ArtIfacts: Recent Chamber Works by Mara Gibson

Mara Gibson's music is all about sound. That is certainly not to say there is no form or melodic elements, but rather to say conventionality yields to the palate of sounds and even visual media available to the modern composer. Mara celebrates sound through the stretching the limits of an instrument or ensemble. Her work celebrates the creative process as well through the connection of words and music and the connection of physical elements and musical sound. In all her works on this CD of recent chamber works, moments of lyric intensity are interrupted by sounds that one might think is coming from another instrument or sound world. Never done just for shock or display, the new sounds propel the works along and become a part of the long stitched fabric. Thus a key to experiencing her music to the fullest is not to concentrate only on the short motifs but to look at the long view of a work... it becomes crystal clear.

Yes, her music is tough listening. This is not music to listen to while folding laundry, Lord knows I tried that and soon the laundry was forgotten. It requires concentration and an open ear, which opens a world of color, drama and sound. Since Mara Gibson lives and teaches in Kansas City, I have had many opportunities to hear her music live and often experienced their first performances. Her music is even more engaging and satisfying heard live as you feel as well as hear its power and motion.

The generously programmed CD begins with 2013's “Moments” for clarinet, viola and piano. Gibson's epic trio in three parts further divided into eight movements (“methods and “improvisations”) is inspired by a quote from Confucius:

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” 

The piece starts with the viola and clarinet vaguely in unison. After this short introduction, their tones bend and separate as they go their own way. The piano's role is to comment and reflect on the other instruments musings while providing cohesion and framework. All three members have extensive, improvisatory solo “moments”. The clarinet's is melodic, even jazz edged. The viola explores the woody, earthy textures of its strings through extensive pizzicato. The piano grandly concludes the solo “moments” with a climatic cadenza worthy of Henry Cowell using both the piano's keys and the strings. The third part, “Experience,” serves as a coda, with the trio finally playing as an integrated ensemble. The music here had a tinge of bitterness and resignation but a also a certain final confidence and consonance.

Michael Hall, viola, Thomas Aber, clarinet and Robert Pherigo premiered this piece and give it a loving, compelling performance. Not likely to hear any better.

2014's "Flone", for flute alone, written for and performed here by Italian flutist Luisa Sello, is based on Bach's "Partita for Flute" BWV 1013. Atavistic fluttering and the pizzicato of tapped keys evoke earth sounds as the theme from the Allemande of the Partita emerges and takes flight. The theme is embellished until it climaxes and deconstructs into fragments, returning to the earth music of the opening. A most compelling and fascinating work and sure winner of the Most Cleverly Appropriate Title of the Year award.

“Canopy” for solo viola and mixed media was inspired by “Ferment,” a massive outdoor sculpture installation by Roxy Paine at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, and premiered by violist Michael Hall at the unveiling ceremonies in April 2011. The work has become one of Gibson's most performed works and receives its deserved CD premiere. “Ferment” is at once recognizable as a tree but also foreign and desolate in its cold, hard, metallic construction. Gibson’s substantial 15 minute piece has many of the same characteristics; the mixed media blending and contrasting its other worldly, metallic sounds with the warm wood of the viola. “Canopy” explores organic growth, long lines from the viola predominate while the media comments on and propels the soloist, alternating periods of stasis and growth finally reaching the fragile threads of a lone, barren tree’s highest, most delicate branches. “Canopy” is a most fascinating and colorful work, deserving of its many performances; the one here with the incomparable violist Michael Hall being as definitive as one can get.

“Map of Rain Hitting Water” (2006 rev. 2012), conceived for solo percussion and video (by media artist Caitlin Horsman), is inspired by the poem “Clarence Playing” by Wayne Miller....

By the song’s end, he reaches into a brief
Rapture of completion (as a child reaches
into a cabinet of sweets). Though,
Now he thinks perhaps the music’s
More like a map of rain hitting water—

...and the relationship between how words visually appear on the page and how they sound. Unfolding slowly and hypnotically, “Map” is just as enjoyable without the video (which can be seen here) as it is with the images. Compositions like this can often become meaningless Muzak. But Map, with mostly metallic percussion (with a persistent pulse of a woodblock and log drum) is always colorful and expressive, it slowly progresses and subtly draws you into its world. Brilliantly performed by Mark Lowery who commissioned it and for whom it was composed. The bright, clear recording brings out every nuance and shade of color in the percussion and associated sounds.

