Looking for serious, skillfully structured, idiomatically conceived keyboard music that infuses the Barber/early-Carter tradition with thornier narratives and more dissonant flavors? If so, you’ll probably respond to the two concert etudes and piano sonata of Justin Dello Joio, especially as Garrick Ohlsson plays them: with panache, conviction, and virtuosic power. The four-movement piano trio entitled The March of Folly offers a greater emotional and stylistic range, from the first movement’s madcap, multi-colored glissandos that leapfrog between musicians like hot potatoes to the epilogue’s long, sustained lines in extreme registers. Ani Kavafian, Jeremy Denk, and Carter Brey obviously relish the challenges that Dello Joio serves up, and they bring plenty of energy and nuance to the interpretive table. Excellent sound and notes further distinguish this fine release.
