Bill Heck’s Favorites of 2024

For several reasons, I’ve written very few reviews this year, so my list of favorites is necessarily short. Even so, here’s my customary warning: the recordings below are not to be considered somehow “the best” of the year; instead, they are simply recordings that I found both interesting and well done, ones that I returned to long after reviewing them. (And yeah, I could make the list longer by including all of the performances that I wrote about, but that’s hardly in the spirit of “favorites”!)

Duke Ellington: Night Creature (arr. David Berger); George Gershwin: An American in Paris (ed. M. Clauge); Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from “On the Waterfront”. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, cond. Louis Louis Langrée.  Fanfare Cincinnati. While we all know that “serious” music does not have to sound like Mozart or Beethoven or even Shostakovich, it’s still easy to somehow think that music by more “popular” composers, especially those who lived in recent times, and very especially Americans, can’t really be “serious” and worthwhile. If proof of the silliness of such an attitude were needed, this album would do the job. Here we have creative, interesting, enjoyable music played with gusto and verve. Give this a listen (if you haven’t already) and find out for yourself.

Florence Price: Symphony 4; William Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philadelphia Orchestra.  DG CC 72970. This actually is half a favorite. I enjoyed the Price symphony, so I’m certainly not dissing it -- but the Dawson Negro Folk Symphony just is in another league. My reaction after hearing the work in concert early in the year was “where has this been all my life?”, so I was delighted to see this recording only a few months later. Do give it a listen and, if you are fortunate enough to see it on a concert program, go for it – it was just made for the concert hall!

Note: both of the above are available only by download or streaming.

The Vox “Audiophile Edition” remasterings.  I reviewed the set of Prokofiev complete piano music in this series in 2023, and my colleague Karl has reviewed a number of these Vox "Audiophile Edition” releases this year. It’s hard to remember a series that has been so consistently worthwhile: not a clunker in the bunch. If any of them catch your eye, buy with confidence.

That’s it. I wish you the best of the holiday season, and may your world be filled with favorites every day!

American Dreams

by Bill Heck

Duke Ellington: Night Creature (arr. David Berger); George Gershwin: An American in Paris (ed. M. Clauge); Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from “On the Waterfront”. Cincinnati Sympyhony Orchestra, cond. Louis Louis Langrée.  Fanfare Cincinnati. Available on most streaming platforms or for download from multiple sources.

Let me begin with a personal story: my wife and I lived in southwestern Ohio for about 10 years and during that period attended many Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performances. This was during Paavo Jarvi’s tenure as Music Director, and we left the area a few years before Louis Langrée took over. However, we returned a few times each year, our visits often including trips with friends to attend CSO concerts. On one of these occasions, we were invited backstage after the concert and were privileged to meet with Maestro Langrée for a few moments of truly enjoyable and educational conversation. Give these experiences, not to mention the quality of  the many performances that we heard there over the years, I've always had warm, fuzzy feelings for the Cincinnati Symphony. So you have been warned: in reviewing the album, I'm a homer.

Duke Ellington

All three of the works here can be classified as "crossover" pieces, in the sense that they attempt to fuse popular musical approaches with the classical tradition. However, at least to my mind, that sort of language is, at best, hopelessly vague. The classical music tradition, or perhaps I should say the art music tradition, encompasses a huge range of styles and influences. Bringing jazz idioms, as in the case of the first two works, or traditions of musical theater, as in the case of the third, to classical music is just another milestone on a very long road. As Duke Ellington observed “There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.”

And speaking of Mr Ellington, the first piece in the collection here is his Night Creature. The work is deliberately symphonic, having been composed for the united forces of Ellington's big band plus a symphony orchestra. Although this is not generally regarded as one of Ellington's masterpieces, it sounds pretty appealing to me. (Hardly surprising, as it’s hard to believe that Ellington ever wrote really bad music.) We might also note that the “night creatures” are not the stock of horror films or cinema noir; instead they are fantasies, perhaps based on the people who inhabit the nighttime world in which musicians such as Ellington work and whom Ellington found fascinating.

George Gershwin

The booklet that accompanies the album is not explicit on where the "big band" musicians came from; some seem to be orchestra members, although the five saxophonists listed are referred to as "substitute musicians." Whatever the case. I'm old enough to have heard a couple of honest-to-goodness big bands: the playing here recalls the best of those, with solid timing and just a hint of the required swing without falling into the galumphing that too often was heard in the waning days of big band era (and is sometimes heard when classical musicians are trying just a little too hard to be jazzy). Langrée has everything moving along nicely and the balances allow us to hear into the heart of the arrangements.

Gershwin's An American in Paris is one of those pieces that you may have a hard time recalling until, upon hearing the first notes, you say "oh yeah, I know that!" The arrangement here for symphony orchestra has been around for a long time, but Langrée and the Cincinnatians make it sound like the piece was written just for them. The first word that occurred to me as I heard the opening bars was "lively" and I mean that in the best possible way: there's energy and crispness galore. Of course, tempos change as the music progresses and the moods vary, but the performance really is spot on throughout. The performance also is relaxed – and no, I'm not contradicting myself after saying that it's lively. I mean that it's relaxed in the sense that any professional makes their activity seem smooth and easy, regardless of how difficult it really might be at any moment.

Leonard Bernstein

The final work here, Bernstein's suite from On the Waterfront, is just what it sounds like: a collection of pieces from Bernstein’s score for the film of that name. (In the end, Bernstein was not happy with how his score was manipulated in the film; that’s presumably why he never wrote another movie score.) I've never been much of a fan of suites derived from film scores, as I generally miss the visual cues that help to make sense of the music; for me, this work is no exception. Still, although the piece in its entirety is not quite my cup of tea, I certainly can hear moments of appealing and interesting music, and the playing is more than up to par. If you're a Bernstein fan or more sympathetic than I to compositions of this sort, I think you'll be happy indeed. By now, it should go without saying that Langrée and the CSO make an excellent case for the work.

I can't close without remarking on the quality of the recording. The recording team of Dirk Sorbotka and Mark Donahue have done a masterful job indeed: balances are impeccable, the perspective is realistic, and there's just the right amount of hall sound to lend body without muddying up the presentation. Amazingly, these works were all recorded live; the audience must have been very healthy and quite enraptured, as there are no coughs, sneezes, or sounds of impatience. Indeed, the only indication that the audience was there at all is enthusiastic applause at the end of each work; frankly, I could have done without that bit – but my reaction is a minor quibble. A slightly more important quibble, although not a showstopper, is that the album notes available through streaming services and downloads give some interesting information about the history of the Cincinnati Symphony but lack any discussion of the music being played. However, detailed program notes are available through the CSO website, although it takes some digging to find them. (So that you don't need to do the digging, I've included a link right here.) Surely most listeners would be interested in these notes; it's a pity that a better arrangement for accessing them is not readily available.

