A Short Dozen of the Year's Best CDs, 2016

Past Beethoven's birthday and only my first entry for 2016. Unfortunately my weak wrists and right arm, victims of years of abuse through driving and spending too much time on the computer, prevent me from writing as much as I used to. But I will not be totally silenced! Thus my usual "Baker's Dozen" new, new to me, or, in one case, dusted off from the shelf CD list is a bit shorter this year. But as usual,each disc has stood out from all the rest I listened to or even bought in 2016.

In no order in particular:

1) Gounod: Complete works for pedal piano and orchestra
Roberto Prosseda, pedal piano;
Howard Shelley, Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana                         Hyperion CDA67075

The pedal piano, popular in the late 1800's, is an impressive contraption meshing two pianos together with a pedal board much like an organ. Roberto Prosseda is the foremost proponent of the pedal piano and shines in this interesting and excellently recorded disc. This is volume 62 of the indispensable "The Romantic Piano Concerto" series on Hyperion which has brought back some incredible yet forgotten jewels from the Romantic era.

2) Martha Argerich "Chopin: The Legendary 1965 Recording"
Martha Argerich, piano
Warner Classics 5568062

This recording first became legendary because it was not available for years. Finally released in 1999 it lived up to its hype. Chopin is not always my first choice in listening, but Argerich blows the cobwebs off the music and brings it to life. Dusting this one off (literally) revealed anew Argerich's superb combination of steely technique and consummate musicianship.

3) Post-Haste Duo "Beneath a canopy of angels ... a river of stars."
Sean Fredenberg, Saxophones, Javier Rodriguez, Bassoon
Aerocade Music AM001

A bassoon and saxophone duo? Really? Yes, and it works just fine, thank you. A highly entertaining and inventive program so you just gotta hear this one! See my whole review on I Care if you Listen.

4) Charles Ives Piano Sonata # 2 "Concord, Mass. 1840-1860" Aaron Copland Piano Sonata
Easley Blackwood, piano
Cedille Records CDR900000 005

I love this work. Much of Ives leaves me cold, but the "Concord" (along with the 4th Symphony which shares much in style and form with the sonata, The Symphony: Holidays and a few others) is a masterpiece in the truest meaning of the word. Blackwood is an accomplished composer (listen to his symphonies sometime) as well as a formidable pianist. Blackwood brings out the inner voices and quirky but often breathtaking harmonies and, importantly, has some fun with the piece when required. A fine performance of the seldom heard, knotty Copland is a perfect filler. This is an older recording (1991) that I just got around to exploring this year.

5-7) Ben Johnson The Ten String Quartets
Kepler Quartet
New World Records 80637-2 Quartets 2, 3, 4 & 9 (2006)
New World Record 80693-2  Quartets 1, 5 & 10   (2011)
New World Records 80730-2 Quartets 6, 7, & 8,  "Quietness" for quartet and narrator  (2016)

I ran into Professor Johnston a few times at the University of Illinois in the late 70's. This music crazed but musically untalented psych major (organizational and industrial) regularly studied at the music library and thus occasionally rubbed elbows (including getting smashed drunk with a soon-to-be famous singer, no I will not name the guilty party) with the esteemed faculty and students. Johnston was famous then, as now, for using microtonal techniques and influences of Harry Partch in his works. His quartets, written between 1951 and 1995, are his most familiar works, if you can call them that. The final disc features the world premiere of Quartet # 6, alleged to be the most difficult quartet in the repertoire. It, along with most of the other works, defies description by this amateur. Suffice to say, all are totally absorbing works that transcend their frightful complexity.

There may be more than that out there, I am probably forgetting one or two discs, but I am leaving it at that. If I remember, I might add one or two.

See you around sometime.

Baker's Dozen Best CDs, 2015 Edition

Here it is, for all it is worth, my list of best CDs of 2015. Everyone seems to do it, so why not? Since it is my list I make the rules, thus some of these are discs that have been released earlier but I first encountered this year. Fair enough?

In further news, no Havergal Brian this year but we have Handel and Vivaldi instead. Those who know my listening habits might know those two masters are not often on my list, but two great recordings changed that this time around. There are, as usual, discs of 'new" music, 5 out of 13, about a right mix.

Happy listening, there is something for all here from Vivaldi to Gibson.

