Recent Releases No. 56 (CD Reviews)

by Karl Nehring

Zygmunt Noskowski: Symphony No. 1 in A major; Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Elegiac.” Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz; Antoni Wit, conductor. Capriccio C5509.

Once again we have the exquisite pleasure of discovering worthwhile music by a composer whose name had been completely unknown to us (and probably many other music lovers) until now. It turns out that the relatively unknown Polish composer Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909) was a teacher of Szymanowski and student of Moniuszko, and for much of the 19th century was the primary exponent of contemporary symphonic music in Poland. In fact, Noskowski is considered to be one of the most significant Polish composers of the nineteenth century, one who produced successful output in nearly all musical genres: ballet, opera, sacred works, symphonies, symphonic poems, and smaller works (including works for children), especially for piano. As if that was not enough to occupy his time, he also pursued a parallel career as a music critic and journalist. 

 

As a conductor and concert organizer, Noskowski (left) championed the causes of forgotten Polish composers. Today, in a fitting turn of events, conductor Antoni Wit (with a distinguished recorded legacy of his own), who in fact  succeeded Noskowski at the helm of the Warsaw Philharmonic 94 years after Noskowski’s retirement, raises the profile of his late-Romantic colleague with this recording of his first two symphonies. So what do they sound like? Actually, they are quite enjoyable; in my own clumsy, inadequate way, I would describe them as sounding something like Schumann, but better orchestrated, richer in texture, and more satisfying both musically and emotionally.  Listening to them, I found myself surprised that I had never heard them before – and I am hardly a young man. This is music that deserves to be heard by a composer who certainly deserves to be heard. To that end, I give this new release my most enthusiastic recommendation.

 

The Blue Album. Satie: Gymnopédie No. 1; Couperin: Les baricades mistérieuses (from Pièces de clavecin II: Ordre 6ème in B flat); Glass: Orphée's Bedroom; Brouwer: Canción de Cuna; Debussy: Suite bergamasque - Clair de lune (arr. for guitar by Eduardo Sáinz de la Maza); Weiss: Passacaille; Satie: Gnossienne No. 1 (arr. for Guitar by Pedro Henriques da Silva); Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata K32 in D minor (transcr. for guitar); Sor: Etude for guitar, Op. 6, No. 11 in E minor; Max Richter: A Catalogue of Afternoons; Debussy: La fille aux cheveux de lin (from Préludes - Book 1: No. 8); Yradier: La Paloma (arr. for guitar by Francisco Tárrega); Myers: Cavatina (from The Deerhunter, arr. for guitar by John Williams); Sakamoto: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Pablo Sainz-Villegas, guitar. Sony Classical 19658779092

 

The Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas (b. 1977) writes in the liner notes for The Blue Album that it “brings together some of the most beautiful and most heartfelt melodies that have ever been written. All these pieces create a magical atmosphere, their colours create a mood, a mystery. The guitar whispers an invitation to the listener to explore and go to the most intimate part of your soul. It creates a moment to look inside and have a conversation with the essence of yourself.” Now, that might strike some music lovers as a bit over the top, at least in terms of the feel-good pop psychology flavor of the prose, but all I can say is that Sainz-Villegas has pulled together a remarkable program of music by composers from different eras and countries, music that is soothing but not saccharine. From music by composers you might expect to find given the guitarist’s description, such as the pieces by French composers Debussy and Satie (you can watch a video of him playing Satie here), there is also music ranging from long-ago composers such as Couperin and Scarlatti to contemporary composers such as Philp Glass and Max Richter. As Sainz-Villegas puts it, “The Blue Album is a collection of musical works from different periods, composers and aesthetics that coexist and talk to each other in a space of calm and peace.” Listening to the album does indeed bring to the listener a sense of calm and peace. But there is real musical substance here, not New Age strumming. This is serious music: seriously performed and seriously recommended.  

Dependent Arising (CD Review)

 by Karl Nehring

Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77; Earl Maneein: Dependent Arising – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Rachel Barton Pine, violin; Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Tito Muñoz. Cedille CDR 90000 223

 

Well, you can always learn something new, even about things – or music – or performers – with whom you thought you were already fairly knowledgeable. I was excited to receive this new release from Cedille, for the Shostakovich is one of my favorite violin concertos, Rachel Barton Pine is a fabulous violinist, and Cedille always does a great job in the engineering department. In addition, I was intrigued to hear the piece that Pine had chosen to include with the Shostakovich, Dependent Arising by Earl Maneein (b. 1976), a composer whose name was new to me. When the CD arrived, I immediately started listening to it; saturation mode, actually, playing the CD on my big system but also listening to it via streaming in my car, on my headphones while working at my computer, and even in the shower through my Bluetooth speaker. Unusually enough, throughout this time, even though I knew nothing about Earl Maneein, I did not so much as glance at either the CD booklet nor any of the promotional material that I had been sent. You can imagine my surprise, them, when I finally opened the CD booklet and discovered Pine’s dedication: “To my brothers in Earthen Grave and our loyal Gravedwellers family, this one’s for you.🤘”  Then I began to read her personal note about the recording, which begins: “I discovered heavy metal music at the age of ten…” 

