Recent New Releases, No. 9 (CD Mini-Reviews)

By Karl W. Nehring

Albores: Dino Saluzzi, bandoneon. ECM 2638 774 7754.

Dino Saluzzi (b. 1935) is a master of the bandoneon, an accordion-like instrument most often associated with the tango. However, the music on Albores, consisting of nine compositions by Saluzzi, is not tango music, as we can infer from a glance at the back cover. The title of the first track, Adiós Maestro Kancheli, is a reference to Georgian composer Giya Kancheli (1935-2019), whose music was sprawling, eruptive, disruptive, and highly charged. Saluzzi’s dedication reads: “Dear Maestro and friend, your wonderful music will always remain with me. It was a great honor to get to know you.” This and the other eight compositions on Albores are in a serious, probing, deeply reflective vein, drawing the listener in as if listening to an intense movement from a late Beethoven string quartet or Schubert piano sonata. Saluzzi is not dashing off tunes for mere entertainment, but making music for contemplation and aesthetic uplift. Beautiful, inspiring music; however, every rose has its thorn – the sound of the bandoneon, while rich and complex in its own way, also includes clicking and popping from the keys and buttons that may cause you to think your CD player is mistracking at times. If you can get past that, you will be richly rewarded.

Arvo Pärt: Miserere. Which Was the Son of…; Festina lente; Tribute to Caesar; Sequentia; The Deer’s Cry; Miserere; And I Heard a Voice…. Howard Arman, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Münchner Rundfunkorchester; oestereichisches ensemble fuer neue music. BR Klassik 900527.

One of the consolations of having to spend so much time at home because of the pandemic has been the opportunity to have more time to enjoy beautiful recordings such as this. The choral music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) is always a joy to hear, and especially so when it is so expertly performed and recorded as it is on this new collection featuring the Bavarian Radio Chorus. And speaking of the pandemic, the liner notes explain the ‘Happy Birthday, Arvo Pärt!’ was the title of the first choir subscription concert of the 2020/21 season, at which Pärt’s 85^th birthday was to have been celebrated – with the composer himself actually present. Indeed, it could have been a double birthday, since the Bavarian Radio Chorus is also celebrating its 75^th anniversary. But everything turned out differently. Arvo Pärt stayed at home, as did the concert audience. The singers and their artistic director Howard Arman remained at their posts, albeit with the respectful social distancing required by the coronavirus. Also on hand behind their glass screens, were the sound engineer and his team, who recorded a significant part of the present CD edition.” Although it may have been a big disappointment not to have a live concert, in the end we music lovers at home have ended up being the beneficiaries, as the resultant recording, with all but the performance of Miserere being captured in studio settings rather than live concert performances, are extremely well recorded, making this release a sonic as well as musical delight. The excellent liner booklet that includes texts makes this a first-class release in every respect.

Glass: Les Enfants Terribles; Etudes Nos. 17 and 20. Katia and Marielle LaBéque, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 4855097.

Katia (b. 1950) and Marielle (b. 1952) Labèque are French sisters who have been making recordings and performing for more than five decades across a variety of genres, even including a stint with jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, with whom Katia was romantically linked for several years in the 1980s. The sisters  have played jazz, baroque, ragtime, and both mainstream and contemporary classical music. In 2005, they performed the world premiere of Philip Glass’s Double Concerto for two pianos, which the composer dedicated to the sisters. More recently, Glass requested that his longtime collaborator and arranger Michael Riesman put together a two-piano suite based on Glass’s opera Les Enfants Terribles. Those familiar with the music of Philip Glass know that he falls into the “minimalist” camp; however, this suite for two pianos is in places boisterous, dramatic, and exciting, played with flair and power, while at other times reflective and brooding, played with sensitivity and finesse. For a video glimpse of the sisters playing this music, you can catch a glimpse here. The program is rounded out with solo performances by Marielle of Glass’s Etude No. 17 and Katia of his Etude No. 20. The former is charming, expressive – Glass’s piano music shows him at his best – while the latter seems to reveal another dimension of expression that transcends minimalism, Glass’s music extending into another dimension and bringing the listener along for the ride.  

Songs from Home: Fred Hersch, piano. Palmetto PM2197.

