Between Two Worlds (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes Op. 34 (for clarinet, string quartet, and piano); Joel Engel: The Dybbuk Suite Op. 35 (for clarinet, strings, and percussion); Paul Ben-Haim: Quintet Op. 31a (for clarinet and string quartet). Guy Yehuda, clarinet; Dmitri Berlinsky, violin; Yvonne Lam, violin; Eric Nowlin, viola; Suren Bagratuni, cello; Kevin Brown, bass; John Weber, percussion; Eric Zuber, piano. Reference Recordings FR-754 

 

It is always fun and uplifting to run across recordings of unfamiliar music performed by unfamiliar artists and find the experience a musical and sonic delight. Of course, when the release is from the Reference Recordings label, you can be awfully darn confident that the sound quality will be first-class, so it was easy enough to just sit back and listen to the music without even thinking about the sound – just the music, which is as it should be. In the interest of full disclosure, I should also mention that I am by nature predisposed to enjoy music that features the clarinet, my instrument. Oh, I haven’t seriously played the clarinet since high school, where I played both B-flat and bass clarinet (and was better on the latter, but mediocre at best on both, to be honest). To this day, I love the sound of the clarinet, which melts my heart and seduces my ear. Oh, my goodness…

Where was I? Oh yes, writing of this new recording, on which clarinetist Guy Yehuda and friends deliver a program comprising three twentieth century works that reflect Jewish cultural influences. Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes was inspired when Prokofiev, who was not Jewish, encountered a group of Russian Jewish musicians known as the Zimro Ensemble. This group, which was led by a celebrated clarinetist Simeon Bellison, gave a celebrated concert in Carnegie Hall when Prokofiev was living in New York, met Prokofiev, gave him a notebook of Jewish melodies, and requested that the composer write a piece for them. The end result is the delightful composition that opens this disc.

Joel Engel (1868-1827) was born in Russia but worked in Berlin and Jerusalem, He recorded folk music from small Jewish villages and published many of the melodies, which meant that he influenced many later composers who came to incorporate some of these Jewish melodies and themes into their music, e.g., Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Bernstein, For a time, Engels’s own music was largely forgotten, but is now being brought back to life, as in the recording. This colorful music, expressive and lively; it makes you want to hear more by this composer.

 

The late Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984) should be more familiar to most readers. Ben-Haim was born in Munich and for a time served as an assistant conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch before becoming conductor at the Augsburg opera. He fled Germany for Israel (then British Mandate Palestine) in 1933) to flee Nazi rule. His Quintet is in three movements that are captivating from start to finish, especially the second movement Capriccio that crackles with wit and energy. The final movement is in theme and variations form, with an enigmatic ending, thoughtful and spare. It’s a beautifully thought-out composition.

 

Finally, I must make mention of the CD booklet, which is exemplary. Not only does it provide useful information about the music, the composers, the musicians, but it is also adorned with photographs and entertaining artwork. All in all, Between Two Worlds is truly a world-class release.