Two short works “Hands” and “Lullaby” (2006) for two pianos (fine performances from pianists Ya-Ting Liou and Blas Gonzalez) are movements from larger work titled “Duo”. “Hands” is a propulsive moto perpetuo of falling figures, starting in the lowest register and ending in the eerie highs. “Lullaby”, appropriate to its title, is a short, magical essay evoking a music box or two gently (and sometimes not so gently) tempting to leave reality and enter a world of dreams and suspension of time.

“E:Tip”, for cello and fixed media, is one of three works for varying ensembles inspired by the trajectory and refraction of an eclipse. “E:Tip” stretches the tones of the cello through time and space, ebbing a flowing through a cloud of sound created by electronically manipulating the droning of bullfrogs in a pond. Another successful example of Gibson's hypnotic and gently unfolding sound essays, wonderfully realized here by Alan Wong, cello.

Every work is worth a listen or twelve, each one always displaying Gibson's considerable, distinctive voice. Well recorded with excellent and intelligent notes and bios of the performers and composer, the CD is available through CD Baby, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify or in old fashioned hard copy by contacting the composer at www.Maragibson.com

ArtIfacts is a labor of love, a festival of performers and a composer enjoying their craft and relishing their collaborations. And contemporary music is richer for the effort.

Nadia Shpachenko: Woman at the "New" Piano

Woman at the New Piano is an album with a surely cosmic purpose; a commemoration in music of an (almost) monumental (and now likely forgotten) event that thankfully did not come to pass. “In the year 2012”, pianist Nadia Shpachenko writes in the album notes, “the nation was swept by a fear that had not been seen since the Y2K transition of January 1, 2000." According to a Mayan calendar and accompanying legends, the world would end on December 21^st, 2012 since the calendar went no further, or something like that. Waking up seemingly alive and in the same world as the day before, Nadia thought “let's celebrate and document this great transition! Let's write and perform new pieces which capture where we are, and where we are going. It's a whole new world, let's play it!”

Indeed this prodigiously talented, California-based pianist and teacher, has recorded a delightful and diverse program of brand new works she commissioned in 2013 from four outstanding composers, Tom Flaherty, Peter Yates, Adam Schoenberg and James Matheson. Released on the Reference Recordings FRESH! label, devoted to recordings of new artists and new repertoire. 

I was particularly interested in the four movement suite “Picture Etudes” by Adam Schoenberg for solo piano since I was very familiar with the orchestral version “Picture Studies” having attended the premiere with the Kansas City Symphony in 2012. But before I could program the machine to play those tracks, I was immediately immersed in the absorbing, colorful and animated sound world of Tom Flaherty's “Airdancing” for Piano, Toy Piano and Electronics.

Inspired by floating and falling images of cliff divers, giant squids and daredevil “Fearless Felix” Baumgartner's dramatic supersonic skydive from 39km above the earth, “Airdancing” is 8 minutes kinetic movement that takes you along on a falling, floating journey. The prominent timbre of the toy piano may first evoke the works of George Crumb and John Cage, but very soon dark and foreboding electronic percussion sounds contrast and then lighten to propel the work forward. Flaherty often integrates the instruments into a single entity and then just as suddenly unleashes them to go their separate ways, careening to a sweeping, swirling end that evaporates in to eerie silence.

Arresting, dramatic, exhilarating and sometimes briefly serene, “Airdancing” stretches the listener's imagination and challenges the ear while being accessible and frankly smile producing enjoyable. Reference Recordings' clear, detailed sonics bring out every nuance, never overwhelming the toy piano but also never distorting it to absurdity. Shpachenko clearly commands and loves this colorful work, and is more than ably assisted by Genevieve Feiwen Lee on the toy piano and electronics.

So after listening to “Airdancing” a few times, I skipped on to the Schoenberg (although taking the works in the CD's order is just as rewarding).

“Picture Etudes” and the related “Studies” draws obvious connections to Mussorgsky's “Pictures at an Exhibition”. Both works have piano and orchestra versions and musically reflect a series of paintings in a gallery. While Mussorgsky's pictures are of one artist, Schoenberg's inspiration came from paintings by a variety of artists in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO. Four of the Ten orchestra movements were selected by the composer to make up “Etudes” If curious about the orchestra version, it has been recorded by Reference Recordings and the Kansas City Symphony for future release.

“Three Pierrots”, inspired by Bloch's “Die Drei Pierrots Nr. 2) is ironic, witty and pulsing with nervous, percussive energy. A lot of story and music in a short two minutes. Following is “Miró's World” a reflection on “Women at Sunrise” Joan Miró. Similarly spontaneous and rhythmically vibrant (even adding a part for a drum), “Miró's World” is playful and a bit jazzy, contrasting with the following “Olive Orchard” inspired by Van Gogh's same titled painting. Languid and romantic, “Olive Orchard” is simply beautiful music and the emotional core of the suite. Shpachenko never lets the music get mushy or sweet, Van Gogh's intensity and drama are never far from the surface. “Kandinsky” a musical portrait of Wassily Kandinsky's “Rose with Gray” serves as the finale to the suite. The percussion returns to accent the dry, starkly dramatic piano which sweeps and propels the piece to a crashing, sweeping conclusion.

