Barbara Westphal Converges Style Periods

Barbara Westphal's latest release is an interesting blend of old and new, original music with arrangements. Johannes Brahms didn't write any solo music for the viola, but that hasn't stopped violists from making arrangements of some of his music for their instrument.

In this case, Westphal plays arrangements of Brahms' Sonata in E minor, Op. 38 (originally for violin), and his Sonata in G major, Op. 78 (originally for cello).

And the arrangements work.

Westphal plays with a clean, unadorned tone. In the E minor sonata, the music lays very well on the instrument, and while the lower tones have an added warmth (when compared to the violin original), it sounds quite natural -- as if that's the way Brahms intended it.

That low register warmth also makes Westphal's performance of the G major sonata effective. Her ability to spin out long, singing melodies makes some passages sound quite beautiful.

Nestled between these two works is Convergence, a work commissioned by Westphal from Andrea Clearfield. This 11-minute work is decidedly modern, if a little on the conservative side. There are plenty of chromatic passages and tone clusters, but overall the music retains a tonal base.

I personally liked it, as the work shows what the viola is capable of. Though it contrasts with the Brahms works that bookend it. I'm not entirely convinced there's any stylistic convergence between Clearfield and Brahms as Westphal suggests in the liner notes.

 Nevertheless, the three works on the album are performed well. And if you -- like me -- are comfortable with different style periods rubbing shoulders, you'll probably enjoy this release.

Convergences 
Johannes Brahms: Sonata in G major, Op. 78; Sonata in E minor, Op. 38; Andrea Clearfield: Convergence 
Barbara Westphal, viola; Christian Ruvolo, piano 
Bridge Records 9442

Hovhaness: Symphony No. 48 Given Visionary Performance

Gerard Schwarz has long been a champion of Alan Hovhaness, and this release is just the latest in several Schwarz has done of his music. The album opens with the Prelude and Quadruple Fugue, Op. 128, a work that's been recorded many times. This particular reading is adequate, but a little slow and sedate for my taste.

 But then things take a turn for the better. The Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Strings is a much more successful performance. Here the Easter Music Festival Orchestra plays with fluidity and warmth that works especially well in the choral passages. Saxophonist Greg Banaszak plays with a rich, mellow sound, making the soprano sax sound almost other-worldly at times.

I keep hoping that someday we'll have a complete traversal of Hovhaness' 67 symphonies. Symphony No. 48 "Vision of Andromeda" receives its world premiere performance with this release, so I guess we're a little closer.

The work gets its name (and inspiration) from the Andromeda galaxy. Like it, the symphony seems to swirl around in a gauzy blur. All the hallmarks of Hovhaness are present; the gorgeous original hymn-tunes, contrapuntal passages, the tinkling percussion, the exotic but tonal harmonic motion. It all adds up to a symphony that mystical rather than formal -- simply being instead of playing out dramas. In other words, a typical Hovhaness symphony.

As always, Schwarz delivers sympathetic and insightful readings. And despite my quibbles about the Prelude and Quadruple Fugue, on the whole I think this album presents Hovhaness' music in all its unique beauty.

I might not recommend this disc for someone who's just starting with Hovhaness ("Mysterious Mountain" is best for that). But for those who have fallen in love with Hovhaness' music, this disc is a must have.

Alan Hovhaness: Prelude and Quadruple Fugue, Op. 128; Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Strings Op. 344; Symphony No. 48 "Vision of Andromeda" Op. 355 
Greg Banaszak, soprano saxophone; Eastern Music Festival Orchestra; Gerard Schwarz, conductor 
Naxos 8.559755

Lio's Far Side

Many cartoonists cite Gary Larson and his comic "The Far Side" as their inspiration. Some do it in interviews, some do it by homage. The latter was true in the March 29.2015 strip Lio by Mark Tatulli. (click on image to enlarge)

All of Larson's recurring characters are there -- the cow, the dog, the bee hived woman. All beloved stars ,indeed, for the true comics fan!

Kaija Saariaho - Émilie Suite Delivers Emotionally

Opera is all about emotion. And Kaija Saariaho's Émilie Suite is an hour of raw emotion compressed into a 20-minute opera. Émilie du Châtelet was a French mathematician and physicist during the Age of Enlightenment.

The opera focuses on a single evening as she struggles to complete her translation of Newton's Principia Mathematica while in the final stages of pregnancy. She's afraid childbirth will kill her (it did), and the conflict of emotions (love and fear) with scientific logic and order provides the inspiration for Saariaho's work.

The opera has but a single role, and soprano Karen Vourc'h fills it admirably. Her delivery of Émilie's inner thoughts is both thrilling and disturbing. If you want pretty arias, look elsewhere. If you want an authentic representation of a soul in crises, "Émilie Suite" delivers.

Also included on the disc are Terra Memoria, an orchestral work that slowly appears out of the silence (this would be a great choice for an SACD recording), and the Quator Instants. The latter is a work originally written for soprano and piano, recast by Saariaho for soprano and orchestra. The lyricism of the work makes it a logical companion piece to the Émilie Suite.

Marko Letonja leads the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra in sensitive and sure-footed performances of these works. Saariaho's music is all about the details, and Letonja and the SPO conjure up her delicate soundscapes seemingly at ease. An important addition to Saariaho's discography.

Kaija Sarriaho: Émilie Suite; Quatre Instants; Terra Memoria 
Karen Vourc'h; soprano; Orchestra Philharmonique de Starsbourg; Marko Letonja, conductor 
Ondine 1255-2

New Music With Guitar, Vol. 9 Maintains High Standards

The ninth installment of Bridge Records' New Music With Guitar series presents an interesting program of new guitar music -- music that (I think) deserves a place in the repertoire. Guitarist David Starobin has a personal connection with each composer and work, which gives these performances an added depth.

Starobin premiered Richard Wernick's "The Name of the Game" for guitar and chamber ensemble. When the piece started playing, I thought I was in for a dry, academic atonal work. But that's not the case. Although Wernick's piece moves in fits and starts, it actually has a strong tonal center. And once I got used to the language, I began to hear a more lyrical quality in the music.

"Schrödinger's Cat" by Poul Ruders is a set of 12 canons for violin and guitar that reflect the ambivalence of the title. The work was written for David Starobin, who gets right to the heart of the music.  In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment illustrating the paradoxical concept that particles can be in two states simultaneously until observed. So, too, these canons seem to shift back and forth until they suddenly collapse into a final cadence.

Paul Lansky's 2009 guitar concerto "With the Grain" musically portrays the characteristics of various types of wood grains and was composed for Starobin. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Justin Brown give a credible performance, though the real star is Starobin and his masterful technique. The work is the most tonally conservative of the three, (although I'd think call it more post-tonal), expansive in parts, with a hint of jazz and nod to Copland. A great ending to the album.

New Music With Guitar, Vol. 9 David Starobin, guitar 
Richard Wernick: The Name of the Game; Poul Ruders: Schrödinger's Cat; Paul Lansky: With the Grain" 
International Contemporary Ensemble; Cliff Colnot, conductor; Amalia Hall, violin; Alabama Symphony Orchestra; Justin Brown, conductor
Bridge Records 9444