Recent Releases No. 79 (CD Reviews)

by Karl Nehring

B.A.C.H. Martin Fröst. J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria (Arr. for Clarinet and Bass by Martin Fröst and Sebastien Dubé); Sinfonia in G Major, BWV 796 (Arr. for Clarinet and Cello by Matthias Spindler); Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 (Arr. for Clarinet and Theorbo by Martin Fröst and Jonas Nordberg); St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244: No. 62. "Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden" (Arr. for Clarinets and Cello by Martin Fröst); Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068: II. Air (Arr. for Clarinet, Theorbo and Bass by Martin Fröst, Jonas Nordberg and Sebastien Dubé); Invention No.10 in G Major, BWV 781 (Arr. for Clarinet and Viola by Göran Fröst); French Suite No.5 in G Major, BWV 816: III. Sarabande (Arr. for Clarinet and Theorbo by Martin Fröst and Jonas Nordberg); Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D Major, BWV 1028: I. Adagio (Arr. for Clarinet, Cello, and Bass by Martin Fröst, Anastasia Kobekina and Sebastien Dubé); Pastorale in F Major, BWV 590: III. Aria (Arr. for Clarinet and Theorbo by Martin Fröst and Jonas Nordberg); Invention No.4 in D Minor, BWV 775 (Arr. for Clarinet and Cello by Matthias Spindler); French Suite No.5 in G Major, BWV 816: I. Allemande (Arr. for Clarinet and Theorbo by Martin Fröst and Jonas Nordberg); Prelude in D Minor, BWV 851 (Arr. for Clarinet and Bass by Martin Fröst and Sebastien Dubé); Gounod: Ave Maria (Meditation on the Prelude by J. S. Bach) [Arr. for Clarinet and Cello by Martin Fröst]; Bach: Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, BWV 335 (Arr. for Clarinet and Theorbo by Martin Fröst and Jonas Nordberg); Invention No. 6 in E Major, BWV 777 (Arr. for Clarinet and Viola by Göran Fröst); Prelude in C-Sharp Major, BWV 872 (Arr. for Clarinet, Theorbo and Bass by Martin Fröst, Jonas Nordberg and Sebastien Dubé); Largo (after Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056) [Arr. for Clarinet and Piano by Martin Fröst and Benny Andersson]. Martin Fröst, Clarinet; Jonas Nordberg, theorbo; Anastasia Kobekina, cello; Sébastian Dubé, double bass; Göran Fröst, viola; Benny Andersson, piano. Sony Classical 19802814742

 

As Ry Cooder almost once sang, oooohhh, I’m a fool for a clarinet. Back in the day, one of my musical heroes was fellow Ohio State grad Richard Stoltzman (double major: music and mathematics), a true master of the instrument who made remarkable recordings in a variety of genres. Today, Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst is making a name for himself as a master of the instrument, and like Stoltzman, Fröst is willing to explore innovative ways to showcase his musical abilities. Back in 2022, we reviewed an album by Fröst in which he explored music from a diverse group of composers ranging over such figures as Bach, Scarlatti, Purcell, Rameau, Richard Rogers, Gordon Jenkins, and Chick Corea (you can read that review here).  In past concert performances, Fröst sometimes devised programs titled "Beyond All Clarinet History" (B.A.C.H.), which intertwined some Bach’s melodies with new arrangements; what we have here is an entire album – appropriately titled “B.A.C.H.” – entirely devoted to the music of Bach, but presented in new interpretations both for clarinet and a variety of other instruments, such as bass, cello, and theorbo (for those unfamiliar with that instrument, imagine a lute on steroids), and on the final track, a piano – played by Benny Andersson of the world-famous pop group ABBA. Although Bach never wrote for the clarinet, nothing here sounds forced or gimmicky. Recorded in an old wooden chapel set in the Swedish countryside that Fröst purchased, restored, and turned into a studio and concert venue, the album has a warm, intimate sonic quality that is well-suited to Bach’s music. You don’t need to be a fool for a clarinet to enjoy this album, but you might become one after giving it a listen. This is a recording that should appeal to a wide variety of musical tastes.