Shpachenko makes a most convincing case for these portraits and we are unlikely to get such a definitive, affectionate recording soon. As with Mussorgsky, the piano only version gives the listener insight to the inner voices and the frame of the music while the orchestral can dazzle with color and power. Both are worth hearing.

Schoenberg also provides the concluding work on the CD. Also existing in an orchestral version, “Bounce”, for two pianos, is a ten minute playful romp inspired by the 100^th anniversary of the “Rite of Spring” and the impending birth of Schoenberg's son. Danceable, fun, enjoyable and superbly executed by Shpachenko with Genevieve Feiwen Lee on the second piano.

Peter Yates' colorful “Pandora's box”, as the composer describes them, six movement suite “Finger Songs” ably demonstrates Shpachenko's range of technique. From sophisticated jazz in “Mood Swing”, misty landscapes in “Mysterious Dawn” and on to adolescent hijinks and light hearted fun with hints of Ragtime in “Gambol” and “All Better”, “Finger Songs” is an important addition to the contemporary piano literature, totally accessible, totally interesting and 100% fun to hear.

Tom Flaherty returns in “Part Suite-a” (to rhyme with partita), a decidedly darker and more introspective than “Airdancing”. A take-off on the baroque suite, the three movements are woven around characteristic elements of the passacaglia, sarabande and scherzo forms. The darker, complex “Passacagliatude” unfolds to a powerful essay from a simple bass ostinato. “Lullabande” is a sweet lullaby with the characteristic sway of the ancient dance. The concluding “Scherzoid” is a virtuoso, tumultuous, romp tinged just a hair with some drama.

The longest single movement in the program, James Matheson's “Cretic Variations” takes us on a kaleidoscopic voyage from a single repeated high note through contrasting variations to an ambiguous quiet ending. The title refers to the poetic cretic foot meter (long, short, long) which, as the composer notes may “..lend itself better to Dr Seuss than more serious poetic endeavors”. Matheson stretches and teases this inherently simple phrase to create a powerful, lyrical and demanding set of variations. Another work that can, and should, become a staple of recitals and programs.

Stellar performances, usual fine Reference Recordings sound throughout, informative liner notes and a most varied and energetic program make “Woman at the New Piano” a clear winner and a new favorite here.

Woman At the New Piano
Nadia Shpachenko, Piano
Genevieve Feiwen Lee, Piano and Toy Piano

Reference Recordings FRESH FR 711

Kansas City Symphony records Saint-Saëns

In addition to being uniformly excellent, the Kansas City Symphony can also be called “gutsy”. New releases from former recording giants New York, Berlin, London, Philadelphia and Chicago are often newsworthy events due to their relative rarity. Yet here is our local band releasing its 6^th professional recording with a 7^th in the future. How things have changed.

The Kansas City Symphony is also gutsy in its choice of works to record. Often, regional orchestras record works that perhaps they have premiered, have a local connection or are not exactly standard repertoire. The Kansas City recordings have featured works by Britten, Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Prokofiev and Bartok, to name a few, that are standard repertoire or have “definitive” recordings. This disc from Reference Recordings is a blend of the familiar and rare: an all Saint-Saëns disc featuring the less known “La Muse et le Poete”, op 132 for Violin, Cello and Orchestra combined with the popular and very frequently recorded Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Orchestra op. 28 and the Symphony # 3 “Organ” op 78. Concertmaster Noah Geller handles the violin solos, Principal Mark Gibbs cello on “La Muse” with with local organist and Organ Conservator Jan Kraybill in the Symphony. Music Director Michael Stern was on the podium.

The Organ Symphony may be the top billing on the cover, but the warmest, most vivid sonics and top rank, stellar performances belong to the other two works.

