Frank Ezra Levy is the son of noted Swiss composer/pianist Ernst Levy, and there’s no denying his good intentions; he’s just not a very good composer. His music is tonal, rhythmically bouncy, and efficiently orchestrated, but he seems to have no idea what to do with his material. A Summer Overture’s outer sections repeat a catchy, syncopated phrase every way humanly possible without making any notable progress, and the Rondo Tarantella, at more than 15 minutes, sounds about double the length it has any right to be. The Cello Concerto No. 2 and Symphony No. 3 both last a very reasonable 20 minutes, but the lack of memorable thematic ideas dooms them both.
The symphony, in two movements–a lento followed by a concluding vivace–comes across better, perhaps because Levy isn’t so concerned with the need to keep the soloist busy, and so can indulge in his main strength: the colorful use of a well-stocked orchestra. Indeed, because Levy is obviously sincere and has the mechanics of writing for the ensemble down so well, you really do want to like his music, but the effort turns out to be exasperating. Cellist Scott Ballantyne plays decently but has a grainy tone and doesn’t sound as though he’s having a particularly good time. In short, sadly, Levy’s music rarely rises above the routine.