 

Turning to the promotional material, I read that “while Rachel Barton Pine is widely known for her virtuosic and expressive performances of works from the Western classical music canon, she is also a heavy metal enthusiast and performer of the genre. Pine discovered her love for heavy metal as a teenager, and later performed at rock radio stations where she would intersperse her own arrangements of her favorite metal songs by Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Metallica with works by Paganini and Ysaÿe in order to introduce new listeners to classical music. From 2009–2014 she was a member of the acclaimed doom/thrash metal band Earthen Grave, playing 6-string electric violin. With Dependent Arising, Pine explores connections between modern classical music and heavy metal and showcases her own unique journey within these two seemingly disparate genres.”

Later in her CD booklet material, Pine writes that “there is perhaps no classical composer who is more beloved to metalheads than Shostakovich… As a metalhead, the build-ups to the most aggressive moments of the cadenza are particularly satisfying, and the final ‘mosh section’ of the concerto never fails to conjure up memories of my mosh pit days.” Although I doubt most listeners will associate Shostakovich with heavy metal or mosh pits, I am confident they will respond to the intensity and virtuosity that Pine brings to her performance, which is just what this concerto needs. This is truly one of the great recordings of this masterpiece.

 

From Pine’s notes, we learn that she had once reached out to Maneein, who was the songwriter and lead violinist of the guitar-less metalcore band Resolution15, to write her a “metal-inspired piece for solo violin.” (Those who are interested might enjoy this fascinating YouTube video in which Maneein demonstrates  how he can produce heavy-metal sounds from his violin by means of his sophisticated electronics setup.) Maneein accepted the challenge and produced a work titled Metal Organic Framework. When Pine debuted the work in New York in 2014, Tito Muñoz was in the audience. I should point out here that Maneein is a classically trained violinist; moreover, he contributes liner notes for this release that discuss the Shostakovich as well as his own concerto. We learn that Muñoz originally asked Maneein to compose a short symphonic work, but according to Maneein, “ that was beyond my capabilities as a violinist who should have paid better attention to symphonic theory instruction at the conservatory. I preferred to use my comfort zone of violin composition as a point of departure… How do you express pain and violence musically? How do you create catharsis for these negative states? The possible ways to express these feelings in music, as in any language, are limited and therefore are bound to have independently evolved similarities… These commonalities make it clear to me why Rachel chose to pair her excellent performance of the Shostakovich First Violin Concerto with my piece. I use the language of extreme music to fuel my work. I draw on my Buddhist practice of dealing with pain, violence, suffering, and death as inspiration. Both of these violin concertos share expressions of terror, hatred, fear, horror, and sorrow as their primary mover.”  

The end result is a concerto that is relentless in its energetic expressiveness. That is at once its strength and its weakness. The energy is exciting; however, there are times when the listener – at least the listener not from a heavy metal background – might wish for some lyrical contrast, some quieter interludes. Still, it is an interesting composition, certainly worth a listen, and it will be interesting to see what Maneein might be able to do as he gains more experience and confidence in the classical idiom.

 

To sum up, then, what we have here is an album containing two stimulating violin concertos performed by one of the world’s premier violinists, ably accompanied by a thoroughly professional orchestra and conductor, captured in state-of the-art sound. The CD booklet contains fascinating insights into the music by both violinist Pine and composer Maneein – both of whom turn out to have deep roots in heavy metal rock music. Pine’s performance of the Shostakovich is one of the finest ever recorded, while her performance of the Maneein is relentlessly energetic, just the way the music is written. It’s a fascinating album, the Shostakovich alone sufficient to earn it an enthusiastic recommendation, the Maneein a bonus for the adventurous – and for the metalheads (you know who you are). 

MahlerFest XXXV (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

(CD1) Mahler: Symphony No. 3, Mvmts. I-II; (CD2) Mahler: Symphony No. 3, Mvmts III-VI; Christopher Gunning: Symphony No. 10. Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra; Women of the Boulder Concert Chorale; Boulder Children’s Chorale Festival Choir; Stacey Rishoi, mezzo-soprano; Kenneth Woods, conductor. 

