Recent Releases, No. 11 (CD Mini-reviews)

By Karl W. Nehring

Brahms: Symphony No. 3; Serenade No. 2. Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra. Channel Classics CCS SA 43821.

I will say at the outset that this is a truly fine recording and performance of the Brahms symphony and serenade; seriously, if you read any further, you may be left scratching your head and wondering what the heck my problem is. Believe me, good reader, the problem is mine, not yours, nor Channel Classics, nor Maestro Fischer’s (who with the same orchestra has made some dynamite Mahler recordings). In an event, I have rarely been able to find recordings of Brahms symphonies with which I am truly satisfied (that list – a rather short one indeed – consists of Klemperer in No. 1, Karajan and Walter in No. 3, and Walter and Stokowski in No. 4). The engineering on this new Channel release is superior to either of my two favorites (I listened to the stereo CD layer of this SACD disc, which also contains a 5.0 surround mix for those so inclined and equipped). (As far as the Serenade No. 2, I will withhold any comment, for this is music I have tried repeatedly over the years to develop any sort of feeling for without any success.) Although the Budapest Festival Orchestra sounds splendid on this recording, what holds me back from giving it my own enthusiastic recommendation is a certain feeling of squareness, of liveliness, of spontaneity. For my taste at least, Fischer just seems too earthbound. All the notes are there, but he does not quite make them sing or dance or come completely to life. But in my experience, very few conductors do, and again, the sound quality is excellent, so this release is certainly well worth an audition by Brahmsians more broadminded than I.

Glass-Sandresky: Strange Energies. Sandresky: Flowing Water Encounters Obstacles; Nor'easter; What's Left; Fear; Force; Waves; Laughter. Glass: Etudes Nos. 2, 9, 12, 16.      
Eleonor Sandresky, piano. Orange Mountain Music OMM 7019.

Eleonor Sandresky is a pianist who has worked closely with composer Philip Glass for than three decades and has often performed with the Philip Glass Ensemble. Her works for the piano as presented on this recording, however, do not sound like warmed-over Glass. They are more expressive, more varied in style and mood. On her website, Sandresky says of this music that “I began composing these pieces back in 2012 as a way to try to capture various properties of sound: how it dies away, how it travels, where I feel it in my body, etc. With each of these pieces, I have tried to explore a different set of parameters for the performer and the audience. These are as much etudes for the audience to listen with specific intention as they are for the pianist!” Although the music of Glass that concludes the album by comparison seems more buttoned-down emotionally, the piano music of Glass can be fascinating, even spellbinding, and Sandresky does a fine job of drawing out the “strange energies” that lie below the surface of what can come across as shallow and repetitive music. This CD was one of those library finds that I hesitated to audition, having never having heard of Sandresky, but in the end I was glad I took the chance. If you are a fan of piano music, I invite you to do the same.

Reflections. Vikingur Ólafsson, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 00289 483 9222.
 

This new album from Icelandic pianist Vikingur Ólafsson is something of a follow-up to an album that we reviewed last year (that review can be found here). This time around, however, what we have is not a straightforward recital by Ólafsson of music by Debussy and Rameau, but rather some cuts featuring Ólafsson on the piano along with a variety of other musicians and sonorities. Ólafsson says of his aims in putting this project together: "I wanted to explore certain works from fresh perspectives, to reimagine them and invite other composers to rework elements of these extraordinary pieces... In addition to my own new recordings and material, this album features wonderful artists from different directions who have used my recordings from the Debussy-Rameau album as material for their own highly original works. They have opened my ears to new, fascinating paths and for that I am immensely grateful." Those new paths and sounds include the use of some electronic manipulation of sounds, synthesizers, guitars, percussion - this might sound quite daunting, but overall, the sounds produced are quite tasteful. The most jarring sound to my ears was the inclusion of a human voice on one cut. The sound of the voice was not in itself jarring, it was just unexpected on what is otherwise an instrumental album. Still, the best cuts on the albums were those featuring Ólafsson on the piano, of which fortunately there are quite a few, the most amazing of which is Track 8, titled Reflection, which is an improvisation on Debussy's Bruyères, the piece with which Ólafsson also opens and closes the album. The only fly in the ointment is the recorded sound, as some of the Ólafsson tracks were apparently recorded during pandemic lockdown under less than ideal circumstances and there are some extraneous noises that some listeners might find an unwelcome distraction. The other tracks are just fine. All in all, Reflections is a fascinating and imaginative release.

The Tower and the Garden: Toivo Tulev: A child said, what is the grass?; Gregory Spears: The Tower and the Garden; Joel Puckett: I enter the earth; Donald Nally, The Crossing. Navona NV6303.

The Crossing is a professional chamber choir that specializes in new music. They have made a number of recordings and picked up Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance of 2018 for their recording of The Fifth Century by Gavin Bryars and 2019 for their recording of Zealot Chronicles by Lansing McCloskey. The three compositions on The Tower and the Garden each have a different overall sonority and sonic signature to them; ideally, that means listeners will be bound to find a sound they really like (reminiscent of the old Jimmy Dean restaurant television commercials – remember them? – “we’ll treat you so many ways you’re bound to like one of ‘em!). First up is A child said, what is the grass? by Estonian composer Toivo Tulev (b. 1958), which features some relatively mild dissonances but not to the point of annoyance. Next up is the title piece, The Tower and the Garden by American composer Gregory Spears (b. 1977), which consists of four movements. On this piece, the sound of the choir is augmented by the sound of a string quartet, producing a rich sonic rich tapestry. For the final composition, I enter the earth by American composer Joel Puckett (b. 1977), The Crossing produce some truly enticing harmonies, leaving the listener with a sense of serenity and inspiration.

KWN