Maybe this third disc of music by Karlowicz offers too much of a (kind of) good thing. The music is well-crafted, colorful, and above all moody, but ultimately not terribly memorable. Here’s a rule of thumb: if it’s not by Liszt or Tchaikovsky and it uses the Italian adjective “lugubre”, avoid it. In this case we are talking about A Sorrowful Tale, but then much of this music is pretty “lugubre”–even Returing Waves, which goes nowhere (albeit prettily) for 24 minutes. Episode at a Masquerade has the highest degree of contrast, but it’s still too long and you really wish that Karlowicz could come up with a marvelous tune, or a stunning coloristic gesture–something to shake up the impression of mere technical competence. The performances, though, are more than that: committed, and very well recorded. But, as so many CD releases these days make abundantly clear, there’s a reason that some composers are obscure. I enjoyed hearing this once. You may too; but will you ever listen to it again?
