CROCKETT: BLUE EARTH (Wedge/Viola Concerto/Blue Eartyh) SCHUMANN: Davidsbündlerftänz, Op. 6. Nachtstück, Op. 23. Gerszuaange
der Frühb \her, Op. 133. BLOCH: Sonata in A minorfor Violin and Piano . RAVEL: Sonata in G for
Violin and Piano. DE ZEEGANT: Duo for Violin and Piano. ENESCU: Sonata
No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25 for Violin and Piano. Music of Los Angeles based American composer David Crockett is featured on a fascinating new disk from BMOP Music. Crockett is on the cutting edge of the American music scene. a master orchestrator. amd a sense pf famtas.The disk opens with Wedge, written in 1990, one of his earlier works. suggesting most effectively the breaking of waves surf of the Newport beach. Then we have a viola concerto that began as as a chamber concerto for viola and six instruments, but became a large-scale if rather short concerto with the soloist having a subsidiary role. It is almost a concerto for orchestra, with many opportuniutues for vurtuoso display. It is highly rhythmic music with contrasting episodes, which also could b e said of the concluding work, Blue Earth, which has five sections: Homing, The Four Winds, Tomorrow the Sea, and To What Listens. This very challenging music is played to perfection by the superb Boston Modern Project Orchestra directed by Gil Rose. Kate Vincent is the sterling violist in the concerto. Engineers have captured a wide-range, well-defined orchestral sound that takes full advantage of SACD multiple channels. This is an outstanding addition to the SACD catalog! German pianist Caspar Frantz (b. 1980) is the nephew of pianist-conductor Justis Frantz (who recorded the Schumann and Dvorak piano concertos with Bernstein and the New york Philharmonic). Caspoa, at the beginning of his career, has recorded several SACDs for ARS; the latest is a well-filled disk of somewhat lesser-known works of Schumann each consisting of very brief miniatures most lless than 2 minute duration. The constantly changing moods are well clarified. Audio is excellent. A fine release. "The Sound of the 20s" is the title of a new SACD featuring violinist Stefan Tarara, violin and pianist Lora-Evelin Vakova-Tara The Bloch sonata was composed in 1920, Ravel's sonata dates from 1927.Then we have music of Belgian composer Jacques Alphonse Zeegant (b. 1959). His Duo for Violin and Piano is "a sensitive evocation of the imaginary, inspired by the light and airy landscapes of the Spanish plateau and by the nostalgic contours of the French countryside. shrouded in the mists of time." It surely is a lovely, and brief ( (4:01). The disk concludes with a major work of Enescu (1881-1955), his Sonata No. 3 dating from 1926. Excellent performances b y violinist Stefan Tarara assisted by pianist Lora-Evelin Vakova-Tarara. The entire progbram is a most enjoyable listening expoerience. CD program notes attempt to tie all of this music together to justify the title. Excellent, well-balanced audio, although not particularly "surround." R.E.B. (September 2015)
|