This is another of those musical efforts that in some respects we owe to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jazz pianist Fred Hersch recorded this solo piano album in his own home on his own piano and is now sharing it with us for our enjoyment while we are still trying to get the upper hand in our ongoing battle with the coronavirus. This truly is an entertaining collection of music both familiar, with renditions of tunes including but not limited to  “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “Wichita Lineman,” Joni Mitchell’s “All I Want,” and an original by Hersch. The piano he uses is not perfect, but the resultant sound just adds to the personal feel. The music is familiar, although played with a personal flair, and the overall feeling is one of great intimacy and direct communication. I played it one evening when my wife was at home, and from the other room she commented, “that CD you’re playing makes me feel like we are having a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant with a really good piano player taking requests and making sure everybody is having a memorable evening. That’s really nice – who is it?” Yes, Songs from Home truly is a feel-good CD, and by the time you get to the final cut, “When I’m Sixty-four,” you will have had a memorable listening experience thanks to the musical mastery and communicative spirit of Maestro Hersch.

Vida Breve: Bach/Busoni: Chaconne from Partita No 2 in D minor BWV 1004; Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor; Liszt: Funérailles from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses; Bagatelle sans tonalite; Busoni: Kammer-Fantasie über Carmen; Hough: Piano Sonata No. 4 ‘Vida Breve’: Traditional/Hough: Arirang. Steven Hough. Piano. Hyperion CDA68260.

As you might be led to infer by the titles of the CD itself and some of the selections, and the inclusion of the Chopin funeral march, this program by British pianist Stephen Hough is not all sweetness and light. That said, there is beauty to be found here, in the music, the playing, and in the recorded sound, which is a bit on the distant but warm side, which seems just right for the reflective mood that Hough seems to be inviting us to enter as we contemplate one of the bedrock certainties of life, as he explains: “People are often reluctant to talk about death… but in the world of the arts – in painting, literature, and music – death has always been a central subject resulting in the most exalted and inexhaustible expression, the image of a dead man hanging on a cross arguably the fundamental icon of Western culture… On this recording I wanted to explore some pieces that have this theme as part of their identity or inspiration.” But no, you do not have to ponder your mortality as you listen to this recording, for this is beautiful music that can be enjoyed for what it is, beautiful music, beautifully performed and recorded, bringing joy to your life for 78 beautiful minutes.   

Villa-Lobos: Choral Transcriptions. Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte, Book 2-No.9 in E major; Bach: Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E flat minor/D sharp minor BWV 853; Schumann: Traumerei; Bach: Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 846; Schubert: Ständchen; Bach: Fugue No. 21 in B flat major, BWV 866; Chopin: Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor; Bach: Prelude No. 22 in B flat minor, BWV 867; Rachmaninov: Prelude in C sharp minor; Bach: Prelude no. 14 in F sharp minor, BWV 883; Massenet: Élégie; Bach: Fugue No. 5 in D major, BWV 874; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Pathétique’ – II. Adagio cantabile; Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 (version for choir). Valentina Peleggi, São Paulo Symphony Choir. NAXOS 8.574286.

From 1933 to 1935, Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) created a number of transcriptions of classical music compositions by other composers in arrangements for a cappella choir, especially of the Preludes and Fugues from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier. As you can see from the selections listed above, this recording by the São Paulo Symphony Choir under the direction of Italian conductor Valentina Peleggi places an emphasis on the latter, with a number of Bach selections seasoned with some selections by other familiar figures, and ending with a choral version of one of Villa-Lobos’s own Bach-inspired compositions, his Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9, which the composer dedicated to American composer Aaron Copland. Most of the arrangements are for wordless choir; only the Schubert and the Massenet selection feature lyrics, which are presented in the liner booklet. Although some readers might be led to think of something like the old Swingle Singers recordings of Bach, this is something much different, as the choir is much larger and the arrangements are much more complex and nuanced than those of the Swingles (not to knock them, they were great fun). Having the Bach arrangements run as a thread throughout the program gives it weight and body, while having the other arrangements provides variety and color. Hearing a melody with which you are familiar from having heard on the piano (for me, it was the Rachmaninov Prelude in C sharp minor) sung by this large choir is a transcendent moment, sure to bring a shiver and a smile. This is a truly delightful recording that should appeal to a wide variety of music lovers. The recording quality is just fine, offering a sense of space without the overly resonant muddiness that mars some choral releases.  

KWN