Edward Burlingame Hill Symphony # 4, Concertino # 1 for Piano and Orchestra, Concertino # 2 for Piano and Orchestra, Divertimento for Piano and Orchestra

Anton Nel, Piano, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Peter Bey

Bridge 9443

Edward Burlingame Hill, 1872-1960, is more famous for his pupils, Leonard Bernstein, Elliott Carter, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston, Randall Thompson, and Virgil Thompson, than his own work. Bernstein never really championed his teacher; he recorded Hill's Prelude for Orchestra and that was it. The 4th Symphony and 2nd Piano Concertino are both world premieres. Hill's music combines a bit of Brahms and jazz with a French touch now and then, decidedly conservative, well crafted but really rather average despite the eclectic influences. The two Concertinos are the highlights here. Anton Nel, Piano, and the Austin (TX) Symphony under Peter Bay, are to be thanked for these revealing performances of a neglected figure in American music.

Antonio Vivaldi Concerti per Flauto

Maurice Steger, recorders, I Barocchisti, Diego Fasolis

Harmonia Mundi 902190

Vivaldi.....yawn.... yawn. Not so fast, well actually rather vivaciously fast. This stunning album of the flute concerti performed on recorders wins the “Most Fun” award this year. I am not sure if the quick (really quick) tempi, brash sonorities and virtuoso solo lines are “correct”.... I don't care; sheer musical excitement from first to last note. I have played this disc over and over, each track a jewel. A late 2014 release that I did not get around to hearing until this summer, much to my loss.

Otto Ketting Symphony # 3, Symphony # 4, “Printemps”

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, JaapVan Zweden, Thierry Fischer, Otto Ketting

Etcetera 2009

Not a new recording, but as I mention, sometimes I note recordings that are new to me. Ketting (1935-2012) was a teacher, composer and trumpet player. The big names in Dutch music (Haitink, van Zweden, Vonk, Porcelijn) have performed his works, but recordings remain elusive. This is a great intro to his powerful, imposing works, that are boldly colorful (even in the strings and brass only 4th Symphony) and accessible. Check out his final symphony # 6 on a YouTube performance as well, probably will be a while before it gets a recording.

Zhou Long/Chen Yi: Symphony 'humen 1839'; Zhou Long: The Rhyme Of Taigu; The Enlightened

New Zealand Symphony, Darrell Ang.

Naxos 8570611

Pulitzer winner and KC based Zhou Long's music tends to be a bit more elusive and introspective than the more brash and colorful compositions by wife Chen Yi. but it is always worth the effort. The attraction here is “The Enlightened” which was premiered by the KC Symphony in 2005. Glad to see it finally committed to disc under the fine direction of Ang and the NZ forces.

Saint-Saëns Symphony # 3, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, La Muse et le Poète"

Noah Geller, Mark Gibbs, Jan Kraybill

Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern

Reference Recordings 136

In an earlier review, I called the Kansas City Symphony and all associated with this recording “gutsy” for tackling some pretty established repertoire. Here again, Reference Recordings, Michael Stern and he Kansas City Symphony have proved they can compete with the best. The two concertante works are performed with all the necessary gusto, poise and flair to bring them off most successfully. The Symphony, the big draw for this incredibly realistic, audiophile recording, comes off highly successful, with the organ well integrated into the texture as it should be.

“Woman at the new Piano” new piano works by Tom Flaherty, Peter Yates, Adam Schoenberg and James Matheson.

Nadia Shpachenko, Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano

Reference Recordings “Fresh” 711

Prodigiously talented, California-based pianist and teacher, Nadia Shpachenko (with the highly able of assistance of Genevieve Lee on the two piano works) has recorded a delightful and diverse program of brand new works she commissioned in 2013 from four outstanding composers. The usual fine and clean Reference Recordings sound and a most varied and energetic program make this a must hear and, better yet, own disc.

G. F. Handel, The Messiah

Doyle, Davislim, Zazzo, Neal Davies, B'rock Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Peter Dijkstra

BR Klassik 900510

The Messiah has been recorded about as many times as McDonald's has sold a Big Mac. So like a big, greasy burger, do we really need a new Messiah? In this case, I would say “heck with the diet, yes we do.” “Period” Messiahs are often dry, mechanical performances with a chorus of 6 and an orchestra of 4. On the opposite, there are the bloated, bellowing affairs with the whole town as chorus, soloists who think it is a Wagner opera, a couple of orchestras, and the biggest local organ for good measure. Dijkstra's ensemble and chorus is just the right size to propel the drama forward without overwhelming or getting lost in the whole affair. The Bavarian Radio Chorus is unmatched, with clear and crisp diction and tight ensemble. The soloists are uniformly fine, and Dijkstra takes things at a fair, but not excessive clip. This is how historically informed music should sound, full of drama and life, not slow, icy sludge.

