Anyone doubting that composers still write interesting music for piano should check out this CD, a compilation of live performances that pays homage to one of New York’s most innovative new music series: “Solo Flights”. Organized since 1994 by Composers Collaborative–an organism behind which stands none other than ClassicsToday.com faithful collaborator, the composer, pianist, and critic Jed Distler–this festival particularly celebrates today’s composer-pianists. Four of them are represented on this compilation.
Andrew Violette’s highly virtuoso Two Sonatinas, performed by the composer himself with transcendental strength, find their inspiration in the polyphonic cathedrals of Busoni and Sorabji. Try imagining Busoni’s Fantasia contrappuntistica fragmented and played fast-forward, add hints of habanera rhythm “à la Sorabji” in the Sonatina No. 2, and you’ll get an idea of what to expect. Robert Helps’ In Retrospect makes a vibrant plea for this artist’s intimate lyricism and delicacy of color in an idiom close to Hindemith. His prismatic, magical performance of Leopold Godowsky’s Study on Chopin Etudes No. 45, played as an encore, alone is worth the price of the CD. The expressive potential of Godowsky’s transcription has never (I say never, Hamelin take note) been revealed with such clarity and deep sense of melancholy. If only we could hear the complete Chopin/Godowsky set under these fingers. Ursula Mamlok’s aphoristic Three Bagatelles receive a precise and sensitive reading from Sarah Cahill, while David Del Tredici champions his own Opposites Attract, a caustic portrait of Virgil Thomson, with impassible, tongue-in-cheek irony.
Carny is one of the most successful pieces from John Zorn’s “Cartoon” period; it’s also one of the highlights of the CD thanks to Philip Bush’s razor-sharp, road-runner-fast pianism. Finally, the master of ceremonies, Jed Distler himself, contributes to the program with two works: the moody, soulful etude in slow tempo, The Woman Who Danced, and the extravagantly funny The Anthem at Woodstock, which “pianistically recreates our national anthem in the spirit of Jimi Hendrix’s 1969 Woodstock performance”.
[Editor’s Note: The world of classical music is a small one, and we are always mindful of the need to maintain our reputation for fairness and objectivity to the extent possible. The fact that Jed Distler is a regular–indeed beloved (by us at least)–contributor to ClassicsToday.com has not, we are assured, influenced Luca Sabbatini’s judgment in any way. We also feel that it’s better to run a review of an important new release than to keep our readers in the dark about its existence merely because one of the featured performers/composers works with us in another capacity. However, because this relationship exists, we wish to simply acknowledge the fact, and encourage our readers to take this into account when making a decision whether or not to purchase this disc.]
