Hlif Sigurjonsdottir, Dialogus, Music for Solo Violin

Of all the configurations that modern chamber music has to offer us, the unaccompanied string performance is one of the more esoteric. The solo violinist, for example, has the many resources of double stops, ways of articulating and resultant sound color at her or his disposal. It is often music that poses a challenge to the composer and the artist. Yet of course when all goes well it gives us very rewarding music. Yet one does not often encounter new music in this vein, as compared to, say, the string quartet or solo piano oeuvres.

Violinist Hlif Sigurjonsdottir provides us with an absorbing unaccompanied program on her Dialogus, Music for Solo Violin (MSR Classics 1551). We are treated to six contemporary works by composers not well known to me. Lurking somewhere behind the scenes often enough is the spectre of J. S. Bach and his seminal works for unaccompanied violin. Not in terms of imitation but as a father figure and foundational presence. The music has a contemporary modern flair, to be sure, yet often enough there are Bachian roots in the way the melodic development freely unwinds, in the use of double stops to bring out harmonic implications, things like that. Now and then we get folkish strains that bring other traditions into the picture, so this is not monolithic in compositional intent. And every composer has his or her own distinctiveness so that the program maintains interest and generates appreciation throughout.

The composers represented are Jonas Tomasson, Runa Ingimundar, Karolina Eiriksdottir, Hrodmar Ingi Sigurbjornsson, Alfred Felder and Merrill Clark. The various compositions date from 1983-2012. Each work enjoys its world premiere recording here. Many of the composers are Icelandic, as is Ms. Sigurjonsdottir, so we get a welcome chance to explore some very worthwhile music from a country we hear too little from in the releases available to us in general.

Every work poses a interpretive puzzle that Ms. Sigurjonsdottir solves and realizes with poetic grace and, as needed, considerable technical abilities. She would seem the ideal medium of these works, all of which are substantially intricate in their compositional schemas without having the goal of showing off the violinist in a burst of virtuoso fireworks. The music in that way is pure melodic-structural depth, by no means easy to play but directed toward a purely musico-expressive result. Hlif gives us a detailed and beautiful reading of these works. Concentrated, focused and impressively linear and often contemplative, or alternately stirring.

The more I listen to this one, the more I find to appreciate. The music does not set out gratuitously to please so much as it makes a cohesive, impactful impression that stays with you long after the performances are done.

Very worthwhile music in peerless performance! Highly recommended.

Kalevi Aho, Works for Solo Piano, Sonja Frakl

Kalevi Aho (b. 1949), a contemporary Finnish composer of note, is primarily known in international circles for his orchestral work, which to date includes 16 symphonies and 21 concertos. For a review of a CD of some of his concerted pieces see my September 24, 2014 post.

On the program today we have his Works for Solo Piano (BIS 2106) as played by pianist Sonja Frakl. It covers a selection of works from 1965 through 1993.

Of the earliest work, "Nineteen Preludes" (1965-68), all but #17 might have been written 100 years ago and not have sounded especially modern. They are expressively romantic and/or dance-like folkish, charming but except for the 17th, perhaps not yet signature in style except in a germinal sense.

The "Three Small Piano Pieces" (1971) take the lyricism of the preludes and thicken it all with modern harmonic spice. Suddenly the seeds of the earlier material have blossomed into a more extravagently advanced and daring music, yet short to the point of pithiness.

The "Two Easy Piano Pieces for Children" (1983) take that essentialist style and boil it down further to a simplified essence.

With the "Sonatina for Piano" (1993), "Solo II" (1985) and the "Sonata for Piano" (1980) we get the fully mature, serious modern composer for the piano, with something at times of the dance-like strains we have heard in the Preludes but fully developed into a virtuoso and harmonically-melodically original modernism that perhaps as a taste of Prokofiev-Shostakovitch in its temperament and a dash of Hindemith too, but in terms of the expressionist and earthiness tang of its basic approach, gaining and retaining an original ground that ultimately advances the music in a furtherance that is personal and original. In the end we get a more tonally ambiguous palette that takes the music further into the later 20th century while retaining an expressionist ethos.

These are the important works and we can appreciate the works leading up to them as preparatory and part of a continuous development. These later pieces generate genuine excitement in their virtuoso motor propulsion, their abstract but dense pointedness and alternatingly relative repose, contemplation, mystery.

Sonia Frakl has the prodigious technical mastery and a genuine understanding of the extraordinary expressive, tumultuous abstraction of these difficult yet moving works. She shines brightly and gives us a rather thrilling take on the later works, yet she approaches the earlier works with an immediacy that works perfectly for what the composer intended.

The three later works are monumental. The earlier works give us a developmental view and have much character. Taken together we get a thorough picture of Aho the writer for piano. It is a captivating voyage into the music of a master of our time. It is a good one to hear, surely. Ms. Frakl triumphs!