We have previously encountered American conductor Kenneth Woods in his role as conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, where he has often championed the works of contemporary composers. But Woods wears another hat as Artistic Director of the Colorado MahlerFest and conductor of their orchestra. Colorado MahlerFest is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1988 that presents an annual, weeklong festival celebrating Mahler’s life and music as well as the works of composers who influenced Mahler and by composers whom Mahler in turn influenced. The Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra draws together young professionals, conservatory and university students, and advanced amateurs. In 2005, the International Gustav Mahler Society of Vienna awarded Colorado MahlerFest its rarely bestowed Mahler Gold Medal. MahlerFest was honored alongside the New York Philharmonic, joining such past recipients as the Vienna Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein. Last year, we reviewed their recording  MahlerFest XXXIV, which featured Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 along with Symphony No. 5 by the British composer Philip Sawyers (see that review here). In November, 2022, MahlerFest XXXV featured a truly ambitious program: the grand Symphony No. 3 by Mahler along with the world premiere concert performance of Symphony No. 10 by the late English composer Christopher Gunning (1944-2023).

The Mahler and Gunning symphonies are quite different in scale, the former a six-movement work featuring not only a large orchestra but soloists and choirs, while the latter is a relatively brief one-movement work for orchestra alone. To present a credible performance of the mighty Mahler Third is a formidable challenge, but Maestro Woods and his MahlerFest forces prove themselves up to the task. Stacey Rishoi deserves special mention for her spot-on handling of her vocal part. In addition, the engineering team has done an excellent job of capturing a live performance in excellent, full-bodied sound. There are of course many fine commercial recordings of this symphony available, and many Mahler fans will already have their favorites, but this recording would not be embarrassed in that company. Moreover, you can see this performance, which you can view here. It is quite an unforgettable, uplifting experience.

 

But in addition to a fine performance of the Mahler, the program also includes the Gunning Symphony No. 10. Gunning, sadly enough, was too ill to attend the performance, and later succumbed to renal cancer in March, 2023. I was fascinated to discover that among Gunning’s many accomplishments was writing the theme music and many of the soundtracks for the TV series I watch every Saturday night, Agatha Christie’s Poirot (the world’s greatest detective deserves the world’s greatest theme music, n’cest-pas?).

 

On his website, Woods has posted a tribute to the late composer:

 

“It was heartbreaking to learn of the death of Christopher Gunning, although I’d been aware he had been unwell for some time. Chris was the sort of person one felt lucky to know. He could be incredibly funny, even wicked. His vault of amazing and amusing anecdotes was second to none. As a composer for film, television and commercials, he was an incredible craftsman who took the work incredibly seriously. Likewise, his hugely wide-ranging work as an arranger for all kinds of pop stars and showbiz legends. So much so, that his doctors told him that he had to leave that world or face serious cardiac repercussions. Leaving behind the mad deadlines of commercial music, Chris turned his enormous talent to concert music. I should say ‘returned’ his talent, because he had a deep training and grounding in classical composition, knew the repertoire inside out and had always kindled a flame to write more for the concert hall.  I became a convert when Chris sent me a recording of his monumental Fifth Symphony with him conducting the RPO. It’s a powerful and serious work – a real symphony. And it turns out, one of thirteen real symphonies.

 

It was a huge honour when Christopher asked me to conduct the recording of his 2nd, 10th and 12th symphonies. We had an amazing few days recording these three powerful and varied works with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, culminating in a wonderful and unforgettable celebration meal afterwards.

 

Shockingly but unsurprisingly, none of the orchestras who had recorded his music seemed inclined to programme it. In fact, not a single one of those thirteen symphonies has been professionally played live (to my knowledge) until last year.

 

I was so excited last year when I was able to programme his 10th Symphony, one of his favourites (and his favourite of the 3 on our CD) at Colorado MahlerFest last year. By the time the dates were in the diary, Chris was too unwell to travel to Boulder, and by the time the video of the concert was ready, he was not up to watching the performance. I so wish he could have seen the enthusiasm of the musicians and heard the reaction of the audience. In the face of the music world’s ambivalence, Chris had always had to fight his own corner and build his own projects. I’d like to think the reaction in Boulder would have helped reassure him that his wonderful music will continue to be played even though he’s no longer around to drive things. I shall miss him terribly.”

 

If you would like to gain for yourself more of a sense of just what kind of person Christopher Gunning was, and learn some more about his music, you can take a look at this promotional video in which the composer discusses the recording of his Symphonies Nos. 2, 10, and 12 that Maestro Woods mentioned above. In addition, you can read the review that our own John Puccio did of this recording back in January, 2020 (John's review can be seen here). The performance of Gunning’s Symphony No. 10 on this release clocks in at just under 21 minutes. It is an introspective piece overall, but never static – it clearly has flow and direction, keeping the listener engaged. You can see a video of the performance here. 

 

The music is engaging, the sound quality is excellent; the only quibble I have with this release is the lack of liner notes. Still, this is a unique and uplifting recording that is not just another same old same old. Should that sound appealing to you, please visit the Colorado MahlerFest website for more information.