Jean Martinon, The Complete Chicago Symphony Orchestra Recordings

Robert Casadesus, Piano; Benny Goodman, Clarinet; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jean Martinon

RCA/Sony 88843062752 (10 discs)

Oh Chicago... you did not know what you had with Jean Martinon. The caustic critics berated him and compared him unfairly to Reiner; Martinon being a polar opposite of the autocratic German. We are richer, however, for what we do have. Repertoire ranging from Weber (Clarinet Concerti with Benny Goodman) to the definitive performance of Peter Mennin's Symphony # 7 (tragically neglected) and Martinon's own 4th Symphony. The Nielsen 4th is still a benchmark today, as are the Roussel selections. A bargain price too.

NOW Ensemble “Dreamfall”

Music of Scott Smallwood, Mark Dancigers, John Supko, Nathan Williamson, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Andrea Mazzariello & Judd Greenstein

NOW Ensemble

New Amsterdam 64

Upon first listening, one might think of this as background music since much of it is consonant and melodic. Closer listening, which is highly recommended, opens a larger world of color, drama and sound. The brilliant members of NOW derive lots of color and textures from such a small ensemble, owing to the eclectic but well balanced instrumentation. The Gorgeous sound lets the listener hear all the sonic nuances and intricate rhythms.

ArtIfacts Recent Chamber Works Of Mara Gibson

Thomas Aber, Michael Hall, Robert Pherigo, Luisa Sello, Mark Lowrey, Ya-Ting Liou, Blas Gonzalez, Alvin Wong, Instrumentalists

Available on Spotify, CD Baby, Amazon or old fashioned CD by contacting www.Maragibson.com

Kansas City based Mara Gibson writes demanding music requiring concentration and an open ear. A Gibson composition, either a solo work such as “Flone” for solo flute or a larger scale work “Moments” scored for clarinet, viola and piano always opens a world of color, drama and unexpected sound. These works are making their CD premiere so hopefully many more listeners will come to appreciate her distinctive voice.

Alan Hovhaness, Symphony # 48 “Vision of Andromeda”, Prelude and Quadruple Fugue, Soprano Saxophone Concerto

Greg Banaszak, saxophone, Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz

Naxos 8559755

So what?? Hovhaness is my guilty pleasure...sue me. Yeah, I know the story, it all sounds the same, simplistic, uneven in quality, etc. etc. With performances this fine, in high class sound and music that is so perfectly melodic, exotically colorful and ultimately enjoyable, who listens to critics anyway? Listen and get absorbed in Hovhaness' world.

Vladimir Jurovski Symphony # 5, Russian Painters: Symphonic Pictures

Michail Jurovski, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra

CPO 777875

A bit of geneology, Vladimir Michailovich Jurovski (1915-1972), the composer of these two fine examples of Soviet era symphonic works, is the father of conductor Michail Jurovski (1945-) and the grandfather of conductor Vladimir Michailovich Jurovski (1972-). Got that? Symphony # 5 is one of those wonderful, colorful, bold, brassy works composed in Shostakovich's and Prokofiev's shadow toeing the line (usually) of Socialist Realism. Symphony # 5, (1971, one of his last works) is a big affair full of drama, but never over done. The recording is marred only by the inadequate organ in the final bars. “Russian Painters”, an earlier work, is an update on Mussorgsky, and quite interesting in its own right.

Patrick Castillo “The Quality of Mercy”, “Cirque”, “This is the hour of lead”

Abigail Fischer, Mezzo, Karen Kim, Violin, and Ensemble and electronics.

Innova 926

“This is the hour of lead” sets two poems (Dickinson and Yeats) that bookend a center section of short interludes and vocalise. A substantial meditation on death and loss,“this is the hour of lead” seems more of an opera scena than a song cycle. “The Quality of Mercy” combines the ensemble, mezzo (Fischer is excellent, never harsh or screachy) in an “abstract mediation on reconciliation.” “Cirque” is an austere outing for solo violin, a nice contrast to the busier larger works. Further proof that “classical” music is not dead, but evolving quite well, thank you.

ArtIfacts: Recent Chamber Works by Mara Gibson

Mara Gibson's music is all about sound. That is certainly not to say there is no form or melodic elements, but rather to say conventionality yields to the palate of sounds and even visual media available to the modern composer. Mara celebrates sound through the stretching the limits of an instrument or ensemble. Her work celebrates the creative process as well through the connection of words and music and the connection of physical elements and musical sound. In all her works on this CD of recent chamber works, moments of lyric intensity are interrupted by sounds that one might think is coming from another instrument or sound world. Never done just for shock or display, the new sounds propel the works along and become a part of the long stitched fabric. Thus a key to experiencing her music to the fullest is not to concentrate only on the short motifs but to look at the long view of a work... it becomes crystal clear.