You know, sometimes trying to review an album can be tiring (or even depressing if things are not so good). But sometimes, putting on a new album, and even listening a few times to really get into it, can be a delight. This album is one of the latter: it’s just flat out fun. If you were at all interested in the music, and you should be, have a listen!

Rachmaninoff/Gershwin Transcriptions by Earl Wild (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Rachmaninoff: Songs transcribed for the piano by Earl Wild - Dreams Op. 38 No. 5; The Little Island Op. 14 No. 2; Midsummer Nights Op. 14 No. 5; O, Cease Thy Singing Op. 4 No. 4; On the Death of a Linnet Op. 21 No. 8; Do Not Grieve Op. 14 No. 8; George Gershwin: Three Preludes; Earl Wild: Fantasy on Porgy and Bess. John Wilson, piano. AVIE Records AV2635

Sadly enough, Earl Wild (1915-2010) has become somewhat a forgotten figure among followers of classical music. Perhaps Bill Heck and I are a bit more tuned into his name than most, because for many years, Wild resided in Columbus, Ohio, where Bill and I both attended graduate school and where we both live today. In addition, we are both quite fond of his recordings of the Rachmaninoff piano concertos, which he originally made for Reader’s Digest with Jascha Horenstein conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and have subsequently been rereleased on other labels including Chandos and Chesky. Wild was a remarkable virtuoso who was skilled not only as a performer (he was the first American pianist ever to be invited by Arturo Toscanini to perform as soloist with the New York Philharmonic) but also as a transcriber, particularly of the music of Gershwin and Rachmaninoff.  Interestingly enough, accordion to Wikipedia, Wild also holds the distinctions of being both the first pianist ever to perform a recital on U.S. television (1939) and evert to stream a performance on the internet (1997). He is also the only pianist ever to have been invited to the White House to perform before six consecutive U.S. Presidents: Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. What a career! 

On this release from the American pianist John Wilson (not to be confused with the English conductor of the same name), we hear Wild's transcriptions of seven songs by Rachmaninoff, three brief preludes by Gershwin, and then Wild’s own Fantasy on Porgy and Bess. The Rachmaninoff transcriptions are elegant and expressive, richly romantic as you might expect. Wilson clearly loves this music, and that love comes through in his playing, which is clear, confident, and convincing. These are songs, imbued with melody and emotional overtones; however, they are not sappy or sentimental, but are carefully crafted pieces of serious music. The three Gershwin Preludes are in turn bouncy, moodily reflective, and finally a bit skittish. None, however, sound legitimately jazz-like or particularly inspired. At least to my ears, this is not top-drawer Gershwin. YMMV.

The needle on the old Gershwin-O-Meter bounces back up the scale with Wilson’s rendition of Wild’s take on Gershwin, however – the Fantasy on Porgy and Bess is in an entertaining romp through the familiar themes from Gershwin’s tuneful work. You can tell that Wild enjoyed putting these tunes together for the keyboard, and you can tell that Wilson enjoys playing them for us at the keyboard. In the liner notes, which are based on a conversation between Wilson and the English music broadcaster Jeremy Nicholas, Wilson recalls that it was Gershwin’s music that first lured him into classical music. He goes on say, “the first Earl Wild piece I learned was his Porgy and Bess. I just loved it. I’d played most of it since I was 19, so when I came to record it, it was in my heart. I think it’s perhaps his perhaps his best crafted transcription.” 

The liner notes, although not extensive, are heartfelt and revealing. And as we have come to expect from AVIE, the engineering is first-rate, capturing the sound of Wilson’s Steinway in fine fashion. If you are a fan of melody, this release is one that should be right up there on your audition list. 

Phantasy in Blue (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Tchaikovsky (arr. Stefan Malzew): Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33; Vivaldi (arr. Itai Sobol): Cello Concerto in A minor, RV418;  de Falla (arr, Sebastian Gottschick): Siete canciones populares españolas ("Seven Spanish Folksongs"); Shostakovich (arr. Levon Atovmian): Prelude from the Gadfly, Op. 97; Elegy from The Human Comedy, Op. 37; Shostakovich (arr.  Louis-Noël Fontaine): Waltz No. 2 from Suite for Variety Orchestra; Gershwin (arr. Malzew): Phantasy in Blue (after Rhapsody in Blue). Alban Gerhardt, cello; Alliage Quintett (Daniel Gauthier, soprano saxophone; Miguel Vallés Mateu, alto saxophone; Simon Hanrath, tenor saxophone; Sebastian Pottmeier, baritone saxophone; Jang Eun Bae, piano). Hyperion CDA68419

 

Having been quite favorably impressed by a recording of the two Shostakovich cello concertos that the German cellist Alban Gerhardt (b. 1969) recorded for Hyperion three years ago (you can see that review here), plus being intrigued by the both the eclectic program and the unusual combination of instruments Gerhardt had assembled (cello and saxophone quartet plus piano playing music ranging from Vivaldi through Shostakovich to Rhapsody in Blue – what the heck?!), this was a CD to which I simply had to give a listen. It looked as though it would be a memorable listening experience one way or the other – either a dud or a delight. As Gerhardt and the Alliage Quintett began their musical journey through Tchaikovsky’s sprightly Variations on a Rococo Theme, it soon became clear that this CD would indeed prove to be a delightful musical listening experience, and so it came to pass. 

 

Gerhardt has cast a wide net across both time and space for his selections, the prize catch being the Gershwin. It is worth the price of admission for this recording just to hear him emulate the opening clarinet smear of Rhapsody in Blue on his cello. Whoa! Now, that’s a sound guaranteed to bring a smile to the sound of even the most jaded music lover, and the rest of the arrangement works surprisingly well, bringing this release to a rousing, triumphant conclusion.