Brahms, Balkans & Bagels. Paquin-Bugi: Mahler Goes Meshuge; Traditional: Kolomeyka; Paquin-Buki and Paquin / Brahms: Élégie des vieux amants; Saint-Saëns: Balkanale; Svigals: Glazier's Hora;  Traditional: Beresh Katz Bulgar; Liszt: Rhapsodie hongroise no 2; Pigeon: Trumpet Doina, wie aus der ferne; Traditional: Der yidisher soldat in di trenches (WWI); Traditional: Reel de Béatrice; Kodály: Kállai kettõs; I. Weber: Wiegala. Oktopus (Matthieu Bourget, bass trombone; Guillaume Martineau, piano; Gabriel Paquin-Buki, clarinet; Maxime Philippe, drums and percussion; Francis Pigeon, trumpet; Julie Blanchet, flute; Noémie Caron-Marcotte, flute; Laetitia Francoz-Lévesque; Simon Jolicoeur, trombone; Kalun Leung, trombone; Julie Rivest, violin) with guest musicians Éric Breton, percussion; Catherine Chabot, flute; Corine Chartré-Lefebvre, horn; Pascal Demalsy, accordion; Janna Kate, vocals; Charles-André Labelle-Giroux, tuba; Emie Rioux-Roussel, piano; Rosanne Philippens, violin.

 

This delightful album should bring many a smile to those listeners with a deep affection for classical music; it may even have some of them leaping from their listening positions and whirling about the room in half-crazed dances of delight; I foresee broken furniture – but pray for no broken bones.  In Brahms, Balkans & Bagels, the Canadian octet Oktopus digs into the question of how popular music may have inspired great composers. The opening track is a perfect example, highlighting the influence of klezmer music on Gustav Mahler. Mahler fans will certainly be able to recognize the themes and enjoy the energetic interweaving of Mahler and madcap. Another highlight is their arrangement of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, which highlights above all the impressive talent of pianist Guillaume Martineau, who improvises a virtuosic cadenza before the group ends the piece with a klezmeresque flourish. It’s an album full of delights and surprises; moreover, what is especially rewarding is that the overall tone is one of joy and respect for classical music – the musicians of Oktopus are not mocking the music of the great composers, they are reveling in it and inviting you to join them in their revels. My goodness, this is a fun release!

Fred Hersch: The Surrounding Green. Hersch: Plainsong; Ornette Coleman: Law Years; Hersch: The Surrounding Green; Egberto Gismonti: Palhaço; George and Ira Gershwin: Embraceable You; Charlie Haden: First Song; Hersch: Anticipation. Fred Hersch, piano; Drew Gress, double bass; Joey Baron, drums. ECM 2826

 

Here we have the most recent release from the veteran American jazz pianist Fred Hersch (b. 1955). Hersch’s story is an inspiring one, for he has come back from the brink of death to regain his ability to play the piano and resume his life and career, as you can you can learn more  about from the pianist himself in from this compelling YouTube video  We have previously reviewed a couple of albums by Hersch, beginning with an album that Hersch recorded in his home during the dark early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. That album was recorded on a less than ideal piano in a less than ideal (at least in terms of recording acoustics) room; however, Hersch’s talent and love for the music made his 2021 release Songs from Home (Palmetto PM2197) a winning collection of tunes that is well worth a listen (you can find our review here). Then in 2024 and we reviewed a his Silent, Listening release on the ECM label, this one recorded under much different and more advantageous circumstances, playing a beautifully tuned piano in an acoustically perfect European hall under the watchful eyes and ears of a world-class producer and engineer (you can find that review here). And a decade before we ever reviewed an album recorded by Fred Hersch himself, our founding father John Puccio reviewed an album recorded by the classical pianist Lara Downes titled 13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg: Bach Reimagined, in which she had invited various composers to provide their own modern variations on Bach’s original theme. One of those variations that Ms. Downes performs is music that John describes as a “lyrically flowing version by Fred Hersch” (you can read John's review here). 