Hummel, Piano Trios 2, Nos. 1, 4 and 5, Gould Piano Trio

The morning breaks sunnily here with a kindness that we all know could turn on us later in the week, but we trust in Mother Nature to give us these lovely spells and hope for the best. As it happens, I listen to an album that seems perfectly suited to a spring morning, or for that matter just about any morning. Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), aside from having one of the more interesting middle names in the classical pantheon, happens to be one of my favorite lesser-known composers from the later classical-early romantic era. Certainly Mozart and Beethoven overshadowed just about everybody then, but nonetheless Hummel holds his own as a composer who is never mediocre, whose every work I have had the pleasure of hearing is filled with charm, craftsmanship and inspiration.

The volume at hand Piano Trios 2 (Naxos 8.573261) is no exception. It covers the Trios Nos. 1, 4 and 5. The Gould Trio have genuine class and dash in their performances, giving the music a tender sweetness and a more brusque brio depending on the movement. They always seem to capture the essence with brilliance.

From the very classically Viennese No. 1 to the more evolved concerted "Grand Trio Concertante" of the No. 5, we get a wonderfully inventive Hummel, early and later, 1803 to 1819.

I can scarcely imagine that anybody who cherishes this era of classical music would not appreciate this music and its fine performance. It is a breath of pure air. The Gould Piano Trio are real talents who rise to this music with enthusiasm and expressive clarity. A big bravo for this one!

Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Violin Concerto No. 2 "The Prophets," Concerto Italiano, Tianwa Yang

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) was a key member, after Respighi, of the renaissance of Italian instrumental music in the 20th century which took place following a period of a dominance of vocal music, especially opera. He shares this distinction as a later arrival from the first generation of essentially modern-oriented composers which included Pizzetti, Casella and Malipiero.

His music stands on its own among this group. The guitar works he wrote have become mainstays in that repertoire, but his violin concertos too have made their mark, to greater or lesser degrees. Today's recording features the two of them, the lesser known "Concerto Italiano" from 1924, and the more familiar "Violin Concerto No. 2, 'The Prophet'" from 1931. Heifetz played both in his day and now we hear fresh new versions by Tianwa Yang and the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiberg under Pieter-Jelle de Boer (Naxos 8.573135). The "Concerto Italiano" enjoys its premier recording here.

The performances leave nothing to be desired. Both works have considerable thematic interest and a grand sweeping tonality that is post-romantic perhaps, but filled with expressiveness. Tianwa Yang has a beautifully heroic, lyric tone and handles the sometimes difficult solo parts with world-class adroitness.

The second concerto is distinguished by incorporating Semitic-rooted melodic material (Castelnuovo-Tedesco's father was Jewish) and the influence is well-integrated into the composer's deft orchestral and solo violin writing. The "Concerto Italiano" is no less impressive for its wealth of eloquent craftsmanship. Both works get near ideal performances.

With the Naxos price this volume is hard to resist. It is a very worthy way to get to know Castelnuovo-Tedesco if you have not heard much of his music. And it will ring true with those who already know him well.

An essential volume for those seeking to explore the 20th century Italian renaissance and some fabulous music in its own right. Very recommended.

Howard Blake, Diversions, Benedict Kloeckner

An English composer with a pronounced lyrical gift, Howard Blake (b. 1938) is perhaps best known for his soundtrack to the feature cartoon, "The Snowman," which has a hauntingly beautiful refrain "Walking in the Air" for boy soprano and orchestra. He has a body of more "serious" works though, and we can hear some of how that sounds on a new recording featuring works for cello and piano, Diversions (SWR2/Genuin 15346). Benedict Kloeckner takes on the cello role for these works and sounds terrific. Howard Blake himself handles the piano part with dramatic credibility.

These are modern lyric pieces that show us Blake the gritty but mellifluous contemporary composer in a series of six compositions, all but one enjoying world premier recordings in the versions presented. This is music of a pronounced tonality but without anything in the way of a neo-classical glance at the past. He may certainly have something of the romantic in him, but like Samuel Barber it is so individual that you don't find yourself saying, "yes, that is Brahmsian...that is Mendelssohnian, etc." The works hold their own as contemporary music with a pronounced Blakean signature affixed. There is nothing banally "new age" sounding to them either. The music is filled with inventive flourishes that evince a fertile creative mind at work.

The piano parts occasionally step into the spotlight but mostly this is music that gives the cellist a chance to take a singing melodic lead. Kloeckner responds with an extraordinarily vibrant tone and rhapsodic lucidity.

There is nothing in the way of filler. Each work has something to say. We get a touching rendition of "Walking in the Air" that reminds us how well-constructed the deceptively straightforward song is. But then we get more complexly lyrical works in the title work "Diversions for Cello & Piano," in "Pennillion for Cello & Piano," the "Cello Sonata," and "The Enchantment of Venus." The program concludes with a short and very lovely "Archangel's Lullaby" and we are done.