 

Recent Releases No. 54 (CD Reviews)

by Karl Nehring

Gershwin: An American in Paris; Lullaby (version for string orchestra); Promenade (version for chamber orchestra); Cuban Overture; Catfish Row: Suite from Porgy and Bess. Leonard Slatkin, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. VOX-VV-3019CD

 

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36; Romeo and Juliet: Fantasy Overture after Shakespeare. Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony Orchestra. VOX-XX-3022-CD

 

It’s exciting to see some more recordings from the Vox vaults being given new life thanks to the good folks at Naxos, who have begun digging out some of the old analog master tapes that had been recorded by Elite Recordings back in the 1970s and preparing new digital masters using state-of-the-art 192 kHz/24-bit technology. As the note on the back cover proclaims, “The Elite Recordings for Vox by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestra recordings.” We have reviewed several of the previous Vox “Audiophile Edition” releases (Mozart piano concertos and a Rachmaninov symphony here and Rachmaninov piano concertos here). Those recordings featured the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, as does this recent release of orchestral music by the American composer George Gershwin (1898-1937). Although I might be overstating the case, it seems to me that the majority of classical music fans in America do not really think of Gershwin when they think of American classical music composers – they are more likely to think of Copland, Barber, Ives, Hanson, or perhaps even John Adams. But maybe I’m wrong, and they remember Rhapsody in Blue, the Concerto in F, or some of the Gershwin works included on this recording. Slatkin obviously enjoys this music and delights in bringing out the joy that Gershwin always seemed to be able to infuse into his scores. You hear it especially so in the hustle and bustle of An American in Paris as well as in the vigorous Latin rhythms of the Cuban Overture. The closing Catfish Row selections are swinging and tuneful. Overall, it’s a fun disc, well recorded, full of hummable melodies, an American classic.

The late American conductor Maurice Abravanel (1903-1993) was of Spanish/Portuguese ancestry. Although his name may be unfamiliar to many music lovers, his story is an interesting one and his musical achievements are noteworthy. He was born in Greece and raised in Switzerland, where his family lived in the same house as the conductor Ernest Ansermet, with whom young Maurice played four-hand piano music and was able to meet composers such as Stravinsky and Milhaud. He later studied under Kurt Weill in Berlin, then moved to Paris, where he was music director for Balanchine’s Paris Ballet for three years. Abravanel then moved to the United States and became the youngest ever conductor ever hired at that time by the Metropolitan Opera. In 1943, he became an American citizen, then in 1947 left New York to become the conductor of what was at the time a rather provincial orchestra in Salt Lake City, Utah. He built that orchestra into what became the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra over which he presided until his retirement for health reasons in 1979. On a personal note, I saw them perform a few times in the 1970s, one of those occasions being a performance being a performance of the Dvořák Cello Concerto with soloist Gregor Piatigorsky (who filled in at the last minute for an ailing Mtsislav Rostropovich) in what would turn out to be his final public performance. 

Abravanel and his orchestra made numerous recording for several labels, including the first complete Mahler symphony cycle by an American orchestra, for the Vanguard label (their recording of the Fourth Symphony with soprano Netania Devrath is still one of the finest available), and the complete orchestral works of Tchaikovsky for Vox, from which this new remastering was taken. Although the Salt Lake Tabernacle was far from an ideal recording venue, its oval domed shape being highly reflective, the Elite Recordings team did their best to deaden the space, draping blanket over the seats and taking special care with microphone placement. The end result is excellent, the orchestra sounding as though it is playing in a large hall, but nothing is blurred. As for the performances, they are also excellent, Abravanel careful not to overplay the dramatic elements to the point where they start to sound hysterical. That is not to say the playing lacks energy, for it certainly does not. This is simply very good, straightforward, well-played, and excellently recorded Tchaikovsky. Good stuff.  

Beethoven: The Late Quartets. (CD1) String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 127; No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor; (CD2) No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130; Grosse Fugue in B-Flat Major, Op. 133; Finale, Allegro (Op. 130, replacement finale); (CD3) No. 15 in A-Minor, Op. 132; No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135. Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers & Ryan Meehan, violins; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello). Signum Classics SIGCD733

It is certainly natural to be skeptical when encountering yet another boxed set of the late Beethoven quartets; however, it is tempting to become cynical. I will freely confess to being a skeptical sort of person, and I’m sure any attorney worth his hire could find plenty of character witnesses willing to testify to that under oath. And although there have been days when my prayers not to be led into the temptation of cynicism have gone unanswered, I do especially try to avoid being cynical about the motives of musicians regarding what and why they choose to record what they do. After all, the late Beethoven quartets are great masterpieces, music that any serious string quartet would want to record at some point. “Our quartet is continually drawn to Beethoven’s music for the enduring relevance of his humanistic perspective,” begin the Calidore Quartet in their introductory essay before going on to explain that “these great works are also the result of Beethoven’s struggles to overcome the challenges of his own life. In this spirit, our project came together in a very ‘Beethovenian’ way. …[concert cancellations caused by the COVID pandemic] made space for and propelled us towards the idea of recording this cycle of immortal works… and we were fortunate enough to be introduced to the legendary producer Judith Sherman, an artist whose passion for these works and uncompromising standards have made her the perfect partner in chronicling our interpretation of Beethoven.” 

The end result of their collective effort is a fine set indeed, one worthy in both musical and sonic terms to be a first choice for someone looking to acquire a set of these incomparable string quartets. Sonically, in fact, this may well be the finest set of all the many I have ever heard. The natural warmth of the recorded string tone combined with the realistic sense of space makes it especially easy to be drawn into the fascinating music. To be skeptical means to be inclined to look -- or in this case, listen -- quite closely. Those who listen closely to this set will be well rewarded both musically and sonically. 

 

 

Connecting Cultures: Four hand music from around the world (CD Review)

 by Karl Nehring

Dvořák: Slavonic Dance, Op 46. No. 8; Slavonic Dance, Op. 72 No. 2; Mozart: Andante and Five Variations in G major, K. 501; Wang Jianzhong: Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon; Gong Huahua: Mountain Harvest: Manuel de Falla: Two Spanish Dances from “La Vida Breve”; Amy Marcy Cheney Beach: Summer Dreams, Op. 47; Florence Beatrice Price: Three Negro Spirituals – I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray; Lord I Want to Be a Christian; Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (arranged by Henry Levine). Deborah Moriarty and Zhihua Tang, piano. Blue Griffin BGR633

 

This is one of those releases about which I just wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The program looked to be a mix of composers both familiar and unknown, the performers were both unknown to me, and I wondered what the arrangements for piano four hands would sound like – especially Rhapsody in Blue. For piano four hands? Really?? But no matter what questions or doubts I or any potential listener might have about this or any other recording, the music itself is what actually counts, so I just popped the disc into the player, settled into my listening chair, grabbed the remote, and pushed the PLAY button.