The rare gem on the disc is "La Muse et le Poète", for solo violin, solo cello and orchestra. A late work from 1910, “La Muse...” reflects the influence of Debussy, Ravel and their contemporaries with its denser harmonies, lush orchestration and rhapsodic form. Despite the programmatic title, the work is more of a spirited conversation than a dramatic encounter, though the violin seems to be the “Muse” inspiring the more reflective cello “Poète”. Both soloists are treated to many virtuoso passages, which Geller and Gibbs negotiated with poise and flair. The violin and cello are closely miked, with every nuance of phrase and tone exposed, but they are also well integrated into the orchestral fabric. Since Gibbs and Geller work together frequently as section Principals, they instinctively converse and play off each other, essential (but not always heard in performances I sampled) in keeping the work focused. This charming and passionate performance stands up nicely to the competition, notably a Joshua Bell/Steven Isserlis recording and an all French affair on Erato coupled with the Third Violin Concerto and First Cello concerto.

The “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” is a much earlier (1863) and more popular work, written in a Spanish influenced style for the virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. There is plenty of competition for this always entertaining chestnut, but on first hearing this performance stands well with the rest. Geller's tone was always precise and clear. The dramatic introduction was pleading and romantic, a perfect foil for the more animated rondo to follow. His rubato in the familiar rondo theme was just right, the many double stops perfectly executed (and clearly captured), and one has to hear the violin's spine-tingling downward run from the cold, clear stratosphere to the sensuously warm and expressive rondo theme. Stern and the orchestra are not to be forgotten, albeit Saint-Saëns' writing favors the soloists, always providing sympathetic and enthusiastic orchestra accompaniment.

The well known Symphony # 3 “Organ” completes the disc's program. The orchestra chose this work to inaugurate The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts' 102 rank Casavant organ in June 2012, with Paul Jacobs on the organ, and this performance was quite similar. The Kauffman Center's Casavant is well tuned for symphonic performances, thus it was integrated into the whole orchestral fabric, not drowning out everything within hearing distance. Stern lead a stately performance, with a quite slow second movement that might not find favor with all but certainly accentuated the lushness of the movement. The organ's grand entrance in the final movement was powerful but not earth shattering; again it was more integrated to the texture. Rarely in a recording have the duo pianists' contributions been so perfectly embedded in the sonic texture, yet clear and bell like. Another “must listen” spot. Stern kept the symphony's final moments under control as well, not letting the tympani muddy everything with a frenzy of uncoordinated sound and fury. A cool-ish performance that never really took off and frankly would have benefited from a more white hot approach. Far from a poor performance, it just pales in comparison to a lot of the competition, mostly the never duplicated Munch/Boston Symphony on RCA.

Of course the renowned sonics of Reference Recordings, created by Recording Engineer Keith O. Johnson and produced by David Frost are of demonstration quality and surely the organ in the Symphony can cause some leases to be broken or at least a few knocks on the ceiling when the volume is unleashed. (thankfully none here yet at least). Best not to think of this recording as a “sonic extravaganza” (anyone remember the LP of the Virgil Fox/Ormandy/Philadelphia “Organ Symphony” recording with a cover like an 1890's circus poster?) but an example of how state-of-the-art recording technology can realistically capture the sound, texture and deft coordination of expansive orchestral forces combined with solo instruments of vastly varying sound quality and volume.

Terrain of the Heart, Song Cycles of Mark Abel

“Terrain of the Heart”

Song Cycles of Mark Abel

Jamie Chamberlin, Soprano

Ariel Pisturino, Soprano

Victoria Kirsch, Piano

Delos 3438

Look around the rock music world of New York City in the late 70's and you would likely run into a fellow named Mark Abel. He might be leading a group he created, making a record with another or maybe producing an album or two. Originally from Connecticut, Abel had studied music in California before heading back to the east coast. He returned to the Bay Area in 1983, not to produce music but to work in news journalism, eventually becoming Foreign Editor of the respected San Francisco Chronicle. Musically, during his two decades in journalism, Abel moved away from rock and pop and began to explore classical forms and concepts becoming especially focused on solo vocal music. Thus Abel melds his experience in classical, rock and song writing music into songs that are sophisticated, accessible, original and tuneful.

An accomplished writer, Abel often writes his own texts for his songs. “Terrain of the Heart” showcases three of Abel's song cycles, two of which are settings of his own text. “The Dark Eyed Chameleon” and “Rainbow Songs” use his own poetry. “Five Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke” obviously set poems by the Bohemian novelist-poet.

Musically, nothing in these three cycles would be out of place in a contemporary musical. Frequently tonally ambiguous, and contemporary in sound, they are nonetheless well crafted, emotionally complex and engaging lyric songs in the truest sense of the form.

