Valentin Silvestrov Series Continues with Masterwork

This is the second installment of Silvestrov's music. Like the first, it features Christopher Lyndon-Gee and the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra. Here's hoping for many more. Valentin Silvestrov has a unique compositional voice, and his music deserves exploration.

This release features his Symphony for Violin and Orchestra. Subtitled "Widmung" (Dedication), this 43-minute masterwork is Silvestrov at his best. It sounds not so much like a symphony, but like a symphony heard long ago and only partially remembered. 

Clouds of sound drift in and out of focus. Silvestrov's signature smearing of textures is present. This also gives the work a dream-like quality.

Violinist Janusz Wawrowski plays with a delicate sensitivity. His instrument seems to drift through the ensemble. His violin often floats above the orchestra as it slowly transitions from one idea to the next. 

The work is one of memory, a bittersweet look back, with a hopeful look to the future. As I said, classic Silvestrov.

The 1984 Postuludium for Piano and Orchestra is a stronger and more aggressive work. Clouds of sound are an important element in this piece as well. But here they have a hard, steely edge to them. Chords crash down, then gradually evaporate into mist. 

Silvestrov is not just an important Ukrainian composer. He's an important composer of our time. His music should connect with us all. It certainly does with me. Highly recommended. 

Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony for Violin and Orchestra
Postludium for Piano and Orchestra
Janusz Wawrowski, violin; Jurgis Karnavicius, piano
Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra; Christopher Lyndon-Gee, conductor
Naxos 8.574413

Ronald Woodley Presents a Varied Program for Clarinets

I applaud the thought that went into the program. The results were worth the effort. Ronald Woodley presents a recital of music. But this isn't just a recital of clarinet music. 

First, it's a recital of various reed instruments of the clarinet family. Second, the program focuses on works by contemporary British composers. 

Woodley's use of multiple instruments keeps listener engagement high. An hour of just clarinet music might be a challenge to sit through. But this group of instruments gives each work a distinctive sound. Which results in a varied program. 

Woodley's choice of composers is also spot on. Elisabeth Lutyens is a composer who's just now coming into her own -- forty years after her death. Here she's represented with two works: The Green Tide (for basset horn) and Five Little Pieces (for clarinet).

Three of the works were commissioned by Woodley. They are Angela Slater's Around the Darkening Sun, Christopher Fox's This Has Happened Before, and Liz Dilnot Johnson's The Space Between Heaven and Earth.

Woodley delivers some fine emotive performances. Reed instruments, like the voice, can use breaths to shape phrases. Woodley's playing has a lyric quality even when the music isn't necessarily tonal. 

A fine recital album.

Luminos: Contemporary Music for Clarinets
Ronald Woodley, clarinet, bassett horn, bass clarinet
Andrew West, piano
Metier 15631

Bruckner From the Archives Volume 2 Offers New Revelations

This is the second volume of Bruckner from the Archives. And the series continues to maintain the standards established by the first release. One goal is to issue all of Anton Bruckner's symphonies,  with other significant works. The second is to do so through archival recordings that haven't been heard in decades -- if at all. 

These older performances often lean towards the style of the late Romantic Era. The very time when Bruckner conceived and wrote these works. 

As with the previous volume, the source material comes from the archive of John F. Berky. He's the Executive Secretary of the Bruckner Society of America. And the recordings are remastered by Audio Restoration Engineer Lani Spahr.

Mass No. 2 is performed by the Berlin Philharmonic directed by Karl Forster. This 1956 Electrola recording has a warm, homogenous sound. It gives the Choir of St. Hedwig's Cathedral a luminous glow that seems well-suited to the music. 

Bruckner completed his Symphony in D minor in 1869. A run-through with the Vienna Philharmonic didn't go well. And so the symphony wasn't performed again during Bruckner's lifetime. It was never assigned a number and became known as "Die Nulbe," or Symphony No. Zero. 

The performance here is with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Eduard van Beinum. It's a live Radio Netherlands aircheck from 1955. It receives its world premiere release here -- heard by the general public for the first time. 

Once again, the sound is a little soft on the details. But Beinum drives the orchestra in an energetic performance. It does great service to the music and makes one think that perhaps the Vienna Phil made a mistake in 1869.

