The Classics a Day team once again made NAFTA Classics the theme for July. Two of the three countries in North America have significant holidays in the month -- Canada Day (July 1), and Independence Day (July 4).
As always with this theme, I simply alternated between Canadian, American, and Mexican composers. And the process discovered a lot of great classical music north and south of the border.
Here are my #ClassicsaDay posts for the fourth and final week of #NAFTAclassics.
She conducted performances of her works with both the Czech Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestra. She wrote over fifty compositions, several of which won awards. And she was dead at age 25.
This release features live performances from the Kaprálová Festival in Michigan. Kenneth Kiesler conducts the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra in some enthusiastic and firey performances.
Kaprálová's music bristles with youthful energy, dazzling with brilliant orchestral colors. But there's substance here, too. These are well-crafted works that one might expect from a composer in a mid or even later career.
I could hear echoes of both Novák and Martinu in passages of Kaprálová's music. But I think those were the Czech elements that colored the sound of all three composers. In terms of organization and orchestration, Kaprálová was very much her own woman.
Pianist Amy I-Lin Cheng does the 1935 Piano Concerto justice. Her playing melds Romantic expressiveness with an edginess that seems in keeping with Kaprálová's character.
Another standout is the title track, "Waving Farewell." Kaprálová wrote 33 songs, only a few given orchestral accompaniment. The music swirls around the text, conveying the roiling emotions it suggests.
This recording presents five of Kaprálová's fifty compositions. I don't know about you, but I'd like to collect them all.
Vítězslava Kaprálová: Waving Farewell
Sad Evening; Piano Concerto; Prélude de Noël; Military Sinfonietta; Suite en miniature
Nicholas Phan, tenor; Amy I-Lin Cheng, piano
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra; Kenneth Kiesler, conductor
Naxos 8.574144
Passionei was an enthusiastic amateur musician and composer, although he apparently downplayed such activities once he went to Rome. Nevertheless, during his temporary retirement, Passoinei managed to compose a set of twelve cello sonatas. This collection was published, presumably at his own expense, in 1718.
The sonatas, for the most part, follow the model of Corelli. They have four movements, alternating slow and fast tempos. And the sonatas have a basso continuo - a harpsichord to provide the harmony, and a second cello to play the bass line.
The musicians in this recording are first-rate. Cellist Gioele Guberti turns in home beautiful performances. Passionei may have been an amateur, but he knew his instrument. His music is full of double stops, rapid passagework, and other elements that lay well on the cello.
The musicians are closely mic'd, which adds to their performances, I think. Hearing that sharp intake of breath right before a sweeping arpeggio gives the passage some additional emotional weight.
Passoinei knew his instrument, and he knew how to write melodies. There's something here for listeners as well as performances. Fascinating music from someone whose biography seldom mentions music at all.
Domenico Silvio Passionei: Sonatas for Cello
Gioele Guberti, cello; Claudiio Frigerio, cello; Marija Jovanovic, harpsichord
Urania Records
But is the piano version of a work just a black and white image compared to the technicolor brilliance of the orchestral counterpart?
Not necessarily.
Vítězslav Novák composed his massive tone poem "Pan" originally for piano. And as this new recording demonstrates, it compares quite favorably to his orchestrated version.
Novák wrote the work in 1910, giving free rein to his imagination. The poem presents four aspects of nature: mountains, sea, forest, and woman. The work is cyclic, with themes returning in various forms throughout. The harmonies are rich and exotic.
To my ears, this version reminded me of Scriabin, with some Debussy and Janacek blended in. And while the orchestral version has its merits, this version's strength is its unity of expression.
One performer, one mind, one interpretation. Tobias Borsboom does just that. He easily executes the Lisztian complexities of the score. He deftly shapes the sound, bringing out melodies buried in the midst of chords.
And he maintains his artistic vision for a solid hour of playing. Throughout the entire work, I had a sense of purpose and direction. All of this was leading somewhere, and that somewhere was the final movement. Borsboom's lovingly crafted phrasing brings out the beauty of the score and the beauty of its emotional core.
Highly recommended.
Vítězslav Novák: Pan - A Tone Poem for Piano
Tobias Borsboom, piano
Piano Classics PC10219
I use the word "hits," because many of these selections are well-represented in recordings. The selections from Michael Praetorius' "Terpsichore" are prime examples. And the selections from Cabezòn, Ortiz, and Vásquez I have on other releases.
But the Ensemble Mezzo is true to its purpose. This release also includes music from French Baroque composer Charpentier, and early Italian masters Claudio Monteverdi and Barabar Strozzi. And it also has some Greek traditional dances.
And hearing all of this music together -- late Renaissance, early/middle Baroque, and folk --brings out the connections between them.
The Ensemble Mezzo plays in an energetic fashion, with a slightly rough edge to the sound. It sounds perfectly authentic for the dance and folk pieces. And it pulls the "high art" pieces a little bit closer to the ground -- and helps highlight that connectedness between the works.
If you're just looking for a program of well-performed early music, Fiori Musicali satisfies. If you're looking for insights, that's where the Ensemble Mezzo's program really delivers.
Fiori Musicali: Songs and Dances of the 16th and 17th Centuries
Ensemble Mezzo
Stradivarius STR37195