 The familiar melodies of the two Dvořák Slavonic Dances open the program with energy and enthusiasm from the four busy hands at the keyboard, with the sound matching the performance, lively and assertive – just right for this music. The following Andante and Five Variations by Mozart are in a more stately, buttoned-down style, but they still have an element of the dance about them, which the two pianists clearly communicate. Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon by Wang Jianzhong (1933–2016), turns out to be as perfectly pleasant as its title implies, with a rhythmic pulse beneath and some fluttering melodies in the upper registers. Mountain Harvest by Gong Huahua (b. 1978) makes a different impression with its more serious, slightly dissonant sound. That said, it is not a forbidding piece; if anything, it has moments of playfulness and mystery. Overall, it is an intriguing work, one that invites repeated listening. 

 

It's then back to more familiar names, although not all of the music will be familiar to most listeners. From Manuel de Falla we get Two Spanish Dances from his opera La Vida Breve, which as you might expect, receive a splashy, extroverted performance from the two pianists, who are both on the faculty at the Michigan State University College of Music. The two women pianists next bring us music by two distinguished  American women composers. Amy Beach (1867-1944) was the first American female composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra (the Boston Symphony Orchestra premiered her “Gaelic” Symphony in 1896), while Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953) was the first African-American woman to have a composition performed by a major orchestra (the Chicago Symphony performed her Symphony in E Minor in 1933).  Beach’s Summer Dreams comprises a half-dozen short musical sketches titled The Brownies, Robin Redbreast, Twilight, Katy-dids, Elfin Tarantelle, and Good Night. The first (which is the longest at 3:46) is dance-like, the next four (none of which is lasts more than two minutes) are generally playful, and then Good Night (longer again at 2:59) is, as you might expect, calmer in mood. Price’s Three Negro Spirituals are simply her brief arrangements of three spirituals: I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray (1:53), Lord I Want to Be a Christian(4:03), and Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit (1:32). Hearing the first of these immediately brought to mind the gospel stylings of Keith Jarrett in some of his solo improvisations, such as in parts of his Köln Concert recording on ECM. The longest of these, Lord I Want to Be a Christian, is slower, more intense, and quite moving in its own way. 

 

The two pianists end their program with a rousing rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. This is a piece that has been played and recorded aa a concert piece for piano and full orchestra, as a more jazz-oriented piece for piano and jazz band – but who would have thought it would work so well as played on one piano by two pianists? These two artists did, and they were right. This is a marvelous performance of the work, exciting and involving from start to finish. With more than 74 minutes of well-recorded music from around the world including this revelatory performance of Gershwin’s showstopper, Connecting Cultures is an exciting new release.

New Releases, No. 31 (CD reviews)

By Karl W. Nehring

Yolanda Kondonassis: Five Minutes for Earth. Takuma Itoh: Koholā Sings (Humpback Whales); Michael Daugherty: Hear the Dust Blow; Aaron Jay Kernis: On Hearing Nightbird at Dusk; Chen Yi: Dark Mountains; Máximo Pujol: Milonga para mi Tierra; Reena Esmail: Inconvenient Wounds; Gary Schocker: Memory of Trees; Keith Fitch: As Earth Dreams; Jocelyn Chambers: Melting Point; Philip Maneval: The Demise of the Shepard Glacier; Patrick Harlin: Time Lapse; Zhou Long: Green; Nathaniel Heyder: Earthview; Daniel Dorff: Meditation at Perkiomen Creek; Stephen Hartke: Fault Line. Yolanda Kondonassis, harp. Aziza Records AXD-71349.

Classical music lovers who have been around for a while may well remember the harpist Yolanda Kondonassis from her many wonderful albums for the Telarc label. If you are one of those folks, then you should be please to learn be pleased to learn that abundantly talented Cleveland-based musician recently released a new album titled Five Minutes for Earth, a splendidly informative and entertaining trailer for which can be seen at her website: https://www.yolandaharp.com. As it turns out, Ms. Kondonassis is also committed to a cause and is using music as a means of communicating her concern. Briefly put, the CD documents the music that itself is a reflection of a larger project of the same title, a multimedia presentation that features the music as part of a multimedia presentation, as she explains in her liner notes. “FIVE MINUTES for Earth is a project that both celebrates our planet and illuminates our challenge to preserve it. In 2020, I asked each of the composers featured in this collection if they would consider contributing a work for solo harp of approximately five minutes in length that expresses a powerful experience inspired by Earth in one its many conditions or atmospheres. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of their immediate responses and set about assembling this labor-of-love project. The endeavor quickly expanded to include a live, multi-media concert, a unique video for each track, a separate published collection of Earth-inspired solos for younger harpists, and most importantly, the opportunity for harpists all over the world to perform these innovative works for solo harp by some of today’s most lauded composers. Every verified performance of any of the works from the FIVE MINUTES for Earth collection, anywhere in the world, will result in a monetary contribution to a recognized earth conservation organization sponsored by my non-profit foundation, Earth at Heart. FIVE MINUTES for Earth is also a metaphor for the urgent and compressed timeframe for our global community to embrace and implement solutions to our fast-growing environmental crisis.” With so many composers being represented, all of them contemporary, the natural expectation would be to hear a quite varied batch of compositions, ranging from the engagingly melodic to the not quite sure what to call that but whatever. For these ears, it was a pleasant surprise never to encounter a single instance of the latter. From the opening pleasant strains of Takuma Itoh’s Koholā Sings with its bent notes, an effect I had not expected to hear from a harp, followed by Michael Daugherty’s gently atmospheric Hear the Dust Blow, through the shortest cut, Jocelyn Chambers’s Melting Point, which manages to convey a sense of gentle urgency in less that two minutes, and the longest cut, Zhou Long’s Green, a gorgeous 8-minute tone poem for harp – throughout these tracks and the rest, 15 in all, the overall feeling evoked by the music is one of beauty and peace. (It is ironic in a way that an album so committed to engagement can be so useful for escape. Concerned about global warming? Just put on this CD and chill out…) The album cover folds out to reveal thumbnail photos along with brief paragraphs about each of the 15 composers, a nice touch. As you might expect, the harp seems bigger than life, but is very well captured by the engineers. All involved in this release are to be commended for bringing such fresh and vital new music into our world. Brava and bravo!

