It’s difficult to play Crumb badly; anyone who takes the trouble to learn the special techniques that his music requires will likely do him justice. By the same token, not all Crumb performances are created equal, and to this extent, and speaking strictly comparatively, this release disappoints. In Makrokosmos III the two pianos are insufficiently amplified and backwardly balanced against the mallet percussion. Those long, slow crescendos in The Advent accordingly lack the requisite power, and in Music of the Starry Night you can barely hear the fact that paper is laid across the piano strings throughout. Compare this to Quattro Mani’s exemplary performance in the Bridge complete edition, and you will hear the difference immediately. Not bad, then, but far from ideal.
This version of Black Angels is unique, an arrangement for string orchestra (with string quartet and percussion) made by conductor Juan Pablo Izquierdo with the composer’s consent. I have to say that I greatly prefer Crumb’s original for “electric string quartet” and percussion alone. You immediately understand why when you hear the opening “Night of the Electric Insects”, which sounds far more alien, and more frightening, as initially conceived. Played by the larger ensemble, the music merely sounds like yet another example of some typically avant-garde nastiness.
Nor do I find Izquierdo’s conducting particularly satisfying. This is a very quick performance, less than 18 minutes. Crumb’s music thrives on atmosphere, and on the creative use of silence. The music needs to breathe, and in this rendition it doesn’t. This is less a matter of overall timing than a question of distribution of weight between movements. In particular, the central “Black Angels” and the later “God Music” are simply too fast and not nearly as evocative as they can be. Once again the performance in the Bridge edition, by the Miró Quartet, sets the standard. The sonics, by the way, are basically very good as such, and there’s no questioning the technical quality of the playing or the commitment of the performers. It’s just not great Crumb.