 Fred Hersch, Drew Gress, Joey Baron

This new ECM release finds Hersch in a trio setting, but “lyrically flowing” remains an apt description of his playing throughout, sympathetically supported by bassist Gress and drummer Baron, themselves like Hersch veterans of the NYC jazz scene; however, prior to this recording, these three musicians had never recorded together as a trio. You’ never guess that from listening, though, as the music just seems to flow so naturally, so beautifully, so lyrically. That doesn’t mean “easy listening,” however; the inclusion of an Ornette Coleman tune, Law Years, should provide a clue that all is not simple tunefulness. But even here, there is nothing to assault the senses; rather, it’s more a feeling of contrast and coloration. After all, Ornette was nothing if not lyrical. Perhaps not traditionally so, but my goodness, his music bursts forth with tuneful joy, and these three musicians understand that. Hersch’s title track, The Surrounding Green, which follows, is another exemplar of lyrically flowing music that cannot but help induce aesthetic satisfaction. Recorded in ECM’s typical warm, spacious sound quality and featuring especially appealing cover art (although, sadly but not surprisingly, no liner notes), this is an easily recommendable release of tasteful, thoughtful, rewarding jazz.

Chamber Works by Ernest Kanitz (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Kanitz: Sonata, Op. 10 for Violin and Piano*; String Quartet in D major; Sonata for Solo Cello; Concertino for Five Players**; Sonata Californiana for E flat Alto Saxophone and Piano. ARC Ensemble (Erika Raum, violin; Marie Bérard, violin**; Steven Dann, viola; Thomas Wiebe, cello; Joaquin Valdepeñas, clarinet; Kevin Ahfat, piano; with special guests Wallace Halladay, saxophone; Anna Stube, violin*; Joel Quarrington, double-bass). CHANDOS CHAN 20374

 

Over the past several years we have reviewed several releases by Canada’s ARC (Artists of the Royal Conservatory) Ensemble, an assemblage of musicians engaged in a series of recordings for the CHANDOS label under the heading “Music in Exile,” starting with our review (which you can read here) of the first commercial recording devoted to music by the Czech-born Jewish composer Walter Kaufmann (1907-1984). Other composers who were exiled by the Nazi regime but whose music has been brought out from the depths of obscurity by the ARC Ensemble’s noble efforts have included the Jewish-Ukrainian composer Dmitri Klebanov (1907-1987) (reviewed here); Alberto Hemsi (1898-1975), who was born in the Ottoman Empire in an area that is now part of Turkey (reviewed here); and the German-Jewish composer Robert Müller-Hartmann (1894-1979, who fled to England to work with the great British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (reviewed here).

This newest release, the ninth in the Music in Exile series, features music by the Jewish Austrian-born composer Ernest Kanitz (1894-1978). His story is an interesting one. He had enjoyed early success in his career and had in fact become a prominent musician in Vienna during the 1920s and ‘30s, with frequent concerts and radio broadcasts. However, after the Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938, Kanitz eventually made his way to the United States, where he was able to continue his musical career by teaching and composing, but with death, his modest musical reputation quickly faded away and his music disappeared from the concert stage. Now the ARC Ensemble and CHANDOS are offering the musical world a chance to hear the music of Ernest Kanitz, which based on this release, is well worth hearing. 

The ARC Ensemble

The opening Sonata for Violin and Piano is a melodic marvel, three movements that are a delight from start to finish. So often, listening to sonatas by unknown 20^th-century composers can be a nearly unbearable experience; however, this was just the opposite. His String Quartet, although more serious in tone than the sonata that preceded it, particularly the opening movement, is still quite listenable and enjoyable. The relatively brief Sonata for Solo Cello provides a wide range of stylistic effects over its 10-minute duration, ranging from throwback to modernistic. It is one of those pieces that would benefit from being able to see the performer actually play in live performance to gain full appreciation of their performance; however, it is still an involving performance when only heard and not seen. The Concertino for Five Players, which is scored for clarinet, violin, viola, double bass, and piano, is a jaunty, slightly spiky three-movement work that is the most formal, modern-sounding composition on the program. However, it is also emotionally engaging in its own way, with many tender passages that speak to the heart. The quirkily named Sonata Californiana closes the program with three movements of expressive music that appeal to both heart and mind. The second movement, “Lament,” is a slow movement of utter beauty, followed then by the closer, “Hollywood,” a bustling romp.