At nearly a half hour, “ The Dark Eyed Chameleon” (2007) is the most substantial and most emotionally affecting of the three song cycles. The nearly half hour cycle tells the tale of the composer's painful break up of a long term relationship. Hints of past tragedy and loss, misunderstandings, longing, realizing the inevitable (“underneath us the ground is always shifting, unstable like our California”) and the final break (The fatal blow is struck by telephone..) permeate the lyrics to the five songs. Very theatrical in nature, “Chameleon” could be envisioned as a one actor play, but Abel's accompanying music, alternatively wistful, agonized and even confused, propels the story forward as much as the lyrics. Soprano Jamie Chamberlin, along with pianist Victoria Kirsch totally understand and are committed to the work. Chamberlin negotiates the many chromatic leaps and rapid changes of emotion and texture. Kirsch is a sensitive yet propulsive accompanist and a full partner in telling the story.

For the “Five Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke” (2004) Ariel Pisturino, soprano, takes over the vocal duties. Pisturino is gifted with a big, but clear and slightly bright voice that perfectly suits the darkly expressive poetry. Her's is a voice tailor made for art song. Of the three cycles, “Five Poems” is the most “classical” influenced, more adventurous and flexible in tempi and dynamics, befitting the more hauntingly symbolic nature of the lyrics. “In this town the last house stands” is shaded and ultimately enigmatic, the vocal lines lyrical but unsettled at the same time. The longest of the five songs, “All of you undisturbed cities” is punctuated with relentless ostinati over which Pisturino weaves the jagged melodic line, laced with impending doom. In the remaining songs,“My life is not this steeply sloping hour”,“You darkness, that I come from” and “I live my life in growing orbits”, Abel's stark and expressionistic music works in tandem with the often mysterious poetry to deliver a most satisfying yet challenging musical experience. “Five Poems” is certainly a fine addition to the song repertoire and worth repeated hearings in recordings and in recitals or concerts.

Chamberlin returns with her lighter voice (should I say less “operatic” and more “Broadway” voice and start that whole argument??) in the final four “Rainbow Songs”. More light hearted and fanciful than the other cycles, “Rainbow” could be dismissed as fluff and nothing new but for the colorful and atmospheric “La Sonnambula”, depicting a woman wandering through desolate streets looking for her lover, but doomed to never find him. “La Sonnambula” is a touch more sophisticated than many of the other songs, growing in drama, dynamics and lyrical intensity from a shadowy figure in the piano. To my ears, it is the single most effective song on the disc.

Abel's music in each of the cycles is highly chromatic and linear, the linearity and incessant forward motion showing the formidable influences of the composer's rock music roots. While appropriate to the lyrics, which, with the exception of the Rilke songs, are also rock influenced and linear in nature, the chromatic and declamatory sound world can lead to a numbing sameness if one listens to the whole 73 minute CD in one sitting. Probably best to get into this music by listening to one cycle at a time.

Delos' notes and bios are of their usual high standard as is the stellar sound engineering. There is frequently a lot going on in the songs, lyrically and musically, so the close and somewhat dry sound works well to keep everything clear. Mark Abel's website (www.markabelmusic.com) has perusal scores for all the songs for those wanting to follow along.

Perhaps this music is more influenced by Sondheim than Schubert, but that was not the composer's intention. Put all that aside, and listen to some fine, easily approachable and frequently satisfying songs.

Miraculous Metamorphoses: KC Symphony Hindemith, Bartók, Prokofiev

Gone forever, it seems, are the days when the major orchestras of the US and Europe churned out new recordings by the dozens every month for the great labels of the era…Columbia, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca… conducted by the giants of the time. Filling that gap are smaller labels like Reference Recordings who produce a few expertly prepared recordings each year. Lucky for all us recorded music fans, Reference has forged a bond with the Kansas City Symphony culminating in a series of well received recordings. Their newly released 4th (a 5th is “in the can”) collaboration was recorded in February 2012 at the then brand new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City.

I also have to give the Kansas City Symphony, Reference Recordings and all involved great credit for daring to record major standard repertoire pieces that often have some very heady competition. No unknown composers or works on this latest disc containing three 20^th century orchestral showpieces, Prokofiev’s “Love for Three Oranges” Suite, Bartók’s “Miraculous Mandarin” Suite and Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.” The program, titled “Miraculous Metamorphoses”, captures some of the best playing yet heard from the Symphony. The ensemble is crisp and visceral, lyrical when called upon combined with Stern's trademark brisk yet not excessive tempi.

Michael Stern’s very first concert as Music Director included a performance of the Hindemith “Metamorphosis” that wowed the audience. This one is even better with the orchestra's now trademark sparkling winds, burnished brass and ringing, clean percussion. One of Hindemith's more colorful and splashy scores, “Metamorphosis” can easily become mere fluff in the wrong hands. Stern relishes the driving, dancing rhythms of the opening movement (reminding us of its origins as a ballet score) followed soon thereafter by a tender and elegant Andantino 3rd movement. The liner notes describe the “Turandot Scherzo” second movement as “giving the percussion a stunning workout”. The percussion of the Kansas City Symphony are more than up to the task at hand and the sonics let the pitched percussion glow while capturing the deep resonance of the drums.

