New this month on OUR Recordings is Mahan Esfahani’s incredible performance of Poul Ruders’ 2020 ‘Harpsichord Concerto’ with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leif Segerstam. (OK. I think I know what a digital EP is...)
The first movement ‘Avanti risoluto’ is filmic and almost
tender in its careful but inevitable escalation. There is an oddly yet entirely
pleasing synthetic quality, engendered by the amplification of orchestral
instruments. It is in this manner that the blend of sound is achieved. The effect itself is, of course, unique. And very distant from any historic mould in familiarity with Baroque works by Vivaldi, for example. The otherworldly mesh of strings and brass is strange but wonderous indeed; a mellow foil to the sparkly and spiky solo. The next movement ‘Andante’ is a
touch more romantic (with a small ‘r’) although Modernist and spacey. Single notes
on each beat cut in and out of the complex soundscape. At
close, this solo ‘line’ inverts, reaching deeper, before rebuilding to
chordal strikes.
The final movement ‘Vivace Martellato alla breve’ comprises an extraordinary attack of chords – but with a simultaneous ‘light’ touch. Again, related to the manipulation of orchestral volume. Impossible to conjecture its achievement, outside any intimate knowledge of the harpsichord. Aural threads; several layers of texture; between the solo and orchestral instruments, intertwine. The compositional variation, in constant flux, brings lesser-heard voices such as castanets to the fore. The overall effect is whirring, trammelling, and somehow trainlike. Each mechanism seems to smash and then meld to the non-closure... to the heart of everything new.
Jasmin Seidl, piano Cugate Classics (2021) New from Cugate Classics is a restful collection of original piano pieces by Jasmin Seidl. Gently Minimalist, these offer Glass-like strains although nod to Classical structure and melodicism. Commencing with ‘Sea’, pleasingly underplayed, a glock picks out higher ranges with the percussive aspect of a triangle. If you enjoy Elena Kats-Chernin, you’ll love this: peaceful, calm, serene. The pieces sustain a carillon quality. ‘Sunday Sarabande’ lilts and drifts, with slight shifts of cadence and tempo. ‘Mourning’ proffers slow and ponderous trails in between sets of descendant chords. ‘Lullaby Talk’ repeats its echoey refrain of rising and falling minor thirds – again reminiscent of bells. With ‘Wings’, simple phrases attain tonal height to airily meander. I confess to expecting contrast with ‘Valse Triste’, being in fact a slow stroll in 4/4. Its ‘waltz’ element is a repeating motif in the left hand. ‘Melting’ is indeed so: fluid and dreamy, a
Violeta Vicci, violin; viola; voice Aldilà Records (2020) ‘Mirror Images’ is a mesmerising collection of short works for violin, viola, and voice. A tonic for our times, it comprises truly exceptional performances by Spanish-Swiss performer Violeta Vicci . The album opens with Söderlind’s ‘Elegia II’. Sonorous, melancholy, and graceful, it seems familiar-yet-new. A carefully measured violin recording executed with engaging dynamic contrast. ‘Improvisation I’ is the first of Vicci’s imaginative and personal statements. These intersperse the selection. ‘Improvisation II’ combines ancient and modern dance elements, its gentle cadences strumming like a guitar. ‘Improvisation III’ is wistful, exquisite, whilst ‘Improvisation IV’ draws upon traditional idioms as if an unhinged sea shanty. ‘Improvisation V’ features Vicci’s fluid soprano, echoing the resonance of a bowed string. ‘Improvisation VI’ brings vocal and instrument together, the string seeming to reference a hurdy-gurdy. Bach’s ‘Par
Sarah Kapustin, violin; Roeland Jagers, viola Navis Classics (2020) ‘Reflections’ is a new release from Navis Classics featuring Sarah Kapustin on violin and Roeland Jagers on viola. The duo present a clean yet breathy tone. You often hear the performer’s breath (performers’ breaths) in the exquisite ‘live’ studio production. The phrasing is dynamic and forceful but not forced. It is at the edge of a natural and easy sense of both timbre and rhythm. The collection opens with a series of short and intriguing canons by Josquin des Prez. In order, these form a satisfying narrative. The semi-dissonant cadences resolve with a legitimate melancholy befitting these extraordinary times. It seems to disperse into the resonant and electrifying Martinu ‘Duo’. Like off-kilter Vivaldi, brief, beautiful, but brilliant. ‘Allegro’ and its bookend are stirring and fiery. And, in between, the variant phrases of ‘Lento’ reflect upon the route travelled. A pair of Bach canons arranged by Forbes embody an
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