Yes, her music is tough listening. This is not music to listen to while folding laundry, Lord knows I tried that and soon the laundry was forgotten. It requires concentration and an open ear, which opens a world of color, drama and sound. Since Mara Gibson lives and teaches in Kansas City, I have had many opportunities to hear her music live and often experienced their first performances. Her music is even more engaging and satisfying heard live as you feel as well as hear its power and motion.

The generously programmed CD begins with 2013's “Moments” for clarinet, viola and piano. Gibson's epic trio in three parts further divided into eight movements (“methods and “improvisations”) is inspired by a quote from Confucius:

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” 

The piece starts with the viola and clarinet vaguely in unison. After this short introduction, their tones bend and separate as they go their own way. The piano's role is to comment and reflect on the other instruments musings while providing cohesion and framework. All three members have extensive, improvisatory solo “moments”. The clarinet's is melodic, even jazz edged. The viola explores the woody, earthy textures of its strings through extensive pizzicato. The piano grandly concludes the solo “moments” with a climatic cadenza worthy of Henry Cowell using both the piano's keys and the strings. The third part, “Experience,” serves as a coda, with the trio finally playing as an integrated ensemble. The music here had a tinge of bitterness and resignation but a also a certain final confidence and consonance.

Michael Hall, viola, Thomas Aber, clarinet and Robert Pherigo premiered this piece and give it a loving, compelling performance. Not likely to hear any better.

2014's "Flone", for flute alone, written for and performed here by Italian flutist Luisa Sello, is based on Bach's "Partita for Flute" BWV 1013. Atavistic fluttering and the pizzicato of tapped keys evoke earth sounds as the theme from the Allemande of the Partita emerges and takes flight. The theme is embellished until it climaxes and deconstructs into fragments, returning to the earth music of the opening. A most compelling and fascinating work and sure winner of the Most Cleverly Appropriate Title of the Year award.

“Canopy” for solo viola and mixed media was inspired by “Ferment,” a massive outdoor sculpture installation by Roxy Paine at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, and premiered by violist Michael Hall at the unveiling ceremonies in April 2011. The work has become one of Gibson's most performed works and receives its deserved CD premiere. “Ferment” is at once recognizable as a tree but also foreign and desolate in its cold, hard, metallic construction. Gibson’s substantial 15 minute piece has many of the same characteristics; the mixed media blending and contrasting its other worldly, metallic sounds with the warm wood of the viola. “Canopy” explores organic growth, long lines from the viola predominate while the media comments on and propels the soloist, alternating periods of stasis and growth finally reaching the fragile threads of a lone, barren tree’s highest, most delicate branches. “Canopy” is a most fascinating and colorful work, deserving of its many performances; the one here with the incomparable violist Michael Hall being as definitive as one can get.

“Map of Rain Hitting Water” (2006 rev. 2012), conceived for solo percussion and video (by media artist Caitlin Horsman), is inspired by the poem “Clarence Playing” by Wayne Miller....

By the song’s end, he reaches into a brief
Rapture of completion (as a child reaches
into a cabinet of sweets). Though,
Now he thinks perhaps the music’s
More like a map of rain hitting water—

...and the relationship between how words visually appear on the page and how they sound. Unfolding slowly and hypnotically, “Map” is just as enjoyable without the video (which can be seen here) as it is with the images. Compositions like this can often become meaningless Muzak. But Map, with mostly metallic percussion (with a persistent pulse of a woodblock and log drum) is always colorful and expressive, it slowly progresses and subtly draws you into its world. Brilliantly performed by Mark Lowery who commissioned it and for whom it was composed. The bright, clear recording brings out every nuance and shade of color in the percussion and associated sounds.

Two short works “Hands” and “Lullaby” (2006) for two pianos (fine performances from pianists Ya-Ting Liou and Blas Gonzalez) are movements from larger work titled “Duo”. “Hands” is a propulsive moto perpetuo of falling figures, starting in the lowest register and ending in the eerie highs. “Lullaby”, appropriate to its title, is a short, magical essay evoking a music box or two gently (and sometimes not so gently) tempting to leave reality and enter a world of dreams and suspension of time.