The clarion horn calls over the chattering winds in the march finale are just breathtaking simply one of those recording moments you just have to put on repeat and relish as long as you can. But do not linger too long, the mad rush to the climax is thrilling and powerful.

The Prokofiev “Love for Three Oranges Suite” verily crackled with wit and snap. The whole set is brisk and fresh and the usual clear Reference Recordings sound highlighted the often clever wind and string detail to advantage. The tender elegance of “The Prince and the Princess” movement was nicely contrasted with its more sardonic suite mates, for example the almost too familiar “March” with its absurd wit. Stern fully realizes “Love for Three Oranges” is a charming and farcical romp full of jesters, witches, royalty and magic but never degenerates into mere silliness. Far from dry and foursquare, this is a fine performance that would stand with my favorite Dorati/London or Marriner/London performances.

The violent and complex score of the Bartók “Miraculous Mandarin Suite” was breathtakingly realized by Stern and his forces aided by the stellar recording. Note, for example, the clear ting of the tambourine and the rumbling organ pedals making themselves heard through the din of the street in the opening prelude. The seduction games sections are wonderfully sleazy and decadent. The details that Stern and the recording bring into focus are instrumental in setting this mood, not just an end into themselves. The concluding “chase” fugue is bracing and quick, but not too wild, controlled brutality would be a good description. The important, driving percussion is clearly heard along with the gutsy, frantic strings bringing the suite and the program to an exciting close.

Readable, enlightening CD booklets are almost a surprise in this day of skimpy multi-lingual booklets or no information at all when listening to a download or music service. “Miraculous Metamorphoses'” notes by Richard Freed are intelligent and informative and also include bios of Stern, the recording crew, a brief history of the orchestra and a roster of the musicians.

Produced and engineered by two of the recording world's geniuses, David Frost and Keith O. Johnson, “Miraculous Metamorphoses” has an envious pedigree. I noted that the sound on this release, the first from Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center, is a bit dryer, cooler and less reverberant than the previous recordings in the cavernous Community of Christ Auditorium. Details abound however, most welcome in the thickly scored Bartók, and you still want to reach out and touch the instruments that seem to be right with you.

Performances that can stand with the best of them and sonics that sound fabulous even on my built-in computer speakers combine for another Reference Recordings/Kansas City Symphony “hit”.

“Miraculous Metamorphoses”

Hindemith, Prokofiev, Bartók

Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern Music Director and Conductor

Reference Recordings RR-132

Kansas City Symphony: Audiophile Recording

A group of about 400 invited subscribers and friends of the Kansas City Symphony gathered at Helzberg Hall Wednesday for a most interesting and enlightening experience, a preview concert of a new recording of the Symphony by Reference Recordings. Gone forever, it seems, are the days when the major orchestras of the US and Europe churned out new recordings by the dozens every month on the great labels of the era… Columbia, Deutsche Gramophon, Decca… conducted by the giants of the time. Filling that gap are smaller labels like Reference Recordings who produce a smaller number of fine recordings each year.  Lucky for us here, Reference has forged a bond with our local band and has released two well received recordings, including a Grammy winner.

I have to give all involved great credit for daring to record major standard repertoire pieces that often have some very heady competition. No unknown or unrecorded composers or works on this latest disc containing three 20^th century orchestral showpieces, Prokofiev’s “Love for Three Oranges” Suite, Bartok’s “Miraculous Mandarin” Suite and Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.”

This was no mere run though to test the microphones (although that really was the main purpose). We were treated to a true, focused concert with some of the best playing I have ever heard from the KCS, and we have heard a lot; crisp, exciting, lyrical, brisk but not excessive tempi and visceral. The Prokofiev crackled with wit and snap, the often violent and complex score of the Bartok was breathtaking, clear and detailed without being fussy. Those paying attention may have noted the organ pedals at the beginning, the first time many have heard the mighty new Casavant organ. Michael Stern’s very first concert as Music Director included the Hindemith Metamorphosis and wowed the audience then. This one was even better with fabulous wind solos, chiming and clean percussion, and dancing rhythms.

On hand were Reference Recordings’ wizards of sound, “Professor” Keith Johnson, the finest recording engineer around and producer David Frost, the best of his profession as well. This team, as Maestro Stern noted, has won about as many Grammy Awards as there were people in the hall. With the orchestra focused and enthused, the already fine sound of Helzberg Hall and the RR team.. can you say “instant audiophile classic”? Sure you can.

