Recent Releases, No. 14 (CD Mini-reviews)

By Karl W. Nehring

Randall Goosby: Roots. Xavier Dubois Foley: Shelter Island; Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Blue/s Forms for solo violin; George Gershwin (arr. Joshua Heifitz): Porgy and Bess selections; William Grant Still: Suite for Violin and Piano; Florence Price: Adoration; Fantasie No. 1; Fantasy No. 2; Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (arr. Maud Powell): Deep River; Antonîn Dvorák: Sonatina. Randall Goosby, violin; Zhu Wang, piano; Xavier Dubois Foley, double bass. Decca B0033878-02.

From the opening notes of the first cut, Shelter Island, with violinist Goosby (b. 1996), a protégé of Itzhak Perlman, swinging along in blues-tinged fashion with the young composer Xavier Foley (b. 1994) on bass, you know this is not going to be yet another virtuosic display by a violinist out to stake a claim in the classical landscape. A glance at the program, with its emphasis on music by African-American composers (the liner notes point out that Goosby also “included works by two non-Black composers, Antonîn Dvorák and George Gershwin, because of the admiration and respect they showed for African-American and Native American people during their time, and in their music”). Throughout the recording, Goosby makes a case for this music with his sensitive but always enthusiastic playing. He can make it swing, he can make it sing, he can make it cry, he can make it fly... We seem to have here a major new musical talent, and we should salute him (and the folks at Decca) for presenting us with such a fresh and fascinating – not to mention timely and important – musical program for his debut. Kudos to all concerned!

SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet: Echoes. John Dowland: Lachrimae Antiquae (Arr. Knoth); Max Richter: On the Nature of Daylight; Philip Glass: 1957: Award Montage (from String Quartet No. 3 “Mishima”); Gabriel Fauré: Pie Jesu (from Requiem) (Arr. Knoth); Peter Gregson: Allemande (after J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4); Joep Beving: Ab Ovo (Arr. Knoth); Remo Giazotto: Adagio in G Minor (Attrib. T. Albinoni); Paul Hindemith: Chorale (from Trauermusik); Peteris Vasks: Then Time Stopped (from Songs of Love); Guillermo Lago: Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) (from Ciudades). SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet (Blaz Kemperle, soprano saxophone; Hayrapet Arakelyan, alto/soprano saxophones; Alan Luzar, tenor saxophone; Guerino Bellarosa, baritone saxophone); Hila Karni, cello; Grace Davidson, soprano. Deutsche Grammophon 486 0582.

Most people today associate the saxophone with jazz, but in its early days (it was invented around 1840) it was employed primarily in classical ensembles and wind bands. It was not until the 1920s that the saxophone began to take off as an instrument featured in jazz bands. Still, we don’t really tend to think of the saxophone as a classical instrument, and although the typical classical music fan could rattle off the names of any number of string quartets (Juilliard, Guarneri, Budapest, Emerson, Hagen, Takacs, etc.), I doubt that only a very few could name any saxophone quartets. Enter the SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet with their new DG recording titled Echoes, playing music spanning nearly 500 years and making it sound like the most natural thing in the word for it to be played by four saxophones (augmented on a couple of selections, the Richter and the Hindemith, by a cello, and on the Fauré by the voice of soprano Grace Davidson). Never does this sound like some sort of novelty album; every cut sounds natural and musical, as though it were written for these instruments, which is only literally true for the final cut on the album, Sarajevo. From the 16^th-century music of Dowland through the contemporary compositions of Richter and Gregson, this collection is sheer delight both musically and sonically. My only reservation about this release is its length, which is just over 39 minutes. Rest assured, all 39 minutes are really wonderful, but yeah, there really could have been a lot more. Sigh…

Mozart Momentum 1785. CD1: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K 466; Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major K 467. CD2: Fantasia in C minor K 475; Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello No. 1 in G minor K 478; Masonic Funeral Music in C minor K477; Piano Concerto No 22 in E-Flat Major K 482. Leif Ove Andsnes, piano and direction (concertos); Matthew Truscott, violin and direction (Masonic Funeral Music); Joel Hunter, viola; Frank Michael Guthmann, Cello; Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Sony Classical 194397462.

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes brings us a two-CD set of music composed by Mozart in the year 1785. The liner notes explain that in1784, Mozart had written six piano concertos to play at subscription concerts in Vienna, but then in 1785, “he changed gear… Over the next two years, Mozart significantly reduced his quantitative output of piano  concertos but massively increased their depth, expression and architectural imagination in inverse proportion.” Certainly the two concertos found on CD1 are probably the best-known of all the Mozart concertos, having been paired together on LP and CD countless times by countless musicians, and for good reason – they are both splendid works. Most music lovers are already going to have their favorite recordings; all I can say is that these performances by Andsnes and the MCO are very good both musically and sonically and would be a good introduction to these works for someone new to classical music as they avoid any interpretive excess. CD2 brings more variety, with some solo piano music, a short and somber bit of funeral music, a piano quartet that sounds like a reduced piano concerto – I do not mean that at all negatively; it is a wonderful piece of music bursting with melody, and finally, a piano concerto (No. 22) that is not encountered as often as those found on CD1. All in all, this is a splendid collection of some of Mozart’s most inspired music, and a follow-up release (Mozart Momentum 1786) is said to be scheduled for later in 2021.

Ramon Humet: Llum (Light). Tanca els ulls (Close Your Eyes); Camina endins (Walk Inside); Baixa al cim de l’Anima (Descent to the Summit of the Soul); Pedra nua (Naked Stone); Pau al Cor (The Peaceful Heart); Engrunes de Llum (Luminous Crumbs); Alleluia (Alleluia). Sigvards Klava, Latvian Radio Choir. Ondine ODE 1389-2.

In his brief liner notes, Spanish composer Ramon Humet (b. 1968) invites his listeners to “take a journey inward, to travel to the immense space which is, precisely, what makes us human, to that silent place which exists within us, to the deep wellspring that is the birthplace of everything, to the bright sapling of Peace; to the infinite, which announces the Mystery; to the gift of Life, Peace and Love.” For many potential listeners, that might sound like pretentious twaddle; however, I hope it does not dissuade you from giving this release an audition, for I have found it to be one of the most beautiful recordings I have heard in quite some time. The Latvian Radio Choir sings Humet’s challenging score quite beautifully. As the composer elaborates, “the texts which accompany each of the seven stages of this inner pilgrimage were written by my friend Vicenç Santamaria, a monk from the monastery of Montserrat. The words have been set to music for a variety of choral formations – mixed choir, female voice choir, double choir – and for different soloists. All the pieces are composed to be sung a cappella, and in Luminous Crumbs, crotales and bar chimes have been added.” The variety of sounds and vocal textures projected by the choir over the course of the program truly do enhance the sense of movement and change as the work progresses. (The liner booklet, by the way, contains the text, both in Spanish and English translation.) Regardless of what you might think of the text, the music is superb. Just close your eyes, look inside, and let the sound take you away…

KWN