“E:Tip”, for cello and fixed media, is one of three works for varying ensembles inspired by the trajectory and refraction of an eclipse. “E:Tip” stretches the tones of the cello through time and space, ebbing a flowing through a cloud of sound created by electronically manipulating the droning of bullfrogs in a pond. Another successful example of Gibson's hypnotic and gently unfolding sound essays, wonderfully realized here by Alan Wong, cello.

Every work is worth a listen or twelve, each one always displaying Gibson's considerable, distinctive voice. Well recorded with excellent and intelligent notes and bios of the performers and composer, the CD is available through CD Baby, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify or in old fashioned hard copy by contacting the composer at www.Maragibson.com

ArtIfacts is a labor of love, a festival of performers and a composer enjoying their craft and relishing their collaborations. And contemporary music is richer for the effort.

Nadia Shpachenko: Woman at the "New" Piano

Woman at the New Piano is an album with a surely cosmic purpose; a commemoration in music of an (almost) monumental (and now likely forgotten) event that thankfully did not come to pass. “In the year 2012”, pianist Nadia Shpachenko writes in the album notes, “the nation was swept by a fear that had not been seen since the Y2K transition of January 1, 2000." According to a Mayan calendar and accompanying legends, the world would end on December 21^st, 2012 since the calendar went no further, or something like that. Waking up seemingly alive and in the same world as the day before, Nadia thought “let's celebrate and document this great transition! Let's write and perform new pieces which capture where we are, and where we are going. It's a whole new world, let's play it!”

Indeed this prodigiously talented, California-based pianist and teacher, has recorded a delightful and diverse program of brand new works she commissioned in 2013 from four outstanding composers, Tom Flaherty, Peter Yates, Adam Schoenberg and James Matheson. Released on the Reference Recordings FRESH! label, devoted to recordings of new artists and new repertoire. 

I was particularly interested in the four movement suite “Picture Etudes” by Adam Schoenberg for solo piano since I was very familiar with the orchestral version “Picture Studies” having attended the premiere with the Kansas City Symphony in 2012. But before I could program the machine to play those tracks, I was immediately immersed in the absorbing, colorful and animated sound world of Tom Flaherty's “Airdancing” for Piano, Toy Piano and Electronics.

Inspired by floating and falling images of cliff divers, giant squids and daredevil “Fearless Felix” Baumgartner's dramatic supersonic skydive from 39km above the earth, “Airdancing” is 8 minutes kinetic movement that takes you along on a falling, floating journey. The prominent timbre of the toy piano may first evoke the works of George Crumb and John Cage, but very soon dark and foreboding electronic percussion sounds contrast and then lighten to propel the work forward. Flaherty often integrates the instruments into a single entity and then just as suddenly unleashes them to go their separate ways, careening to a sweeping, swirling end that evaporates in to eerie silence.

Arresting, dramatic, exhilarating and sometimes briefly serene, “Airdancing” stretches the listener's imagination and challenges the ear while being accessible and frankly smile producing enjoyable. Reference Recordings' clear, detailed sonics bring out every nuance, never overwhelming the toy piano but also never distorting it to absurdity. Shpachenko clearly commands and loves this colorful work, and is more than ably assisted by Genevieve Feiwen Lee on the toy piano and electronics.

So after listening to “Airdancing” a few times, I skipped on to the Schoenberg (although taking the works in the CD's order is just as rewarding).

“Picture Etudes” and the related “Studies” draws obvious connections to Mussorgsky's “Pictures at an Exhibition”. Both works have piano and orchestra versions and musically reflect a series of paintings in a gallery. While Mussorgsky's pictures are of one artist, Schoenberg's inspiration came from paintings by a variety of artists in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO. Four of the Ten orchestra movements were selected by the composer to make up “Etudes” If curious about the orchestra version, it has been recorded by Reference Recordings and the Kansas City Symphony for future release.

“Three Pierrots”, inspired by Bloch's “Die Drei Pierrots Nr. 2) is ironic, witty and pulsing with nervous, percussive energy. A lot of story and music in a short two minutes. Following is “Miró's World” a reflection on “Women at Sunrise” Joan Miró. Similarly spontaneous and rhythmically vibrant (even adding a part for a drum), “Miró's World” is playful and a bit jazzy, contrasting with the following “Olive Orchard” inspired by Van Gogh's same titled painting. Languid and romantic, “Olive Orchard” is simply beautiful music and the emotional core of the suite. Shpachenko never lets the music get mushy or sweet, Van Gogh's intensity and drama are never far from the surface. “Kandinsky” a musical portrait of Wassily Kandinsky's “Rose with Gray” serves as the finale to the suite. The percussion returns to accent the dry, starkly dramatic piano which sweeps and propels the piece to a crashing, sweeping conclusion.

