Three of the seven selections featured here are world-premiere recordings. 3 into Reich’s defiantly tonal Cello Counterpoint, and the concept of transition is extensively unpacked throughout the rest of the album.
One of the initial “transitions” the listener experiences is that from Davidovsky’s spikily thrilling Synchronisms No. Oliver La Rosa–a diverse bunch of composers, to be sure, and as a result the program showcases a great variety of stylistic approaches and a rich diversity of aural experiences. The Michael Nicolas album surveys contemporary works by Mario Davidovsky, Steve Reich, David Fulmer, Annie Gosfield, Anna Thorsvaldsdottir, and Jaime E. The result is music that many listeners may find more conceptually interesting than actually enjoyable, but it is indeed conceptually interesting. The three Richard Barrett compositions for cello and electronics (all of which are world-premiere recordings) featured on the Aeon set are all quite challenging, and characterized by unique tunings, physical interventions similar to those used in prepared piano compositions, and extended playing techniques. These two albums both focus on contemporary works that involve the interaction of a human cello player with electronic sounds–but beyond that, they have relatively little in common. Music for Cello and Electronics (2 discs) The only fly in the ointment is the banjo’s equally characteristic iffiness of intonation–but that’s not enough of a problem to seriously undermine one’s enjoyment of this fine album. At no point does his playing come across as gimmicky while the banjo’s characteristic lack of sustain poses a challenge (especially on the Schumann oboe romances), Bullard overcomes it by means of tremolo–no easy task when fingerpicking a banjo–and elsewhere, he uses it to advantage on the more contrapuntal baroque works. Assisted by a shifting array of accompanists, he performs his own arrangements of chamber and orchestral works by Schumann, Marcello, Telemann, Handel, Bach, and Grieg, and in all cases makes a strong argument for his instrument in these contexts. Despite their silly name, Ensemble Barockin’ acquit themselves beautifully here, playing with a muscular gusto that never threatens to overwhelm the courtly delicacy of the writing.Ĭlassical Banjo: The Perfect Southern Artįor baroque (and Romantic) music played on something that doesn’t even come close to being a period instrument, consider this wonderful recording by five-string banjo virtuoso John Bullard.
What his oeuvre lacked in volume it made up for in quality, though, and these four “gallant and amusing conversations between a flute, a violin, a bass viol and continuo” (two of which are recorded here for the first time ever) are a consistent delight. Louis-Gabriel Guillemain was a famous violinist and successful court composer in Paris in the early 18th century, but his career was derailed by his dissolute lifestyle and his compositional output was not terribly large. I’m not a fan of cutesy early-music ensemble names seemingly designed to convince today’s youth that pre-classical music is awesome, but I’m definitely a fan of early-music ensembles that produce world-premiere recordings of obscure baroque composers. The 97-minute playing time may seem a bit skimpy for a full-priced two-disc set, but the music is well worth it. In any case, Schubert’s exceptional gifts for melodic development and aching romanticism are fully in evidence here, and the playing is every bit as wonderful as one would expect from this all-star ensemble.
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Here is a very enjoyable account (on period instruments) of two of Franz Schubert’s finest chamber works, along with a nocturne of slightly mysterious origin–it was written around the same time as the Opus 99 trio, but without a title (it was designated a “nocturne” by the publisher, 18 years after Schubert’s death), and may have been either the beginning of another full piano trio or intended as an addition to an existing one. Andreas Staier Daniel Sepec Roel Dieltiens