Here’s an hour and 15 minutes worth of virtually unknown music for cello and piano by Leo Ornstein, abounding in virtuosic challenges, passionate creativity, and sheer instrumental effectiveness. I can’t imagine these works not gripping audiences’ attention, nor holding the interests of adventurous performers. It’s hard to pin down Ornstein’s style. You’ll find relentless, driving ostinatos so loved by Russian futurists, sensuous slow-moving chords that suggest a threesome between Scriabin, Bax, and Sorabji, plus long, lyrical melodies suffused with wide interval leaps. All these and more figure into the freshly varied Six Preludes that open this release.
The harmonic language either can be scintillatingly modal (the first Cello Sonata’s Scherzo), or something along the lines of Cyril Scott’s Rachmaninov-isms caked with chromatic mud (the first movement). The spirit of early, atonal, pre-dodecaphonic Schoenberg prevails in the tiny Op. 33 pieces, although you might prefer to liken them to a kinder, gentler Ives. Still, a vital compositional personality consistently emerges.
In any event, cellist Joshua Gordon and pianist Randall Hodgkinson offer commanding, dynamically fervent, boundlessly colorful and heartfelt interpretations that are likely to set reference standards for many years to come. Nor should I fail to mention New World’s warm, full-bodied engineering and scrupulous, informative booklet notes. A major catalog contribution. [10/23/2008]