Symphony No. 2 in C minor is performed by the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. Ludwig Joachum conducts this live 1962 performance. The recording is a WDR aircheck. It's also a world premiere release.

The two volumes present a variety of ensembles -- from a variety of decades. And all unfamiliar performances. These multiple approaches make the listener reassess Bruckner's music. Even music they've heard hundreds of times over. 

Can't wait for volume three!

Bruckner from the Archives, Volume 2
Mass No. 2 in E minor: Choir of St Hedwing's Cathedral, Berlin; Berlin Philharmonic; Karl Forster, conductor
Symphony in D minor "Die Multe": Concertgebouw Orchestra of Ambersdam; Eduard van Beinum, conductor
Symphony No. 2 in C minor: Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra; Georg Ludwig Jochum, conductor
SOMM Reocrdings ARIADNE 5027-2
2 CD set

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 1 2024

Mexico has a long classical music tradition, extending back to the late 1500s. Composers emigrated from Spain to supply the great Mexican cathedrals with music. Within a generation, native-born composers assumed those roles. 

The Classics a Day team realizes that Cinco de Mayo is more of an American than a Mexican holiday. But it is an opportunity to celebrate Mexican culture. And so, the challenge for May is to post examples of Mexican classical music on your social media platforms.

Right from the beginning the traditional music of the native population influenced the classical composers. As a result, Mexican classical music has become a natural expression of the national character.

Here are my selections for the first week of #ClassicalMexico.

05/01/24 Juan de Lienas (c. 1640): Tristis est anima mea

Little is known about de Lienas. His music survives in two collections, along with some unflattering comments about his appearance and character.

 

05/02/24 Francisco López Capillas (c. 1615 – 1673): Tantum ergo Sacramentum

Cpillas was a native Mexican composer. He was choirmaster and principal organist at the Mexico City Cathedral. In that capacity, he produced a large body of religious choral music.

 

05/03/24 Juan García de Zéspedes (c. 1619–1678): y Que Me Abraso

De Zéspedes was a great composer, but a terrible employee. From 1664 through 1678 he was maestro of the Puebla Cathedral. And he was censured many times -- but never fired -- over the execution of his duties.

 

George Crumb: Final Volume

It is truly the end of an era. Forty-two years ago Bridge Records began a collaboration with George Crumb. The goal was to present his music to the world through a series of recordings. When Crumb died in 2022, the label had released twenty volumes in the series. 

All were done in consultation with the composer. Based on the recording dates, most of these works were recorded before Crumb's death. 

This volume presents works from the early, middle, and late stages of Crumb's career. It also includes both versions of Processional. Crumb wrote the work in 1983 for Gilbert Kalish. Kalish's performance opens the program. 

Crumb created two versions of Processional. Kalish performs the version for regular piano. Marcantonio Barone concludes the album with the second version. This one is for prepared piano, with different objects sitting on the strings. Hearing the two versions back-to-back is enlightening. Both have their merits, and I honestly can't say which I prefer. 

Kronos-Kryptos began as a percussion septet in 2005. A quintet version was premiered in 2018, but Crumb wasn't satisfied. In 2020 he revised the work yet again. The Curtis Institute of Music, Ensemble 20/21 delivers a stellar performance. This is the distilled essence of Crumb's style. Both notes and silence are equally important.

One of Crumb's earliest works is the Sonata for Solo Violoncello. Written in 1955, it is the most traditional-sounding work on the album. Crumb was ambivalent about the work, but let it remain in his catalog. There are clearly defined melodies, weaving through a highly-chromatic maze of accidentals. 

I'm not sure one could predict that this composer would later produce Black Angels and Macrocosmos. But it is a piece that deserves to be heard. 

Bridge Records has created something truly phenomenal with this series. We have a recorded document of one of the 20th Century's most unique composers. This is an invaluable reference for anyone seeking to understand Crumb's music. 

And that includes future performers looking for a starting point for their interpretations.

And here's something else to consider. This isn't the only such collaboration Bridge Records has undertaken. Other contemporary composers are being similarly well-served by this extraordinary label. 

George Crumb: Processional
Kronos-Kruyptos; Sonata for Solo Violoncello
Curtis Institue of Music, Ensemble 20/21
Gilbert Kalish; Timothy Eddy; Marcantony Barone
Complete Crumb Edition Vol. 21
Bridge Records