Anders KOPPEL (b. 1947)
Concerto for recorder, saxophone and orchestra (2010) [39:07]
Triple Concerto for mezzo saxophone, cello, harp and orchestra (2009) [38:08]
Michala Petri (recorder); Benjamin Koppel (saxophones); Tine Rehling (harp); Eugene Hye-Knudsen (cello)
Odense Symphony Orchestra/Henrik Vagn Christensen
rec. 2013, Odense Koncerthaus.
DACAPO 6.220633 [67:25]
“Anders Koppel is to a rare degree a composer of his
time. With one foot firmly planted in the classical European musical tradition
and the other in world music, rock and jazz.” So begins the booklet
note for this excellent and strikingly bonkers release.
For the Concerto for recorder, saxophone and orchestra we have a
meeting of sonorities which unites the medieval with the modern in the fantastic
combination of Michala Petri’s delicate recorder and Benjamin Koppel’s
fruit and smoke jazz-coloured saxophone. This however doesn’t mean that
the recorder is forced into a different musical idiom, and it’s a delight
to hear Petri sliding and swinging with the rhythmic impulses of the orchestra
and her solo partner. The first movement has some stunningly cinematic writing,
and while you can invent your own narrative drama there is a strong likelihood
it will include some film noir stereotypes and perhaps a cartoon animal or
two. The booklet notes suggest a concerto grosso connection, but
in their dialogues between themselves and the orchestra I would say that this
is but a distant echo. The central Larghetto is another scene from
the same movie: perhaps a plush penthouse suite, the rarefied view from which
is penetrating the atmosphere within. The soloists interact, but passions
remain largely suppressed, and no-one is laughing at the dry humour from either
protagonist. An orchestral passacaglia builds, and is interrupted by an elegant
duo cadenza with some lovely ironic touches. The curtains are parted once
again, and the shimmering lights of the city adorn a final coda with some
fascinating timbres in the orchestration. The energy and not-so-subtle minor-key
menace of the final Allegro moderato shakes us out of our reverie,
and on top of the restlessly detailed and rousingly melodramatic orchestra
there are plenty of virtuoso fireworks from the soloists to keep us on our
toes. For a time this looks like ending up as a downbeat denouement, but before
too long we are once again chasing amongst the stars and facing down every
challenge with fortitude.
The Triple Concerto is scored for mezzo saxophone, cello, harp and
orchestra. The mezzo saxophone is a sort of in-between instrument, milder
in tone than the soprano sax but with a remarkable upward flexibility and
a fine lyrical quality. Benjamin Koppel’s tone is still seductive and
jazzy but toned down a little amongst the cello and harp, which both have
their own idiosyncratic contributions to make. Near the beginning the cello
is made to sing out like some kind of Chinese instrument, and the harp has
some moments of punchy syncopation. With the complexity of the orchestration
it is the saxophone which comes off best, and while the character of each
instrument is explored nicely in the first movement cadenza you have the feeling
of three musicians looking away from each other rather than really interacting.
The second of two movements is full of fascinating sonorities and interesting
musical development, combining simplicity with subtlety, “characterised
by a metamorphosis technique where the same themes return, but in gradually
changing forms – as in a kaleidoscope which constantly reveals new dimensions
of a world that seems familiar.” Anders Koppel has a way of combining
and uniting moments of apparent banality and strokes of inspired nuance to
create something compelling and with a fascinating alchemic mystery of its
own.
This release follows on from a set of four works for marimba and orchestra
by Anders Koppel (review)
under the same conductor as this fascinating pair of concertos. Anders Koppel
has a track record in his use of his son’s saxophone playing, with another
release from Da Capo presenting another two concertos, also performed by Benjamin
Koppel and the Odense SO (review).
This addition to a growing discography is superbly recorded and presented,
and is another of those accessible and rewarding programmes of new music which
should encourage more of us to cast our nets ever wider.
Dominy Clements
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