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American Piano of the 1940s
by Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide
01/01/2005
As this generously filled collection makes clear, Copland was not the only composer of idiomatic American piano music in the 40s. From the bittersweet charm of Bernstein's Anniversaries to the grim sublimity of Ruggles's Evocations, these works, mostly by young composers, project a variety of styles and sensibilities while sustaining an American spareness and spaciousness. The program is superbly organized, opening with Lukas Foss's robust, accessible Fantasy Rondo, then launching into the massive and monumental Piano Sonata of Elliott Carter, a work requiring a big technique and sonority, which Sara Laimon clearly has. Bernstein's beguiling Seven Anniversaries supply needed relaxation before the journey up the steep, uncompromising arch of Ruggles's Evocations. The program closes with Leon Kirchner's Piano Sonata, a perfectly cut gem that echoes Bartok in its driving rhythm and spooky "Night Music" slow movement, yet has an American voice.
Sara Laimon plays all these pieces with rich tone, subtle nuance, and unwavering intelligence. Her bold blocks of sounds in the Ruggles and Carter instantly command attention, but what I keep returning to are the quiet moments: Kirchner's "Night Music," which shimmers with mysterious poetry, and Bernstein's miniatures, which have an exquisite tenderness. Beliavsky and Choi recently recorded the Foss and Carter in well-wrought performances (N/D 2003; S/O 2004), but having all these rare 40s works in one superbly played collection is a treat.
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