Having listened to this recording many times, I find myself hoping to hear more music by Ernest Kanitz in the future. He composed orchestral music – let’s have it! And surely there is more chamber music. For now, however, we have this fine release, and once again, we music lovers owe a debt of gratitude to the ARC Ensemble and CHANDOS for bringing to light music that would have otherwise languished in darkness. 

Domenico Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas (CD Review)

by Ryan Ross

Domenico Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas (selection); Kurtág: Selections from Játékok. András Schiff, pianist. Lucerne Festival Historic Performances. Audite 97.838

These recorded live performances date from 1998 and 1999, when András Schiff was still in his prime and before he was beguiled by that dubious distraction of modern pianists: the period instrument. (If I never again hear a new recording of Beethoven or Schubert on the fortepiano, it will be too soon!) What it amounts to are a group of Scarlatti performances we didn’t know we needed but should be thrilled to have. Partially excepting a single one that I find slightly misjudged, these are all winners informed by the interpretive richness and precision of Schiff at his distinguished best.

We’ll start with my fly in the ointment: Sonata in D, K. 96, which occupies the very first track. Schiff infuses this with the wonderful colors and accentuation of inner voices that are his custom, but he overshoots with expressive rubato. Perhaps I am too influenced by Vladimir Horowitz’s iconic performance (on Sony SK 53460), but this piece calls more for exhilarating brilliance than it does for expressive probing. Schiff’s dramatic pauses, and extra time taken in the repeated-notes and passage-work sections, dilute that sense of brilliance a bit. For me this music needs consistency and drive for it to come off best. Despite lacking the tonal richness of Schiff’s take, Horowitz outdoes him here.

 

But putting this minor disappointment aside, I will admit that virtually the remainder of the Scarlatti renditions here are going right onto my Spotify favorites playlists. Much of Schiff’s success in these pieces comes down to shrewd repertoire selection. Nearly to a sonata do they play to his strengths mentioned above. While most of Scarlatti’s sonatas bear the stamp of his delightfully quirky musical voice, the ones on this recording plumb special depths. Moreover, most of them are not ones you hear too often. The result almost feels like a release of new repertoire, and certainly one that ought to feature prominently in the Scarlatti discography.

 

Some examples are in order. Schiff’s K. 518 in F replicates his K. 96’s gently halting pace, but the former’s aesthetic complexion is more relaxed and better suits such an approach. Moreover, the sudden shifts to chordal “strumming” (and other passages) allow the performer to accentuate the guitar-like flavor with which Scarlatti is often associated. It all works beautifully. Schiff’s K. 519 in F Minor shows him adopting a steadier motion that I wish his K. 96 had; it cruises along with a restrained breeziness. At least as good are the sonatas where Schiff can showcase his signature thoughtfulness. K. 513 in C and K. 426 in G Minor come readily to mind. Both performances illustrate why I prefer Scarlatti on the piano: their subtleties and deep wells of feeling are only enhanced by the capabilities of the modern instrument. Schiff exploits them to the fullest in these two numbers.

But my two favorite performances here are probably K. 394 in E Minor and K. 395 in E, one pairing among several that Schiff highlights. I often tell my students that Scarlatti’s sonata output is like the ocean: big stretches of it are seldom traversed. These two examples aren’t often chosen for star performer compilations (think the wonderful but ubiquitous K. 380 in E), nor even for the many one-off Scarlatti albums out there. But if you skip them, you’re missing out on unexpected glories. What of that sudden explosion of arpeggios (featuring chromatic-mediant harmonic juxtaposition) to head the second section of K. 394? It’s one of those instances where a simple gesture has more expressive power than it has any right to. In K. 395, the beginning of the second section again proves to be the linchpin for the entire work, with its brief sotto voce passage that prompts the listener to experience the surrounding material in new hues.

 

By way of concluding, I’ll admit to recently making a playlist of all 555 Scarlatti sonatas. The exercise took a long time because I wanted the best performances possible for each selection, and I was forced (if that’s the word) into a ton of listening just to achieve an approximation. The reason I mention this is that the exercise taught me a great deal, including the reality that even after all this time we are still living in the Wild West of Scarlatti recordings. There is a great deal of interpretive territory yet to be staked in repertoire that is endlessly explorable. Anybody who is even casually keeping track should buy this disc right away.