Yolanda Kondonassis’ latest Telarc album is a bit of a departure from her usual fare, as it offers a more “serious” music program. The title “Air” does suggest a breezy tranquility–and that’s certainly what you get in her beguiling performance of Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane; but the album explores deeper notions as well. These can be found in Emily Dickinson’s And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind, as rendered in Takemitsu’s musical recreations, which sound edgy and stark after the tonally plush Debussy.
Takemitsu’s Air takes us into the interior spaces where air, as in breath, comes almost to a standstill. But it gently flows again with Debussy’s Syrinx, which relates the story of a nymph who transforms herself into a reed. Like Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea II, Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp explores tonal ambiguity and timbral austerity–not the usual territory for Kondonassis. But the music is so beautifully played by the harpist, as well as flautist Joshua Smith, violist Cynthia Phelps, and the musicians of Oberlin 21 conducted by Bridget-Michaele Reischl, that even fans of Kondonassis’ “light” stuff will find themselves entranced–something the exceptionally vivid recording makes all the more likely. Highly recommended. [10/15/2008]