This is music any classical Anglophile will appreciate. It has an accessibility that will appeal to a large audience, potentially. And it is rousingly good music. It is not high modernist but it is thoroughly contemporary. It has a special quality to it that belongs very much to the musical personality of Howard Blake.

Very much recommended.

George Rochberg, Complete Flute Music 1, Christina Jennings

Stateside composer George Rochberg (1918-2005) was one of the first prominent serialists to abandon the imposed rigor of high modernism when he suffered the death of his son in 1964. From that point on his music turned back to a modern tonality, using baroque, romantic and original means to craft an equally personal style.

It is music from the later period we hear in his Complete Flute Music 1 (Naxos 8.559776), the first in a series of volumes featuring flautist Christina Jennings in the spotlight role. Christina is not only a flautist of great technical and artistic ability, she also is the daughter of Andrew Jennings, the second violinist of the celebrated Concord String Quartet, who rehearsed Rochberg String Quartets in the Jennings home as she grew up. So Rochberg's music was something she absorbed at an early age.

The sympathy she early-on gained comes through nicely in her performance here of three very evocative works.

"Caprice Variations" is a series of 20 freely treated variations on the well-known Paganini theme, originally written for solo violin. Ms. Jennings has transcribed 20 of them for the solo flute, with the principal theme stated at the end. It all sounds perfectly suited for flute and Ms. Jennings projects the various melodic moods with a beautiful tone and lively phrasing that seems quite right. There are times when her virtuosity seems virtually unparalleled in this performance. Bravo!

What follows are two works in Rochberg's "Ukiyo-e" series, Number 3, "Between Two Worlds, Five Images for Flute and Piano" (1982) and Number 2, "Slow Fires of Autumn, for Flute and Harp" (1979).

Lura Johnson takes on the piano role in Number 3, which is marked by a modern expressivity that has a palpable relation to shakuhachi music from Japan, only transformed into Rochberg's own idiom. The same might be said also of Number 2, which is distinguished by some very effective scoring for harp, which sounds almost koto-like. June Han does a fine job with the harp part. This work has the shimmer of impressionism, with a clear lineage going back to Debussy and Ravel, but with a pronounced traditional Japanese influence and a special Rochbergian twist as well.

For these two wonderfully poetic "Ukiyo-e" works, excellently performed and very much Rochberg at his best, it is worth the price of admission alone. But then you get the engaging "Caprice Variations" as a very pleasurable bonus. Christina Jennings soars with wondrous performances that satisfy, and Johnson and Han sound perfect in their parts as well.

It is vintage later Rochberg, music that is accessible to all listeners who make the effort, but a welcome addition to those who already appreciate Rochberg and his version of later modernism. It is a winner!

Gregory W. Brown, Moonstrung Air, Choral and Vocal Music

When it comes to vocal ensemble and choral music, the contemporary music world seems to offer less of it these days, as compared with chamber and orchestral works. That is my impression. Why that is I do not know, but when the music presents itself I tend to pay attention. A nicely put-together volume of modern contemporary works for voice can be had in Gregory W. Brown's Moonstrung Air (Navona 5989). It features six works performed variously by three top-tier groups, the larger choral ensemble The Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally, the mid-sized "Spring" Ensemble with Eric Dudley, and the vocal quartet New York Polyphony. The first and last ensembles have been critically acclaimed for their previous recordings; the middle group would appear to be specially formed for Brown's "Spring" but sound very good as well.

Gregory W. Brown's vocal music has a good bit of the influence of early polyphony and folk-archaic strains, but reshaped to his own personality, with the tang of the modern to remind you that this is music of today. This is not music that follows strictly or consistently the pre-Palestrinian or Palestrinian rules of counterpoint yet has beautifully fashioned part writing that evinces some of the aura of earlier times.

The "Missa Charles Darwin" performed by New York Polyphony and the "Vidi Aquam" by the Crossing are high points in the early-in-the-late mode, very convincingly wrought. "Three American Folk Hymns" makes use of old American vernacular and shape-note hymns redone with real charm. "Entrai, Pastores, Entrai" is based on an old Portuguese Christmas carol. "Spring" has as its text a translation of an Ancient Greek text by Anacreon. "Five Women Bathing in Moonlight" sets the poetry of Richard Wilbur, depicting a seaside excursion in the 1940s.

The performances are exemplary, the sound excellent and the compositions show us that Gregory W. Brown takes to vocal writing as a natural. The music has eloquence, verve and old-in-new panache.

I find the music uniformly delightful. It will appeal to those who respond to contemporary choral music and no doubt also to those who might prefer early music. There is enough to thoroughly engage and please both camps, and those in the middle.

Very enjoyable and nicely done!