Daniel Hope: America. Gershwin (arr. Paul Bateman for violin, jazz trio, and string orchestra): Gershwin Song Suite; Sam Cooke (arr. Bateman for voice, violin, and piano): A Change Is Gonna Come; Bernstein (arr. Bateman for voice and string orchestra): West Side Story Suite; Florence Price: Adoration (arr. Bateman for violin and string orchestra); Copland (arr. Bateman for violin and string orchestra): At the River; Hoe-Down; Ellington (arr. Bateman for violin and string orchestra): Come Sunday; Weill (arr. Bateman): American Song Suite; Ward (arr. Bateman for violin and chamber orchestra): America the Beautiful. Daniel Hope, violin; Zurich Kammerorcherster; Marcus Roberts Trio (Marcus Roberts, piano; Jason Marsalis, drums; Rodney Jordan, bass); Joy Denalane, vocals; Sylvia Thereza, piano; Joscho Stephan, guitar; Alexander Ponet, percussion. Deutsche Grammophon 4861940.

The South-African born British violinist Daniel Hope (b. 1973) evidences a special connection to the USA in the dedication for this release, declaring: I dedicate this album to my great aunt, “Tante” Leni, who escaped Germany at the eleventh hour and who became the greatest American I ever met. He further evidences that connection to the USA by devoting the lion’s share of the program to jazz, as a quick perusal of the titles – and performers – listed above will quickly reveal. And not only does the Marcus Roberts Trio play a prominent musical role, but the liner notes feature a conversation between hope and Roberts that revolves around the question, “What makes music sound American?”  I have argued many times in Classical Candor that jazz can be thought of as a form of chamber music; Roberts and Hope converse along similar lines. Moreover, the music on this release effectively brilliantly bridges the gap between “jazz” and “classical,” expertly melding the two into music that swings and sings makes you appreciate the creativity of the composers and the virtuosity of the performers, regardless of their nationality, citizenship, or musical background. The selections and the arrangements do not come across like a routine run-through of familiar tunes. Instead, they are energetic, probing, sophisticated arrangements that allow Hope, the Marcus Roberts Trio, Ms. Denalane, and the other musicians to display their considerable talents. Hope’s violin soars in many of the cuts, but never do you get the sense that Hope is trying to draw attention to himself; rather, his playing always seems to be in service of the music, clearly expressing his love for these tunes. At a time when there is so much division and hatred being sown by dark forces in our country, music such as this is reminder of what is worth preserving and fighting for in our blessed land. What a wonderful album for these troubled times!  

Joyce DiDonato: Eden. Ives: The Unanswered Question; Rachel Portman: The First Morning of the World; Mahler: Rückert-Lieder-II. "Ich Atmet' Einen Linden Duft!";  Biagio Marini: Scherzi E Canzone Op.5, III. "Con Le Stelle in Ciel Che Mai"; Josef Myslivecek: Oratorio Adamo Ed Eva (Part II) Aria: "Toglierò Le Sponde Al Mare" (Angelo Di Giustizia); Copland: Poems of Emily Dickinson for Voice and Chamber Orchestra, I. Nature, the Gentlest Mother; Giovanni Valentini: Sonata Enharmonica; Francesco Cavalli: Opera la Calisto (Act I, Scene 14), Aria: "Piante Ombrose" (Calisto); Opera Orfeo Ed Euridice WQ. 30, Danza Degli Spettri E Delle Furie. Allegro Non Troppo; Scena Misera, Dove Son! from Ezio WQ. 15 (Fulvia); Aria: "Ah! Non Son Io Che Parlo..."; Handel: Dramatic Oratorio Theodora HWV 68 (Part I), Aria: "As with Rosy Steps the Morn" (Irene); Mahler: Rückert-Lieder, IV. "Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen"; Wagner: 5 Gedichte für Eine Frauenstimme WWV 91 (Wesendonck Lieder), IV. "Schmerzen"; Handel: Opera Serse HWV 40 (Act I, Scene 1), Recitativo: "Frondi Tenere E Belle"; Aria: "Ombra Mai FÙ" (Serse). Joyce DiDonato, Mezzo-Soprano; Maxim Emelyanychev, direction/harpsichord. Il Pomo D’oro. Erato 0190296465154.

American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is known in the opera world primarily for her powerful voice but also for her engagement and activism in behalf of social causes. A quick glance at the list of titles will reveal no protest songs, but Eden does feature DiDonato’s powerful voice attempting to convey through song what she considers to be an important cause. As she asserts on the back cover of the CD package: “EDEN is an invitation to return to our roots. It is an overture to engage with the sheer perfection of the world around us, to consider if we are connecting as profoundly as we can to the pure essence of our being. It is a clarion call to contemplate if our collective suffering isn't perhaps linked to the aching separation from something primal within and around us. This is a vivid musical exploration through the centuries to remember and to create a new EDEN from within.” To be honest, I’m not sure how much the listener will be inspired to create “a new EDEN from within,” but on the other hand, I’m quite confident that most listeners will find this release to be just how Ms. DiDonato has described it: “is a vivid musical exploration through the centuries to remember.” Vivid it certainly is, and wide-ranging, in repertoire, performance, and sound. She has a powerful, expressive voice, which for this release she (and/or the producers) has chosen to pair with a relatively small chamber orchestra for accompaniment, which makes her voice sound all the more powerful. Actually, though, she starts off less assertively, using her voice in place of the trumpet in Ives’s The Unanswered Question. As a devoted fan of Mahler, I particularly enjoyed her renditions of his lieder, but there are assuredly performances here to please a wide range of music lovers as she and Il Pomo D’oro work their way through a wide range of musical selections. The sheer power and color of her voice, the sheer depth of feeling she brings to her singing are wonders to behold. Lyrics are included in the liner notes, enabling the listener to become more involved in the musical proceedings. All in all, this is truly a first-class release.

KWN

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (CD review)

Jeffrey Biegel, piano; Bruce Anthony Kiesling, Adrian Symphony Orchestra. Naturally Sharp Records.

By John J. Puccio

Ever since bandleader Paul Whiteman commissioned American composer George Gershwin to write a jazz-inflected concerto for piano and orchestra, practically every popular pianist since then has elected to record it. Gershwin himself premiered the work with the Whiteman band in 1924, but, surprisingly, there was never a definitive version of it. This was in part because Gershwin improvised a part of the piano score during the first performance, and in part because the man who orchestrated the music, Whiteman’s own arranger Ferde Grofe, didn’t have a lot of time to prepare the music for its premiere. Even the opening clarinet glissando was an improvisation of sorts. Then, within a few years, we would see the score re-arranged for pit orchestra and for full symphony orchestra.