Shpachenko makes a most convincing case for these portraits and we are unlikely to get such a definitive, affectionate recording soon. As with Mussorgsky, the piano only version gives the listener insight to the inner voices and the frame of the music while the orchestral can dazzle with color and power. Both are worth hearing.

Schoenberg also provides the concluding work on the CD. Also existing in an orchestral version, “Bounce”, for two pianos, is a ten minute playful romp inspired by the 100^th anniversary of the “Rite of Spring” and the impending birth of Schoenberg's son. Danceable, fun, enjoyable and superbly executed by Shpachenko with Genevieve Feiwen Lee on the second piano.

Peter Yates' colorful “Pandora's box”, as the composer describes them, six movement suite “Finger Songs” ably demonstrates Shpachenko's range of technique. From sophisticated jazz in “Mood Swing”, misty landscapes in “Mysterious Dawn” and on to adolescent hijinks and light hearted fun with hints of Ragtime in “Gambol” and “All Better”, “Finger Songs” is an important addition to the contemporary piano literature, totally accessible, totally interesting and 100% fun to hear.

Tom Flaherty returns in “Part Suite-a” (to rhyme with partita), a decidedly darker and more introspective than “Airdancing”. A take-off on the baroque suite, the three movements are woven around characteristic elements of the passacaglia, sarabande and scherzo forms. The darker, complex “Passacagliatude” unfolds to a powerful essay from a simple bass ostinato. “Lullabande” is a sweet lullaby with the characteristic sway of the ancient dance. The concluding “Scherzoid” is a virtuoso, tumultuous, romp tinged just a hair with some drama.

The longest single movement in the program, James Matheson's “Cretic Variations” takes us on a kaleidoscopic voyage from a single repeated high note through contrasting variations to an ambiguous quiet ending. The title refers to the poetic cretic foot meter (long, short, long) which, as the composer notes may “..lend itself better to Dr Seuss than more serious poetic endeavors”. Matheson stretches and teases this inherently simple phrase to create a powerful, lyrical and demanding set of variations. Another work that can, and should, become a staple of recitals and programs.

Stellar performances, usual fine Reference Recordings sound throughout, informative liner notes and a most varied and energetic program make “Woman at the New Piano” a clear winner and a new favorite here.

Woman At the New Piano
Nadia Shpachenko, Piano
Genevieve Feiwen Lee, Piano and Toy Piano

Reference Recordings FRESH FR 711

Packard Dream Cars at "Art of the Car"

The annual Art of the Car Concours was held today on the grounds of the Kansas City Art Institute. Hundreds of antique and collector cars were on display. This year was quite special in that several concept and "dream" cars was displayed. Notably the rare alignment of four dream cars from the late, great Packard Motor Car company. These incredible monuments of style and elegance from one of the legends of luxury motoring are owned by the same collector but rarely displayed all together in public. So for this round, I am focusing on the Packards, all owned by noted collector Ralph Marano; maybe some others will show up in another post. 

The Pan American

Based on a 1951 250 Convertible, the Packard Pan American was the inspiration for the production Caribbean convertible. One of 6 made.

Based on a "Bathtub" "Pregnant Elephant" 1948 chassis, this classy convertible sports a body by Italian Carrozzeria Vignale. Sleek and low, the pictures do not do it justice. Only the characteristic grill identifies it as a Packard. 

The hood is longer than it looks in the photo. Very well proportioned.

Rear view of the jaunty Vignale.

Fine from any angle, I had seen the car in Collectible Automobile painted red.
Much more elegant in black.

The 1955 Request was a concept based on a production 400 Hardtop. The name came
from the many requests to return to a traditional upright, classic grille. I love it. Would it
have saved Packard if it was put into production? Probably not... but what a way to go.

The rear of The Request was pretty stock '55 400. The bronze and white paint scheme was unique
to The Request.

The Panther, sometimes the Panther Daytona. Another concept sleek convertible this time from 1954. Updated with
"cathedral taillights from 55-56. 

Panther's top is removable. Four made, two known to exist.

The wheel covers are unique to the car and cost a small fortune, or so I was told.

Blogger does some strange things, I could not get the caption under The Request to work without it sending the picture elsewhere. Sorry for the large font.... oh well...

Kansas City Symphony records Saint-Saëns

In addition to being uniformly excellent, the Kansas City Symphony can also be called “gutsy”. New releases from former recording giants New York, Berlin, London, Philadelphia and Chicago are often newsworthy events due to their relative rarity. Yet here is our local band releasing its 6^th professional recording with a 7^th in the future. How things have changed.

