A big hurrah for this disk for it brings to us a major work
by Alexina Louie, one of the brightest, and most exciting, composing
talents to come out of Canada in recent years. Her music is
full of the sounds of her Chinese heritage. She was born of
second generation Canadians of Chinese descent, and she uses
a full, rich and colourful palette in her works. Her language
is modern, but one which speaks readily to an audience. This
Concerto is a big virtuoso work, the piano taking the
lead and the orchestra supplying a varied tapestry of sound
to highlight the piano’s thoughts. There’s a lot
going on in this work and it’s one of those pieces which
really repay repeated hearings. The lyricism of the work might
not be immediately apparent but it is full of tunes, and Louie
works them out with a skill and grace which are typical of her
music. Louie is a major composer who we should hear much more
of, and I hope that this fabulous Concerto will win her
many friends. The performance, conducted by Alex Pauk, Louie’s
husband and a particularly sympathetic interpreter of her work,
is very good indeed, and has the mark of authenticity.
Violet Archer’s Concerto comes as a shock after the hothouse
of Louie’s work for here is very much a divertissement
of a piece, the outer movements being sparkling and vivacious
surrounding a rather more severe and serious slow movement.
The ending is pure farce with big gestures, à la virtuoso
vehicle being mocked and over-done. This is a pleasing enough
piece, more than a bit of fluff, certainly, but despite Kenneth
Winters’ assertion that “… it is a masterpiece
…” it isn’t and doesn’t have the real
quality sufficient to be a major contribution to the Piano Concerto
literature.
Kuzumenko’s Piano Concerto begins in a very uncompromising
manner with dissonance and a bravura cadenza for the soloist.
That done, it turns into a neo-classical romp which, oddly,
reminds me of Arthur Bliss’s Piano Concerto. The central
movement changes style into a frozen northern landscape such
as one which we have heard from Vagn Holmboe. The finale is
a fast race and reminds one of Alan Rawsthorne. The problem,
and I think you will have realised what I am about to write,
is that this work, which is very competently written and everything
happens just as it should do is lacking a really original voice.
I don’t, for one minute, think that Kuzumenko is copying
the composers whose names I have mentioned, rather she has happened
onto the same sounds for which the others are known. Ironically,
this work receives the best recorded sound – and it should
be good considering that one of the engineers is the fabulous
Stretch Quinney.
The sound for Louie and Archer is rather distant but an increase
in volume can help this. Balance between soloist and orchestra
is generally good and the notes, in English and French, will
be of help to those unfamiliar with these composers. This issue
is essential listening for anyone interested in new music and
is particularly important for giving us the magnificent Alexina
Louie work.
Bob Briggs
Christina Petrowska Quilico (piano)