The current recording, with concert pianist Jeffrey Biegel as soloist and the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, uses a recent reconstruction of the work by musicologist and Gershwin scholar Dr. Ryan Banagale. As Dr. Banagale writes, “This edition attempts to be as true to the original intentions of the creators as possible.”

Dr. Banagale wrote a book on the subject, Arranging Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue and the Creation of an American Icon (Oxford University Press, 2014), which focuses on the ongoing-and surprising-life of Gershwin's iconic Rhapsody in Blue over the course of the ninety-odd years since its inception. His 2011 Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard University is titled “Rhapsodies In Blue: New Narratives for an Iconic American Composition." Dr. Banagale's critical edition of Rhapsody in Blue here receives its first recording release.

According to Mr. Biegel: "I have performed the many guises of Rhapsody in Blue since the age of nine. In 1997, when performing the ‘Annotated Rhapsody in Blue,’ arranged by Dr. Alicia Zizzo, which owns many sections of missing piano material from original sources, I had questioned the Gershwin family about having a new edition with the original orchestral material and the piano material together. Here we are, and it is now available, thanks to many involved. It is truly an honor to have the permissions necessary to make this recording happen, as well as generous donor support to bring this recording to life for today's listeners and for historic purpose."

Most important in the performance is the fact that Mr. Biegel has performed the work countless times and seems to know every nuance of the music. He keeps the score driving forward, with an infectious bounce yet a subtle refinement as well. The orchestra, with its own brief solos, accompanies Biegel with a spirited yet tasteful polish. But his is the soloist’s party, and Mr. Biegel makes the most of it, his one-on-one sojourns into Gershwin’s jazz experiment completely mesmerizing. Yes, he simply steals the show, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. No matter how many other recordings you already own of the Rhapsody in Blue, this one is a must-have companion.

Engineer Christopher Momany and recording mixer Bruce Kiesling recorded the music at Dawson Auditorium on the campus of Adrian College in June 2021. The orchestral parts are exceptionally well recorded, with plenty of space, width, dimensionality, frequency balance, and particularly dynamics. The piano is well integrated, too, if a tad close. It projects a solid tone, with crisp articulation in abundance. So the sound rounds out a wholly successful new outing for Gershwin’s perennial favorite. Count it among my favorites of the year.

Mr. Biegel has made his recording of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue available for digital download (Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora) and in limited quantities of CDs. For details, visit https://www.jeffreybiegel.com/.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Bernstein: Songfest (CD review)

Also, Gershwin: An American in Paris; Copland: An Outdoor Overture. James Judd, Wolf Trap Opera; National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic. Naxos 8.559859.

By John J. Puccio

This album is another in Naxos’s “American Classics” series, and they could hardly have chosen three more representative American composers for the program. The Gershwin work, An American in Paris, is a certified classic, and the other two, Copland’s Outdoor Overture and Bernstein’s Songfest, while not quite of the same elevated rank, certainly represent the field. Conductor James Judd leads singers from the Wolf Trap Opera in Bernstein’s vocal piece, and the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, which I admit I had never heard of before, handles the orchestral work.

The disc begins with one of the gems of American music, An American in Paris by George Gershwin (1898-1937), which was first performed in 1928. The work is a musical description of an American’s visit to Paris in the 1920's, strolling about and taking in the sights and sounds of the city. The novelty of the current recording is that it uses a new, 2019 critical edition of the score that offers Gershwin’s original orchestration, as the cover jacket announces, “unheard for 75 years--leaner, more angular and transparent, it also employs the correct use of the iconic taxi horns, for a new sonic experience.”

Maestro Judd takes the Gershwin music at a sprightly pace, not frenetically fast but quickly. It reminded me of the old movie If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, where a group of American sightseers take a whirlwind tour of Europe. Under Judd, Gershwin’s American takes something of a whirlwind tour of Paris. Still, the tourist appears to be having fun, and that’s the main thing. Judd captures the colors and textures of Gershwin’s music in an imaginative and ultimately rewarding reading.

The second item on the program is An Outdoor Overture, written by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) in 1938. Along with the ballet Billy the Kid, An Outdoor Overture helped to establish Copland’s reputation as a composer of “Americana,” an idiom for which he will forever be associated.

Copland called it An Outdoor Overture because after the composer played a piano sketch of the music for a friend who was commissioning it, the friend said it had “an open-air quality” about it. There’s no doubt it has a vigor and airiness about it reminiscent of the wide-open American West. It’s a kind of mini Billy the Kid or Rodeo, and James Judd and his crew perform it with an appropriate vitality and flair.

The final selection of the album is Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra written in 1976-77 by teacher, composer, pianist, and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). He wrote it to celebrate America’s Bicentennial Year, and used it as a musical setting for the verses of thirteen American poets, from Frank O’Hara and Lawrence Ferlinghetti through Julia de Burgos, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, June Jordan, Anne Bradstreet, Gertrude Stein, e.e. cummings, Conrad Aiken, Gregory Corso, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Here’s the thing, though: While Judd and his ensemble do a fine job with the score, I’ve never been particularly fond of the music. Bernstein is more art song here than popular song, so don’t expect another West Side Story from the composer. That being the case, Judd, as I say, his ensemble and soloists do a first-rate job presenting the music and poems with a dramatic effect and poignant affection.

A healthy set of booklet notes and song lyrics complement an excellent presentation of the music. Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, it’s a group formed each June by the musicians of the National Orchestral Institute, “chosen through rigorous international auditions” and focused “on creating future musicians and leaders in the world of orchestras.”

Producer, engineer, and editor Phil Rowlands recorded the music at the Elsie & Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, Maryland in June 2018. The orchestral sound is uniformly excellent, among the best I’ve heard from Naxos. It has clarity, width, depth, air, dynamics, frequency range, the works. It may not be as transparent as some audiophile recordings, but it’s close. I enjoyed it immensely. The vocal music, too, is clearly presented, although it betrays minor traces of edginess in the upper registers. Not enough to spoil the show but present, nonetheless.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Pianissimo! (CD review)

The Chicago Debut Concert. Pianists Svetlana Belsky, Elena Doubovitskaya, Irina Feoktistova, and Susan Merdinger. Sheridan Music Studio.