The Kansas City Symphony is also gutsy in its choice of works to record. Often, regional orchestras record works that perhaps they have premiered, have a local connection or are not exactly standard repertoire. The Kansas City recordings have featured works by Britten, Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Prokofiev and Bartok, to name a few, that are standard repertoire or have “definitive” recordings. This disc from Reference Recordings is a blend of the familiar and rare: an all Saint-Saëns disc featuring the less known “La Muse et le Poete”, op 132 for Violin, Cello and Orchestra combined with the popular and very frequently recorded Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Orchestra op. 28 and the Symphony # 3 “Organ” op 78. Concertmaster Noah Geller handles the violin solos, Principal Mark Gibbs cello on “La Muse” with with local organist and Organ Conservator Jan Kraybill in the Symphony. Music Director Michael Stern was on the podium.

The Organ Symphony may be the top billing on the cover, but the warmest, most vivid sonics and top rank, stellar performances belong to the other two works.

The rare gem on the disc is "La Muse et le Poète", for solo violin, solo cello and orchestra. A late work from 1910, “La Muse...” reflects the influence of Debussy, Ravel and their contemporaries with its denser harmonies, lush orchestration and rhapsodic form. Despite the programmatic title, the work is more of a spirited conversation than a dramatic encounter, though the violin seems to be the “Muse” inspiring the more reflective cello “Poète”. Both soloists are treated to many virtuoso passages, which Geller and Gibbs negotiated with poise and flair. The violin and cello are closely miked, with every nuance of phrase and tone exposed, but they are also well integrated into the orchestral fabric. Since Gibbs and Geller work together frequently as section Principals, they instinctively converse and play off each other, essential (but not always heard in performances I sampled) in keeping the work focused. This charming and passionate performance stands up nicely to the competition, notably a Joshua Bell/Steven Isserlis recording and an all French affair on Erato coupled with the Third Violin Concerto and First Cello concerto.

The “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” is a much earlier (1863) and more popular work, written in a Spanish influenced style for the virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. There is plenty of competition for this always entertaining chestnut, but on first hearing this performance stands well with the rest. Geller's tone was always precise and clear. The dramatic introduction was pleading and romantic, a perfect foil for the more animated rondo to follow. His rubato in the familiar rondo theme was just right, the many double stops perfectly executed (and clearly captured), and one has to hear the violin's spine-tingling downward run from the cold, clear stratosphere to the sensuously warm and expressive rondo theme. Stern and the orchestra are not to be forgotten, albeit Saint-Saëns' writing favors the soloists, always providing sympathetic and enthusiastic orchestra accompaniment.

The well known Symphony # 3 “Organ” completes the disc's program. The orchestra chose this work to inaugurate The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts' 102 rank Casavant organ in June 2012, with Paul Jacobs on the organ, and this performance was quite similar. The Kauffman Center's Casavant is well tuned for symphonic performances, thus it was integrated into the whole orchestral fabric, not drowning out everything within hearing distance. Stern lead a stately performance, with a quite slow second movement that might not find favor with all but certainly accentuated the lushness of the movement. The organ's grand entrance in the final movement was powerful but not earth shattering; again it was more integrated to the texture. Rarely in a recording have the duo pianists' contributions been so perfectly embedded in the sonic texture, yet clear and bell like. Another “must listen” spot. Stern kept the symphony's final moments under control as well, not letting the tympani muddy everything with a frenzy of uncoordinated sound and fury. A cool-ish performance that never really took off and frankly would have benefited from a more white hot approach. Far from a poor performance, it just pales in comparison to a lot of the competition, mostly the never duplicated Munch/Boston Symphony on RCA.

Of course the renowned sonics of Reference Recordings, created by Recording Engineer Keith O. Johnson and produced by David Frost are of demonstration quality and surely the organ in the Symphony can cause some leases to be broken or at least a few knocks on the ceiling when the volume is unleashed. (thankfully none here yet at least). Best not to think of this recording as a “sonic extravaganza” (anyone remember the LP of the Virgil Fox/Ormandy/Philadelphia “Organ Symphony” recording with a cover like an 1890's circus poster?) but an example of how state-of-the-art recording technology can realistically capture the sound, texture and deft coordination of expansive orchestral forces combined with solo instruments of vastly varying sound quality and volume.

