Nadjia Salerno-Sonnenberg's Fresh Batch of Concertos

From A to Z
21st Century Concertos
New Century Chamber Orchestra
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

This new release presents four violin concertos written in the 21st Century from Clarice Assad, William Bolcom, Michale Daugherty, and Ellen Taaffe Zwlich. Two of them -- the Bolcom and Dougherty -- were commissioned by the ensemble. All benefit from the outstanding musicianship of the group and their talented music director, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.

Clarice Assad's "Dreamscapes" is meant to evoke the ethereal half-conscious world of dreams, and does so effectively. This isn't a violin showcase type of concerto. Rather, the solo instrument seems to travel through soundscapes conjured up by the ensemble."Romanza," by William Bolcom is more straight-forward work. Bolcom's fascination with American musical forms manafests itself in the finale's cakewalk. "Romanza's" post-romantic construction allows for plenty of expression, and Salerno-Sonneberg rises to the occasion. Her violin practically sings, wresting every bit of emotion out of Bolcom's music.

Michael Daugherty treats the ensemble as a large string quartet in "Fallingwater." The work divides the ensemble into four parts, similar in structure to a string quartet. Daugherty's music often has pop inflections, and "Fallingwater" is no exeption. But those influences are understated, providing a freshness and energy to the score without being obvious.

The final work on the album, "Commedia dell"Arte" by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is in many ways the most traditional (if one can use that term for 21st Century music). As the title suggests, Zwilich uses the characters of commedia dell'arte as her point of inspiration. Each movement presents a musical portrait of one of the stock characters. There's an Italinate light-heartedness about this score, and Salerno-Sonnenberg's bow fairly dances across the strings.

These concertos aren't necessarily about virtuosity; but they are about musicianship. Each one is a partnership between the soloist and the ensemble. Both halves need to be fully committed to deliver successful performances of these works; and there's no question that Nadja Salerno-Sonneberg and the New Century Chamber Orchestra delivers.

Composing America - Lark Quartet's study in contrasts

Composing America
Adams, Bolcom, Copland & Moravec
The Lark Quartet
Bridge Records

The Lark Quartet's latest release is a broad sampling of American string quartet music -- and it's broad in many ways. First, it ranges from the  1928 modernism of Aaron Copland, through the minimalism of John Adams, the populist sound of William Bolcolm and ending with the more formal writing of Paul Moravec.

It's also broad in it's inclusion of performers. the selections from "John's Book of Alleged Dances" (John Adams) features percussionist Yousif Sheronick. Bolcom's "Billie in the Darbies" has the quartet accompanying baritone Stephen Salters. The Moravec work is a Piano Quartet,  which the quartet performs with pianist Jeremy Denk. Only eight minutes of the program, Copland's "Two Pieces for String Quartet" are for sting quartet alone.

And all of it's to the good. The variety of styles, forces, and sounds make this an interesting album to listen to straight through. The Lark's clear, straight-forward sound seems perfectly suited to this material.

Review: River of Light: American Short Works for Violin and Piano

River of Light: American Short Works for Violin and Piano
Tim Fain, violin;
Pei Yao Wang, piano
Naxos American Classics 8.559662

Usually a recital disc of short violin compositions, known as “miniatures,” will include works by 19th and early 20th century composer-performers such as Fritz Kreisler, Niccolò Paganini, Pablo de Sarasate, and Henryk Wieniawski. With this album, violinist Tim Fain aims to “bring the tradition of the ‘short piece’ into the present.”

And by the present, he means roughly the last 60 years, for only one of the pieces performed is by a composer who is deceased (Ruth Shaw Wylie’s Wistful Piece, composed in 1953). Fain premiered many of the works (or arrangements) performed on River of Light, so you get the sense he is deeply committed to this repertoire.

The disc begins with a lyrically understated aria for violin and piano by Kevin Puts (whose body of work has been growing nicely, and whose fanfare, Network, was featured on a high-energy sampler of American compositions on the inaugural release by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s record label, CSO Media.

Then Fain makes use of his excellent technique with Knee Play 2, an excerpt from Philip Glass’s 1976 opera, Einstein on the Beach. His performance in this arrangement is simply electric, both capturing the hypnotizing and change-prone qualities of the composer’s music.

Aaron Jay Kernis’s Air for Violin and Piano is no mere trifle. The adjectives to which one could attribute to it are well-deserved: melodic, tender, and expressive, and heart-wrenching. The long lines which the violin has to sustain are thrilling to hear. Fain and Wang interpret this material well. Richard Danielpour’s River of Light would not be out of place in a movie score: that is, a score which is deeply foreboding and evocative of dark beauty in its character.

It is nice to hear William Bolcom’s Graceful Ghost Rag transformed into a bon-bon for violinists to enjoy—why should pianists have all the fun? Jennifer Higdon even manages to write a melody worthy of some of the great composers of the repertoire, with her Legacy.

The longest work on the disc, The Light Guitar, is by New York-based composer Patrick Zimmerli. For a work for solo violin in three movements, it does everything a good solo work should do: highlight a soloist’s musical abilities, require expressive playing, and display high-energy virtuosity in the outer sections. Indeed, the fast third movement mirrors what is so infectious of bluegrass music, which moves back and forth between agile melodic figures, and is punctuated throughout by double and triple stops, open strings, and movement by parallel intervals. Maybe he should look up mandolinist Chris Thile and put together a show.

Fain and his trusty colleague, pianist Pei Yao Wang are worthy partners for this material. Fain has crafted an album of violin and piano music which deserves to be further explored by more violinists. One can hardly wait to hear what their next project will be. The disc will be released on the Naxos American Classics label on August 30, 2011.