Yes, Pianissimo in music refers to a passage or movement played softly or very softly. But Pianissimo! also refers to an ensemble of four very talented pianists. As described in the disc's accompanying booklet, "Pianissimo! was first formed in December 2014, and recently appeared in several venues for "Make Music Chicago." As soloists and duo pianists, the four women have appeared in major concert halls and on TV and radio around the world, recorded a number of CD's, "and won numerous awards and honors, as well as accolades and rave reviews from major publications for their outstanding performances and programming."

The four members of Pianissimo! consist of Dr. Svetlana Beisky, critically acclaimed as "a passionate pianist and scholar," performing extensively in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Next is Dr. Elena Doubovitskaya, "a native of Russia who established herself as a solo and collaborative musician after moving to the US in 1998." In addition, there is Irina Feoktistova, "a graduate of the Petersburg Conservatoire, Russia," who has performed in the major halls of Russia, Europe, and the United States. And Susan Merdinger, a Steinway Artist who has been hailed as "tender and impassioned" (Glasgow Herald) and "breathtaking" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

On the current album they present their Chicago debut concert, which includes selections for piano two hands, piano four hands, two pianos four hands, two pianos eight hands, and four pianos, three of the pieces being world-premiere performances. The track list follows:

  1. Beethoven: Egmont Overture (arr. T. Herbert)
  2. Rimsky-Korsakov: Fantasy on Scheherazade (arr. M. Zelenaia; world premiere)
  3. Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre
  4. Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italienne (arr. A. Ton/S. Belsky)
  5. Gershwin: Fantasy on "The Man I Love" (arr. A. Tsafsman)
  6. Lutoslawski: Variations on a Theme by Paganini
  7. James Stone: Rip Current
  8. Ilya Levinson: Fireball (world premiere)
  9. Ilya Levinson: Broadway Medley for Classical Pianists (world premiere)

Pianissimo

The opening overture from Beethoven shows off what can happen with eight hands at two pianos, and it's a rich and rewarding experience. The performers are brilliant in their own right, each a virtuoso, but together they are unmatched, and the playing produces an enriching few minutes.

The next item, the Rimsky-Korsakov fantasy, displays the talents of all four players on four pianos, making the number that much plusher and more opulent in sound and content, and making for a touching and exciting interpretation. And so it goes through the familiar repertoire of names like Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, and Rachmaninov in fantasies, variations, and single numbers. (The Danse Macabre for two pianos, eight hands, is particularly thrilling.)

Then there are the two newer selections from the Russian-born composer Ilya Levinson, selections that receive world-premiere performances. They have a more modern sensibility, of course, yet they take us back to an earlier period of twentieth-century American music, too, especially the Broadway medley arranged for four pianos. It pairs up favorite Broadway show tunes with seamless transitions to produce a rollicking good time. The four skilled pianists will make one forget all about Broadway pit orchestras in their lush and luxurious readings.

I should add, as well, that the disc offers a healthy seventy-six minutes of playing time, making the concert not only entertaining but also good value for the dollar.

Engineer Edward Ingold recorded the concert live at the Merit School of Music, Anne and Howard Gottlieb Hall in September 2015. Would I rather have heard Pianissimo recorded in a studio than live? Of course, it would no doubt have sounded even better without the constraints of a live audience present. Nevertheless, we have what we have, and I'm sure Pianissimo fans will enjoy the experience of the live moment. Besides, the wide dynamics of the presentations help to make up for any minor live deficiencies. For example, while there could be more presence, more high-end sheen, more brilliance, and more hall ambience on offer, the intensity of the music making always shines through and lights up the room.

Still, I really could have done without the applause at the end of each selection.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Opera Phantasies from 150 Years (SACD review)

From Bel Canto to Jazz. Volker Reinhold, violin; Ralph Zedler, piano. MDG 903 2134-6.

The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music defines a musical fantasia (or fantasy or phantasy) in several ways, the definition best applying here being "Free and somewhat improvisatory treatments of existing themes, often from operas." OK, to an uninitiated novice like me in the classical realm, that sounds an awful lot like a medley of greatest hits. But what do I know. "Fantasy" (or especially "phantasy") sounds a lot better than "medley." Whatever the case, the music here is remarkably vibrant, pleasant, and soothing as performed by two experts in the field.

On the present disc, German violinist Volker Reinhold and German pianist Ralph Zedler offer five examples of such fantasias (or, again, fantasies, fantaisies, or phantasies, depending on the language) spanning some 150 years of classical music history. What's more, three of them are world-première recordings.

You may remember Reinhold and Zedler from their earlier albums or from my own review of their Sarasate recording. Violinist Reinhold became the concertmaster of the Mecklenburg State Orchestra in 1989. According to the accompanying booklet, Mr. Reinhold "has gone on to perform a wide range of solo assignments and to dedicate himself intensively to chamber music. Additionally, for some years he has often assisted as a concertmaster with several Northern German orchestras. He has a special predilection for the virtuosic violin literature, above all Fritz Kreisler and also Pablo de Sarasate. He has incorporated practically all of the former's music into his repertoire. For many years he has performed successfully with his regular piano partner Ralph Zedler. Mr. Reinhold performs on a 'Mougeot,' a French violin from the 19th century."

As for pianist Zedler, I quoted last time from his Web site: "...he graduated from Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He worked regularly in the singing classes of Liselotte Hammes, Klesie Kelly, Kurt Moll, and Edda Moser. From the autumn of 1999 to January 2011 Mr. Zedler was engaged at the Mecklenburg State Theatre in Schwerin as soloist and Ballettrepetitor, participating in over seventy productions of opera, operetta, musical, oratorio, and ballet. Since 2011 he has worked at capital Opera, the smallest Opera Berlin, devoting himself to the repertoire of forgotten one-act plays. Mr. Zedler's concert career has taken him along with prominent figures such as singers Agnes Giebel, Ulrich Hielscher, Jean van Ree, and Edda Moser." And since the summer of 2016, again according to the accompanying booklet, "...he has been a solo repetiteur at the Volkstheater Rostock."

Volker Reinhold

Anyway, as I've said, here they offer five selections: the first is the Fantasia su motivi della Traviata di Giuseppe Verdi (1871) by Italian violinist, composer, and teacher Antonio Bazzini (1818-1897). Being Verdi opera, the music is understandably sentimental, poignant, and moving. Reinhold's violin is impassioned, as it should be, well echoing the voices on stage, and Zedler's piano accompaniment is unobtrusively sympathetic. Both players benefit from a long experience performing together, and they pretty much play as one. Listening from another room, my wife cheered at the closing passage.

