Moments of Love - Dominique Labelle and Yehudi Wyner show real chemistry

Moments of Love
Ravel, Saint-Saens, Wyner, Hahn, Britten
Dominique Labell, sporano
Yehudi Wyner, piano
Bridge Records

Dominique Labelle and Yehudi Wyner have put together an engaging program with "Moments of Love." Labelle's voice has a warm lower register and a very clean upper register that she uses to great effect in this musical examination of love's multiplicity. There's a real chemistry between singer and accompanist that makes the listening experience even more enjoyable.

Featured on the recording is Ravel's "Trois Poems de Stephane Mallarme" and a selection of songs by Saint-Saens. Labelle's voice is well-suited to this French repertoire, sounding slightly mysterious in the Ravel, and inviting and charming with Saint-Saens' selections.

There's something about the composer playing his own work -- especially one as accomplished a performer as Wyner. "The Second Madrigal: Voices of Women" was originally written for soprano and chamber ensemble. His adaptation of the work for voice and solo piano is quite effective. The composition seems to borrow gestures from mid-century atonality, but still (to my ears) rooted around tonal centers. The result is music that conveys deep emotion though apparent dissonance -- emotion Labelle expresses quite effectively.

Reynaldo Hahn's youthful art songs are sung with a simple beauty entirely appropriate to the material, and the disc ends with four songs from Britten. Jazz and tin-pan alley rubs shoulders with classical in these numbers, and Labelle delivers with a wink and smile.

Sir Neville Marriner turns 90

Sir Neville Marriner, the world-renowned conductor and founder and Life President of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, turns 90 in April.

He is to be honored with a special - and unique - concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Tuesday, April 1. The concert will consist of three works, performed by each of the Academy's three music directors. 

The current Academy Music Director, Joshua Bell, opens the evening’s program with the Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens. This is followed by Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 played by the recent Music Director and the Academy's Principal Guest Conductor, Murray Perahia. And finally, Sir Neville himself will conduct the orchestra in the Enigma Variations by Sir Edward Elgar, to conclude what will be an evening of joyous celebration of the past, present and future of the Academy. 

If you can't be at the concert in London on Tuesday evening, not to worry! The very next morning, Wednesday, April 2, WTJU's Classical Department will present a special show from 6-9 am: Sir Neville at 90, devoted to works conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, and during which the entire previous evening's concert will be reproduced with recordings by the exact same artists. 

There will also be an interview with Sir Neville just after 8 o'clock. Steve Myers will host this WTJU Special: Sir Neville at 90, Wednesday, April 2, 6-9 am, here on WTJU-Charlottesville.  We hope you'll join us for a very special program.

"French Impressions" Impresses

French Impressions 
Josha Bell, violin; Jeremy Denk, piano
Sony Classics

Good chamber music is a conversation – and French Impressions is just that. A conversation between two old friends enjoying themselves. It’s no accident that both violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jeremy Denk get equal billing. In the three works presented both artists contribute equally to the performance.

The album beings with Camille Saint-Saens' Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, completed in 1885. It's the  most formally constructed of the three works on the CD, but there’s nothing stuffy about it. Bell and Denk play the work with a light touch and real animation. They also don’t mind slightly lingering over the beautiful harmonies, calling the listener’s attention to the sumptuous sound.

Speaking of sumptuous, the Cesar Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major is even more so. Bell and Denk make a compelling case for this often-recorded work, and provide a fresh take on this familiar music.

Maurice Ravel incorporated some American blues into his 1922 Sonata for Violin and Piano. Many performers approach the movement from a classical tradition, and downplay the music’s inspiration. Not so Bell and Denk. They relish the jazz elements, and play them with such elan that the movement positively swings.

Although stylistically diverse, the three sonatas make a cohesive and interesting program thanks to Bell and Denk. It’s difficult to put into words, but they bring out the inherent Frenchness of these compositions.

I never really thought much about these sonatas before. I mean, they were OK, but not especially engaging personally. Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk have changed my mind, giving me a new appreciation for these compositions.That's impressive.