Inextinguishable

Continuing the theme of works written around and in response to World War I, the Kansas City Symphony led by Music Director Michael Stern gave the local audience the somewhat rare opportunity to experience the Nielsen Symphony # 4 “Inextinguishable”, written in 1916 at the height of the war. Nielsen is a tough nut to crack and his music gives up its secrets, power and genius reluctantly. I should know. I have tried and tried to appreciate and understand, even enjoy, the music of a composer many classical music cognoscenti rank in high esteem.

Taken at face value, the symphony can become a series of disjointed episodes that have little organic flow. What the “Inextinguishable” needs, it appears, is a committed, forceful and almost reckless (ready to skitter off the road any second) performance that makes this symphony more than just a somewhat conservative, yet quirky, early 20^th century work. The conductor has to keep all the horsepower in control, throttling back at times to allow the orchestral engine to accelerate to full speed. Stern and the Kansas City Symphony did just that. And made a believer out of me after all.

A good example is the first measures of the symphony. The white hot outburst from the full orchestra and the all-important tympani seamlessly decelerates to a calmer, almost wistful section that in abruptly interrupted by an agitated episode... the world is starting to crumble. Every section of the orchestra marched in lock step to Stern's urgent vision of the work. The always admirable winds of the orchestra were in full bloom, especially the clarinets in the above mentioned slow theme. The tympani was well integrated (a real problem in some performances, it is not really a tympani concerto), the brass solid and the strings lush. The violas' “machine gun” figures were well done and again integrated into the whole, not just some poorly placed interruption. The very end of the movement glowed with Straussian grandeur, never overwrought, but powerful and rich.

Moving on with out pause, the winds are again prominent in the quietly energetic second movement. Stern brings out Nielsen's humanity in this more relaxed episode, yet never lets the tension completely down... the world is still at battle. Finely balanced in ensemble and perfectly animated in tempo, Stern integrated this movement in the whole scheme of the symphony, making it more than just a charming scherzo.

The searing third section follows without pause. Intense with finely tuned release and tension, the deeply moving section flows via a shimmering bridge passage (with lovely oboe solo from Principal Kristina Fulton ) to the climactic finale.

Stern let the forces loose in what has to be the most insanely dramatic eight minutes in the orchestral literature, and maybe the most thrilling eight minutes of the KCS season. Stern flicked through the many gear changes in the movement, never losing momentum. Note must be made of the thrilling horn passages, that soared over it all with precise and clear intonation, brushing aside the days when Kansas City Symphony horn solos made one cringe. Stern brought back the wistful “inextinguishable” theme from the first movement in full glory. The dueling tympani were fine but the extra tympani on the right just seemed to be a little timid, lessening the thunderous impact of the passages. Some of the audience just seemed to not get it (or were shell shocked) and the response was muted in comparison to the easier to handle opening half. But hey.. took me years to see what this incredible work had to offer.

Opening the concert was Richard Strauss' 1888 “Don Juan” op.20. In 1880's Weimar this bold and ardent tone poem dazzled the audiences as easily as it does still today. From the soaring opening (one of the most exciting in all orchestral literature) through the tender love music and on to the climatic fall from power and his death, Stern brought “Don Juan” to vivid life. As in the Nielsen, the winds, especially the horns were well balanced and colorful. The strings, however, could use some strength to be more lush as befits a Strauss tone poem, but one could not quibble over their commitment and frequent beauty. The final stab of the trumpet, signaling Don Juan's demise brought the work to a powerful close. A fine and certainly challenging curtain raiser in every (positive) sense of the word.

Pianist Steven Lin joined the orchestra for the Mozart Piano Concerto # 20 in D minor K466. Lin, winner of many awards and recipient of excellent reviews world wide, was clearly an audience favorite here as well, receiving a most sincere and prolonged ovation. The opening movement of the concerto is one of Mozart's most dramatic solidly in the dark of D minor. One hears the foreshadowing of Beethoven in this big boned, lengthy concerto and Stern and Lin took pains to keep that in the forefront.

The Romanze second movement was lyrical and “romantic” without being fussy. The more agitated central section contrasted well with the more graceful sections that surround it. Stern kept the orchestral balance in line and in sync with the soloist. The rippling, energetic finale spun forth in a controlled torrent, Lin enjoying every soaring phrase and dazzling run. Throughout the performance Lin was technically brilliant and sparkling, but just did not mine the underlying drama and tragedy and even elegance and grace that marks fine Mozart 20 performance. With time and maturity, Lin will be an even better Mozart interpreter, with his commanding technique combined with a deeper more dramatic vision, he will be one to turn to.

For me this was a expertly performed, intelligent and challenging program; each work having an underpinning of tragedy and conflict intertwined with “inextinguishable” human spirit and redemption.