After that is the Fantaisie sur Faust (1869) by Belgium violinist and composer Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881). Here, the fantasy on the music of Gounod is even more virtuosic, more dramatic than that of Verdi. It's also a bit more melodramatic and bombastic, so be aware. Vieuxtemps wrote his own introductions and interludes for the Gounod excerpts, so most of it hangs together, but until the famous music of the final third, little of it exhibits the lyricism of Verdi, despite Reinhold's superb technique and execution.

Next is the Fantaisie sur des motifs de l'opera 'La vie pour le Czar Ivan Susanin' de Glinka (1900) by Czech violinist and composer Frantisek Ondricek (1857-1922). With this fantasy, Ondricek covers more ground than the previous two composers in their fantasies, which may or may not be a good thing. Whatever, Reinhold and Zedler produce a big, robust piece of high intent and vivid contrasts.

Following that is Norma de Bellini, Fantaisie sur la quatrieme corde (1844), again by Henri Vieuxtemps but an earlier composition of his. The gimmick here is that Vieuxtemps instructs that the entire fantasy be played on a single string. Remarkable. And remarkable, too, is Reinhold's playing, which carries out Vieuxtemps's instructions flawlessly.

The final item is the Concert Fantasy on Themes from Gershwin's Opera Porgy and Bess (1991) by Russian violinist and composer Igor Frolov (1937-2013). This is the one fantasy on the program that seems to include every familiar tune from the opera from which it derives. If you like Gershwin, you'll like Frolov's treatment of the themes, and you'll love Reinhold and Zedler's evocatively dreamy, jazzy realizations of the score.

Producers Werner Dabringhaus and Reimund Grimm and engineer Holger Schlegel recorded the music at the Konzerthaus der Abtei Marienmunster, Germany in April 2019. They made the disc in hybrid SACD, which contains a regular two-channel stereo layer for playback on a regular CD player and an SACD layer, which contains a two-channel stereo format, a multichannel format, and a 2+2+2 format for playback on an SACD player. Apparently, the 2+2+2 format utilizes the middle and bass channels to provide a left and right height dimension to the sound, perhaps somewhat similar to what Dolby ATMOS also does. I say "perhaps" because my system is two-channel stereo only, so I listened
in SACD two-channel. Presumably, the 2+2+2 format requires that listeners reconfigure their speakers, something I doubt a lot of people are willing to do, given the scarcity of SACD recordings in general and 2+2+2 recordings in particular. I guess the folks at MDG (Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm) know what they're doing, and I applaud them for it, but I'd be surprised if more than a half dozen people worldwide have set up their sound systems specifically for 2+2+2 playback.

Still, that's neither here nor there. In the SACD two-channel stereo format to which I listened, the sound was quite natural, with good positioning of the two performers relative to one another, if miked slightly more to the left of center than I might have liked. The hall provides a pleasant bloom, enhancing the realism of the recording. The violin appears resplendent and the piano dynamic, both instruments rendered as lifelike as one could imagine.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Gershwin Reimagined (CD review)

An American in London. Shelly Berg, piano; various featured artists; Jose Serebrier, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Decca Gold B0028889-02.

The idea of combining jazz artists with a symphony orchestra is hardly new; after all, pop composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) wrote Rhapsody in Blue in 1924 originally for solo piano and jazz band, and it wasn't rescored for orchestra (theatrical and symphony) by Ferde Grofe until several years thereafter. As a result, we have in the record catalogue any number of fine discs by various ensembles, large and small, from duets to full orchestra.

On the present album, we find American pianist, arranger, and orchestrator Shelly Berg (b. 1955), his trio, and various other artists doing Berg's own jazz interpolations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Jose Serebrier. The results are every bit as satisfying as I would imagine Gershwin intended--jazzy, swinging, rhythmic, rhapsodic, and lush. Considering the talents involved, it's the kind of album that's almost self-recommending.

The first two items on the program are the longest: Rhapsody in Blue (23:31 min.), featuring the Shelly Berg Trio in original jazz variations and the RPO and An American in Paris/Home Blues (21:24 min.), featuring American R&B and jazz artist Ledisi Anibade Young and the orchestra.

After those tracks are four shorter items: "I Loves You Porgy/My Man's Gone Now" from Porgy and Bess, featuring American singer (and daughter of composer Henry Mancini) Monica Mancini and Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer Arturo Sandoval and orchestra. Next is "Fascinating Rhythm," featuring American violinist Mark O'Connor and orchestra. After that we find "Three Preludes," with Serebrier and the orchestra. Then the album concludes with "I Got Rhythm," featuring the Shelly Berg Trio and orchestra.

Shelly Berg

Since Rhapsody in Blue is the most prominent piece in the collection and since it represents the best of the selections, let's take a look at it in particular. Serebreir's accompaniment of the piano is nicely jazzy and bluesy, with solid rhythms. He is able to generate a good deal of excitement with his interpretation. Likewise, Shelly Berg's piano solos are lively and invigorating on the one hand, lyrical and introspective on the other. The difference, of course, is that a few minutes into the piece, Berg and his trio go into their own variations and kind of leave Gershwin behind for intervals. It's not at all inappropriate, and I'm sure if Gershwin were alive he would approve. In fact, it gives the old warhorse a new look. So, for most folks who already own multiple versions of the music, this one should provide some much-needed variety in their collection.

For what it's worth, I enjoyed An American in Paris best of all, with Ledisi singing Gershwin's lyrics to the familiar "Home Blues" section. The whole thing is delightfully done and a real charmer. The other soloists are equally spirited and heartfelt by turns for a rewarding whole.

So, all the tracks work well. Overall, they're fairly conventional, except for their new additions, yet they're polished, innovative, and extremely well performed. Obviously, these arrangements would not be first-choice recommendations for people looking for a one and only recording of Gershwin standards. They are for people who already have favorites and want to supplement them.

The booklet notes, incidentally, contain a good deal of information on the artists involved in the production but almost no info on the music. I suppose the folks at Decca think we already know enough about Gershwin and his tunes that they didn't need to add anything more. Fair enough.

Producer Gregg Field and engineer Mike Hatch recorded the music at Air Lyndhurst Studios and Henry Wood Hall, London, releasing the album in 2018. The sound is pretty much in the long-established tradition of Decca stereo recordings. It's very clear and clean, and it has a healthy dynamic range. But it also appears multimiked, with the soloists clearly out in front, and the orchestra taking a literal backseat. It's not at all unpleasant or distracting, just a little different from what you might hear in a concert hall. Indeed, once you get used to it, it is quite entertaining, especially the clarity.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below: