To the Point
Jennifer HIGDON (b.1962)
To the Point, for string orchestra (2004) [3:54]
Andrew RUDIN (b.1939)
*Canto di Ritorno - Concerto, for violin and small orchestra (2004)
[21:36]
Gunther SCHULLER (b.1925)
+Concerto da Camera (2002) [13:46]
Romeo CASCARINO (1922-2002)
Blades of Grass, for English horn and orchestra (1945) [8:48]
Jay REISE (b.1950)
**The River Within - Violin Concerto (2008) [25:35]
*Diane Monroe (violin); **Maria Bachmann (violin); Dorothy Freeman (English
horn)
Orchestra 2001/James Freeman; +Gunther Schuller
rec. Lang Concert Hall, Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, 27 January 2006
[Rudin - live]; 21 April 2002 [Schuller - live]; 20 September 2004 [Cascarino];
12 April 2008 [Reise - live]. Trinity Center, Philadelphia, 12 November 2005
[Higdon]. DDD
INNOVA 745 [73:09]
According to Peter Dobrin, music critic of The Inquirer, the Philadelphia-based
Orchestra 2001 "occupies
a place of such importance that a classical music community without it seems
unimaginable". That may be overstating the case rather, given that there
are surely many music fans quite unfamiliar with the ensemble, but Orchestra
2001 - formed, curiously, in 1998 - has some very laudable goals, being "dedicated
to performing and promoting the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, premiering
new works, providing a major focus for the best new music of our time, introducing
rarely performed older works, and reaching out to regional and international
audiences through recordings and tours."
Certainly the group's commitment to American contemporary music is inspiring,
with their website listing nearly a hundred world premieres. As for recordings,
this looks like the Orchestra's tenth CD so far, with five dedicated solely
to George Crumb's music, including four volumes from Bridge Records' complete
edition - the latest of which was recently reviewed here.
Jennifer Higdon and Gunther Schuller are probably the most familiar names
in the programme. Philadelphia-based Higdon's Violin Concerto won the
Pulitzer Prize for music only last year, and although she is not likely to
win anything similar with her diminutive To the Point, a movement from
her Impressions string quartet adapted for string orchestra, it is
a sprightly, polished piece that will find favour with audiences everywhere.
The title is a reference to paint brushes and Impressionist painting, but
there is nothing impressionistic about the jaunty rhythms, though the frequent
application of pizzicato may bring artistic brush-strokes to mind in the pre-motivated.
Veteran Gunther Schuller's Second Concerto da Camera is one of three
live recordings. There are two contrasting sections, the restrained, other-worldly
musings and odd sounds of the first half giving way to a more energetic second.
By way of experiment, Schuller reduced the string section and omitted the
usual clarinets, bassoons and horns from the score, giving a slightly more
tart and edgier feel to a work that provides a arrestingly gnarled middle
to Orchestra 2001's programme.
Romeo Cascarino's Blades of Grass, based on an anti-war poem by Carl
Sandburg, is from a different era. It has a kind of modern outdoor film score
grandeur about it. Cascarino was a Philadelphian, but unfortunately died just
as Orchestra 2001 decided it was high time they recorded the work. As the
title suggests, this is a gentle, slightly mournful work, the poignancy intensified
by the cor anglais, sweetly played by Dorothy Freeman. She first performed
the work at a concert in 1994, attended and admired by Cascarino.
The two works for violin and orchestra provide the main meat of the recording.
Andrew Rudin and Jay Reise are not exactly household names, but they are
Vice-President and Secretary of Orchestra 2001's board of directors respectively.
If that seems fishy, their works dispel any suggestion that their inclusion
on this disc was based on anything other than merit. Rudin's single-movement
Canto di Ritorno is an emotional, mildly sombre affair, blending the
rhapsodic with the meditative in a universally attractive package. Diane Monroe
gives an appealing, heartfelt performance.
Jay Reise's three-movement The River Within is similar in some ways,
though uses a full orchestra for maximum effect, and is more harmonically
and rhythmically adventurous. Magnificently played by Maria Bachmann, this
is a high-quality, full-blooded concerto in the tradition of the great mid-20th
century virtuoso works - and redolent, perhaps surprisingly, of Bartók, Prokofiev
or Shostakovich. The vigorous vivace finale brings the disc to a marvellous
conclusion.
Orchestra 2001 give of their best throughout, although the strings sound rather
dull and flat in Blades of Grass and in Canto di Ritorno - possibly
a recording issue. Sound quality is good, though not uniformly so - perhaps
to be expected given the different recording conditions. There are a few low-key
'noises off' - a few conductorly hums in Canto di Ritorno, for example
- and the odd technical blemish, such as differently placed microphones, but
nothing to spoil the listener's enjoyment or appreciation of the fine music.
The CD booklet is impressively informative and well laid out.
To those that complain that all 21st century music is tuneless, aimless rubbish,
this CD says: use your ears ...!
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
To those that complain that all 21st century music is tuneless, aimless rubbish,
this CD says: use your ears ...!