2010 Best Recordings of the Year

The time for my list of my 10-13 favorite recordings of the year is upon us.

Traditionally, one of the year's last posts on Puggingham Palace is a "baker's dozen" list of the best recordings of the year, in my humble opinion of course. Since it is my game, I set some loose rules; the recordings are mostly new releases for the past year but can also be older recordings that I heard for the first time or dug out of my collection.

2010 seemed to be a better year than 2009 for new releases. I had trouble making a list of 10 last year but the 13 I have chosen this year came easier. This was also a year of big box releases; reissues in large bargain sets of an artist's career recordings. You will see a couple of these in my list.

So as usual, in no particular order here are my top Baker's Dozen for 2010

1) Mahler Symphony # 10 Carpenter Edition. David Zinman, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra RCA 88697768962. So new it is not available in the US until Dec 7 but I got my copy from the UK (cheaper too). A new recording of the 10th is always welcome; when it is an excellent new recording of the Carpenter edition it is even more welcome. This edition is emerging as the only viable alternative to the Cooke edition.

2) Bernstein Symphony Edition Sony 768365. 60 bargain priced discs with almost all of Bernstein’s original Columbia recordings of symphonies. His complete Mahler, Beethoven, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Brahms cycles are included along with some Shostakovich, Schubert, Mozart and the indispensable Haydn.

3) Richard Strauss Great Scenes. Christine Brewer, Donald Runnicles, Atlanta SO Telarc 31755. So I plug people I know, it is my list and I can do as I please. Besides, this is one of the best Strauss recordings in a long time.

4) Dvorak Symphonic Poems: Noonday Witch, Golden Spinning Wheel, Water Goblin, The Wood Dove. Sir Charles Mackerras Czech Phil. Supraphon 4012, Mackerras (who died this year in July) may have been born in New York of Australian parents and brought up in Sydney, but he had an uncanny knack for Czech music. These live performances are simply the only way to hear this wonderful music. Has there ever been a more atmospheric beginning of the “Golden Spinning Wheel”?

5) "Transformations" Yuja Wang, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 001410802. Scintillating and bravura performances of Stravinsky, D. Scarlatti, Brahms and Ravel. I’ll take Wang’s musical, mature and brilliant performances over "Bang Bang" any day.

6) Weinberg Symphony # 1 and 7.Thord Svedlund, Gothenberg SO, Chandos 5078. I for one am thrilled to see new recordings of one of the Soviet Union's most important yet neglected composers. This is a continuation of the symphony series began a few years ago and, with 22 some symphonies, we have a ways to go. Good performances, usual quality Chandos sound.

7) Weinberg Cello Sonatas. Dmitry Yablonsky cello, Hsin-Ni Liu, piano. Naxos 8.570333. 2 Sonatas for Cello and Piano and 2 for solo cello from this prolific composer. Wonderful works, well played. This has been a good year for Mieczyslaw Weinberg (also spelled sometimes as Moisey Vainberg).

8) "Sacrificium" Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo Soprano. Decca 001341202 (Deluxe CD with Book) Catalog # 001388602 for CD without book. Released late in 2009 (again my list so I can bend the rules), this unique album explores the world of the Castrati from the 17th and 18th centuries. 2 discs, a huge book with everything you ever wanted to know about Castrati (for the uninitiated, they were boys castrated at or before puberty to preserve a high voice. They had the range of a soprano but the power of a male voice) with too many artsy photos of Bartoli’s head on the torsos of male statues.

A ton of florid music, with probably more recorded notes per minute than any other disc in history. Well done and worth taking off the shelf now and then to explore this lost (thankfully) art. Available without the book but really it is worth the extra $10 for some fascinating reading.

9) Avner Dorman Concerto for Mandolin, Concerto for Piccolo, Concerto Grosso, Concerto in A for Piano. Various soloists, Metropolis Ensemble, Andrew Cyr. Naxos 8.559620. Where else can you find exciting, jazzy and brilliant contemporary concerti for mandolin and piccolo? The Concerto Grosso and early Piano Concerto make fine disc mates. Can I suggest a Ukulele Concerto?

10) Hendrik Andriessen Orchestral Works. Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Edo De Waart, Jean Fournet, Willem van Otterloo, Jaap Van Zweden, Albert van Raalte Conductors (recording dates 1947-2005). Etcetera 1307. A new to me 2007 release of orchestral works by Dutch composer Hendrik Andriessen. Neo-classical (think Martinu, Hindemith, etc) in style, but never dry. Especially notable are the powerful “Ricercare” and the 4 compact symphonies. Hendrik should be heard more often; as with Egon Wellez he is more often talked about than actually performed. The discs may be hard to come by, Amazon usually has it and can be bought as a download as well.

