Recent Releases No. 43 (CD Mini-reviews)

by Karl Nehring

Theory of Becoming. Evgueni Galperine: This Town Will Burn Before Dawn; Cold Front; Oumuamua, Space Wanderings; Soudain, le vide; Kaddish; The Wheel Has Come Full Circle; Le letter d’un disparu; After the Storm; Don’t Tell; Loplop im Wald. Evgueni Galperine, electronics, sampling; Sergei Nakariakov, trumpet; Sébastien Hurtaud, violoncello; Maria Vasyukova, voice. ECM New Series 2744 485 7282

 

This fascinating album is hard to categorize, lying as it does somewhere between classical, jazz, and electronica – but to these ears at least, it can reasonably be classified as classical, or at least as strongly classically influenced. Russian-born French composer Evgueni Galperine (b.1974) writes that “the sound world of this album can be regarded as a kind of ‘augmented reality of acoustic instruments.’ It is created from recordings I make from recordings I make with real and virtual instruments, which I subsequently alter. The numerous transformations the instruments undergo allow me to capture their acoustic nature while also adding techniques and colours that are completely impossible to produce in reality. This process leads to new and unexpected, yet organically grounded sounds.”  Not just the sounds, but the music also sounds organically grounded. Galperin provides brief notes on four of the tracks, explanations that make each piece sound as though it was conceived as a brief tone poem. Theory of Becoming is boldly imaginative, musically captivating, and sonically stimulating, regardless of how you decide to classify it. It’s classical enough for me.

 Gems from Armenia: Aznavoorian Duo. Komitas Vartabed: Chinar Es; Tsirani Tsar; Garoun A; Al Ailux; Krunk; Aram Khachaturian: Ivan Sings (arr. Antti Hakkarainen); Yerevan; Arno Babajanian: Elegy; Aria & Dance; Avet Terterian: Sonata for Cello and Piano; Serouj Kradjian: Sari Siroun Yar (Traditional); Alexander Arutiunian: Impromptu; Vache Sharafyan: Petrified Dance; Peter Boyer: Mount Ararat. Ani Aznavoorian, cello; Marta Aznavoorian, piano. Cedille CDR 90000 209

 

The Aznavoorian Duo comprises two sisters of Armenian descent who hail from the Chicago area. On this new Cedille release, they present compositions by seven Armenian composers, plus one composition by an American composer, Peter Boyer, who wrote Mount Ararat especially for this album and project. The Duo have been presenting concert programs based on the Gems from Armenia theme, and when they performed it in Chicago, Boyer was on hand to explain the inspiration for and ideas behind his composition to the audience. It is a dramatic piece, closing the program on a serious note after it had begun with much lighter fare. The opening tracks on the disc by Vartabed ((1869-1935), Khachaturian (1903-1978), and Babajanian (1921-1983) are all relatively brief, melodic, and folk-based. Two of the pieces, Garoun A by Vaerabed and the Elegy by Babajanian are for solo piano, played by Marta; all the other compositions are for both cello and piano. (The liner notes state, by the way, that Marta is a Steinway Artist, while “Ani proudly performs on a cello made in Chicago by her father, Peter Aznavoorian.”) The sonata by Terterian (1929-1994) is the longest selection (20:41), but it continues in the same populist musical spirit as the preceding pieces, suffused with melody, as are the next two tracks by Serouj Kradjian (b. 1973) and Alexander Arutiunian (1920-2012). The penultimate piece on the program, Petrified Dance by Vache Sharafyan, has a brooding, haunted quality to it, setting the stage for the dramatic opening bars of Boyer’s Mount Ararat. As usual with Cedille, the engineering is flawless and the liner notes are helpful.

Bohuslav Martinu: Concerto for Harpsichord and Small Orchestra; Hans Krása: Kammermusik for Harpsichord and 7 Instruments; Viktor Kalabis: Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra, Op. 42. Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord; Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Liebreich, conductor. Hyperion CDA68397

 

This refreshing release presents unfamiliar music with energy and enthusiasm. Iranian-born harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani (b.1984) grew up in the United States and now lives in Prague. He has been a rising star on his instrument (he first came to my attention with his energetic recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations) and he is a passionate advocate for its more widespread recognition. The most familiar figure among the three Czech composers represented on this release for most listeners will no doubt be Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959), although this particular composition of Martinu’s will likely be unfamiliar to most. Despite being titled as a work for harpsichord and small orchestra, the piece opens sounding as if it is going to be a piano concerto. The harpsichord does eventually gain the spotlight, its distinctive sound seemingly offering a reflective commentary on what has come before. It is interesting to hear how the piano sound emanates from the left rear of the soundstage while the harpsichord is placed forward, but still the sound of the piano threatens to dominate. Musically, it is a sparkling piece, the diminutive sound of the harpsichord drawing the listener in closer to the heart of the music.

The relatively brief (14:24) two-movement Kammermusik for Harpsichord and Seven Instruments by Hans Krása (1899-1944), who was murdered at Auschwitz, another tragic victim of the Holocaust, is by turns jaunty, witty, tart, and playful (is that a bit of Bolero we hear being snuck in there?) as it moves energetically along through it exuberant first movement. The second movement begins slowly but soon picks up speed and becomes downright jaunty, with some energetic playing by Esfahani setting the pace, before finally ending more peacefully. Concerning the Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra by Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006), Esfahani writes: “Of the three works on this recording – indeed, of all modern harpsichord works – Viktor Kalabis’s 1975 Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra, Op. 42, is the most personal. It certainly has an intense personal connection for me ii I was, after all, the last student of the work’s dedicatee, who was herself the wife of the composer.” This is the work of the three that stands out most distinctly as a bona fide harpsichord concerto, and Esfahani makes a convincing case for it, playing exuberantly in the outer movements and more introspectively in the middle movement. All in all, this is an album that deserves to win a wider audience for both Esfahani and his chosen instrument, the harpsichord.

 

Last Decade: Benjamin Lackner. Where Do We Go from Here; Circular Confidence; Camino Cielo; Hung Up on That Ghost; Last Ghost; Last Decade; Remember This; Open Minds Lost; Émile; My People. Benjamin Lackner, piano; Mathias Eick, trumpet; Jérôme Regard, double bass; Manu Katché, drums. ECM 2738 389 9024

 

Last Decade is another of those ECM albums that exemplify the overlap between chamber music and jazz. Although it is clearly a jazz album, the way the musicians interact, the balance among the various parts, the way all seem to be working toward a common goal rather than trying to showcase their own individual talents – it calls to mind the interaction of, say, a string quartet and pianist getting together to perform the Brahms Piano Quintet. Although pianist Lackner is listed as the leader, his piano does not dominate. Eick on trumpet weaves some spellbinding melodies, but never to the extent of unleashing any kind of splashy virtuosic, attention-grabbing display. Nor does Lackner indulge in any flashy displays, but rather plays subtle, pastel melodic lines. For classical music fans who might want to widen their musical horizons, this is an album well worth an audition.