’s work is very unique in many ways. It would certainly be a mistake to approach this collection with trepidation, focusing on the “twelve tone” framework he uses and conjuring up what – for many – is non-stop atonality. The music is more accessible, even entertaining, than that. However, it is not at all crossover classical or true jazz and such. It is more “academic” than that. Brickman’s music may – for some – take a couple of listenings to get into the very hard to define and one of a kind style that it occupies.
I think it well worth doing so!
—Daniel Coombs
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