11) Roussel Symphony # 4 Concert for Small Orchestra, Rhapsodie Flammade, Petite Suite, Sinfonietta. Stéphane Denève, Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Naxos 8.72135. Best cycle of the 4 symphonies of this much neglected master of neo-classic 20th century music.

12) Levine Conducts Mahler Symphonies 1, 3-7, 9 and 10. (London SO 1 and 6, Chicago SO 3, 4 and 7, Philadelphia Orchestra 5, 9 and 10) RCA. Reissues of great recordings long hard to get. Re-mastered sound is excellent. One of the best 3rds ever benefiting from Levine’s years of opera performances. I have been trying to back away from so much Mahler, but when this became available at a bargain price, I had to have it. Sadly, Levine never finished the cycle for RCA, thus the 2nd and 8th are missing. Been a real bitch to get a hold of this album for some reason. Only Amazon seems to have it in the US as of this date.

13) Icon: Alicia De Larrocha. Music of Soler, Granados, Albeniz, Turina, De Falla and Montsalvatge. Alicia De Larrocha (with Victoria De Los Angeles, Soprano) EMI 29486. I don't own this set, I have so much of it on other releases, but here is all of De Larrocha's EMI recordings, some of her best really, in an 8 CD bargain priced box. No one, but no one did this repertoire better.

Kansas City Symphony: Britten's Orchestra

OK I admit I was worried over nothing.

The Kansas City Symphony and Music Director Michael Stern have been involved in 3 recordings since Stern's arrival here in 2005. The first ones were for Naxos and compositions by the heretofore unknown (at least in the USA) Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin. The second was a recording of some lesser known Arthur Sullivan and Jan Sibelius music based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" done for Reference Recordings. Both garnered excellent reviews, but of course had little major competition.

But with the latest recording, Stern, the Orchestra and Reference Recordings plunged head first into the mainstream repertoire with some of the most popular and frequently recorded works by Benjamin Britten. The competition was formidable, including the composer's indispensable recordings, excellent readings by Britten specialist Steuart Bedford and on to Bernstein, Bolt and Handley to name a few. Frankly, I was concerned that maybe, just maybe, the orchestra was not ready for the cutthroat competition of prime time.

Shame on me.

With fabulous sonics (we used to call recordings like this "lease breakers") and impressive and quite competitive performances, this recording is a winner.

The usually excellent winds of the orchestra are captured in all their fleet glory. The strings are full and with fine intonation, the brass snarl and snap, the percussion rock the house (I think my speakers are shot from all the pounding, and this at a low volume!) and thus the ensemble comes together as a satisfying whole. Some of this is due to the incredible Reference Recording engineers who manage to tame the cavernous space of the Community of Christ Auditorium (aka the LDS Auditorium). But much is due to the excellent orchestra Stern has assembled and to his vision and leadership.

The "Variations on a Theme of Purcell" or more famous as "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" featured uniformly outstanding work from the various orchestral groups, the woodwinds of special note. This was not a light, kid friendly reading but a powerful and well formed performance of this marvelous work.

One of my favorite Britten pieces, Sinfonia da Requiem, receives a lyrical, somewhat cool performance that fits the music well. The opening movement's "Lacrymosa" explosive beginning is stunningly captured as are the steady, powerful base drum beats. The crystal clear sonics and Stern's attention to detail allow you to actually hear the subtle sforzandi in each phrase near the end of the movement immediately after the big drum climax.... spectacular! The slowly fading ending of the "Requiem Aeternam" benefits from the sharp, spotlit sonics. The "Dies Irae" movement may not be a pants wetting experience (a reference from my chorus days when a choral director told us we were singing the Day of Wrath, NOT the "Dies Meh" and that he hoped that we would make the audience pee their pants in fear), but is certainly powerful and dramatic.

The 4 Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes are top notch as well. From a misty, nautical tinged "Dawn", a bustling but somewhat unsettling "Sunday Morning", a dark and forbidding "Moonlight", concluding with a powerful "Storm" these "Interludes" give little away to the competition.

Stern, somewhat unusually, interpolates the "Passacaglia" from Peter Grimes between "Moonlight" and "Storm", which in my opinion works quite well.

In this case, I loved being proved wrong. This is an excellent recording and stands proudly along those mentioned above.

Reference Recordings RR120 released November 10th and available from most all the online and local retailers and direct from Reference Recordings.