Mary Kathleen Ernst: Keeping Time

Mary Kathleen Ernst
Keeping Time
Fung, Higdon, Hoover, Shatin, de Kenessey, Deussen
Innova

Pianist Mary Kathleen Ernst turns in a strong program of solo piano works with equally strong performances. Yes, all the works were written by women, but that's about the only thing they have in common.

Vivan Fung's "Keeping Time" uses the piano as a percussion instrument. This work is all about rhythm, and Ernst delivers an energetic and (in my opinion) very cool performance.

By contrast, Jennifer Higdon's "Secret And Glass Gardens" sounds shimmering and ethereal, almost suspended in time and space. It's almost a companion piece to Debussy's "La cathédrale engloutie"

The "Dream Dances" of Katherine Hoover is a somewhat mysterious-sounding work, with slow-moving passages suddenly bursting forth with up-tempo angular melodies.

Judith Shatin used the I Ching to guide her compositional process, and the resulting music is fasciniating. This 26-minute work is comprised of very short sections, sounding almost like aphorisims. Shatin sometimes has the piano sound very mechanistic, almost like an electronic instrument.

I somethimes think Stefania de Kenessey writes the music others wish they had the courage to. "Spontaneous D-Combustion" has catchy, tonal melodies, supported by full, rich chords and a rhythmic pulse that has more than hint of pop sensibilities.

Nancy Bloomer Deussen's "A Recollection" is a wistful and quiet little work that calms down the listener and makes a peaceful close to the program.

Higdon: Early chamber works hold their own

Higdon: Early Chamber Works
Serafin Quartet
Charles Abramovic, piano
Eric Stomberg, bassoon
Naxos

In this collection of early chamber works, one can hear hints of the composer Jennifer Higdon would become -- and the amazing amount of talent she already possessed.

Amazing Grace (written when Higdon was 24)  breaks this overly-familiar hymn into small bits and rearranges them in a kaleidoscopic fashion. Great fun, and a great way to open the program. 

Her String Trio (another student work), is a well-structured work, although a trifle unfocused. The style of the work doesn't sound completely gelled. The trio sometimes leans towards the academic, before settling into Higdon's characteristic quasi-modal style towards the end.

Bassoonist Eric Stomberg admirably performs Dark Wood, a fast-moving work for bassoon and piano trio. This engaging work full of energy that casts the bassoon not as a clown, or as a mournful crooner, but as an agile and aggressive solo instrument.

Higdon's Sonata for Viola and Piano lets the viola sing in the first movement, and contrapuntally interact with the piano in the second, trading ideas back and forth. The Sky Quartet evokes the grandeur of the Western sky (which inspired its composition). Elegiac and expansive, the quartet is definitely a work of a composer in command of her material.

Jennifer Higdon: An Exaltation of Larks

Jennifer Higdon: An Exaltation Of Larks
The Lark Quartet
Gary Graffman, piano
Todd Palmer, clarniet
Blair McMillen, piano
Bridge Records

From a marketing standpoint, it's a natural -- the all-female Lark Quartet performs music by female composer Jennifer Higdon, including her Lark Quartet. But this release is more than that. It's actually about a very talented string quartet performing music by a very talented composer. Period. And on that level, An Exaltation of Larks succeeds admirably.

The title work is flowing, modal composition. According to the liner notes, Higdon's intent was to mimic a group of birds, and the music does just that. It swoops and spins, the four instruments coming together and moving apart, just like flocking birds. Motifs twitter and trill like bird calls to. An Exultation of Larks is an appealing work, even if you don't know the program.

Scenes from the Poet's Dreams is an engaging and most unusual-sounding piano quintet. The work was ommissioned by the Lark Quartet and Gary Graffman, who lost the use of his right hand. The piano part is for left hand only, thinning the texture somewhat. Higdon uses the restriction as a resource. the piano becomes a fifth single-line instrument, completely integrated into the ensemble.

Light Refacted -- as befitting the title -- is a somewhat angular work for string quartet, clarinet and piano, The ensemble gives Higdon a lot of textures to play with, and she does. The first movement "Inward" turns slowly like a prism in the sunlight, the various instruments coming together and moving apart, creating subtle permutations of sound. It all comes coalesces in the last movement "Outward." All the players are united, and the united ensemble races ahead to an exciting climax.

Contemporary classics from Cincinnati

American Portraits
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra  
Paavo Jarvi, conductor  
CSO Media

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra used to be one of the crown jewels of the Telarc label -- back in the day. Now they join an increasing number of orchestras who are self-releasing their material. And like their former label mates the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, they're starting off with a strong release of interesting and compelling repertoire.

American Portraits showcases works by living (and relatively young) American composers. Several of these pieces received their premier with the CSO. All are well-crafted compositions that bear up to repeated listening.

Charles Coleman has two works on the album. "Streetscape" opens the program. It's reminiscent of Bernstein's "West Side Story" overture, but with a higher level of energy. "Deep Woods" is a very different piece. It opens in a frantic and disjointed manner that, ( to me anyway) conveys a feeling of unease and disorientation of being lost in the woods.

Jennifer Higdon's "Fanfare Ritmico" wasn't premiered by the CSO, but they turn in a rousing performance nevertheless. This is short, festive occasional work that, as the tile suggest, has a good beat. The fun continues with "Slalom" by Carter Pann. It starts out with a quick quote from Beethoven, then makes a light-hearted run through the orchestra at break-neck speed. Slalom, indeed!

"Halcyon Sun" is an amazing example of orchestral mastery. Jonathan Bailey Holland creates a work that shimmers as light through a prism. The last work, "Network," by Kevin Puts is a short, good-natured composition that ends the program on a high note. American Portraits is impeccably recorded. Even though these are live performances the sound has a good amount of detail, and the audience (with one exception) unusually quiet.

Paavo Jarvi conducts with authority and conviction, making the case for all of these works by leading the orchestra in lively and energetic performances.American Portraits makes the case that music in this country is not just alive, but full of life as well. Highly recommended.

You can hear selections from this CD on WTJU -- we'll be airing them over the next month or so. Keep listening!

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.