|
 |
 |
Sequitur-Concertos
BBC Music Magazine
04/01/2004
Works by Carter, Meltzer, Rakowski, & Musgrave
Sara Laimon (harpsichord), Steven Beck (piano), Daniel Grabois (horn), Daniel Panner (viola), Sequitur/Paul Hostetter, Thomas Carling.
Albany TROY 607 66:28 minutes
The innovative New York ensemble Sequitur makes a bold statement with its debut recording—above all by including Elliott Carter’s Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano and two antiphonal chamber ensembles. Though over 40 years old, this remains a tough nut to crack for both performers and listeners, with its skittering keyboard figuration, complex superimposed rhythms and constant swings of mood. The players negotiate it with aplomb, and the recording makes the different strands exceptionally clear, though the harpsichord sounds oddly as if protected within a bubble of its own. Separate for the seven sections would have been helpful. The Carter is complimented by three recent chamber concertos involving different and changing relationships between soloist and ensemble. In Harold Meltzer’s “Virginal” the harpsichord initially takes the lead in a series of attractively varied textures, but gradually recedes into the background. Contrariwise, in David Rakowski’s “Locking Horns” the horn gradually emerges from the ensemble as an eloquent soloist. And in Thea Musgrave’s “Lamenting with Ariadne” the solo viola, as the abandoned and grieving Ariadne, is revivified by the trumpet as Dionysus, approaching from offstage to lead a joyful dance. These three pieces, excellently performed and vividly recorded, complete a well planned and invigorating programme. Anthony Burton.
Performance ***** (Outstanding)
Sound **** (Excellent)
Sequitur—Concertos (Albany)
Sequitur is a New York-based new music group conducted by Paul Hostetter. They have commissioned and premiered works by many prominent composers and maintain an interest in linking contemporary music to other artistic disciplines—theater, visual arts and dance. This recording includes concerti by four composers: Harold Meltzer, Thea Musgrave, David Rakowski and Elliott Carter. Its featured work is the Carter Double Concerto (1961), an important part of Carter’s oeuvre that has been long overdue for a new recording.
The performance of the Double Concerto is an exciting one, clearly articulating the various intricate proportional rhythmic relationships in the work while maintaining a keen sense of linear phrasing flow. The recording is well-balanced, too, which is no mean feat; a frequent complaint about earlier performances of this piece was that the harpsichord part was over-amplified. While this is clearly a group effort and achievement, mention must be made of the fine performances by harpsichordist Sarah Laimon, pianist Steven Beck and Sequitur’s fantastic percussionists.
Sequitur’s artistic director, Harold Meltzer, contributes a concerto for harpsichord and chamber orchestra entitled Virginal (2002). Its use of harpsichord is a stark contrast to the instrument’s employment in the Carter work. Here, much in the spirit of Baroque chamber concerti, the soloist is also a member of the ensemble. Thus, sometimes Sarah Laimon is front and center in the musical texture, but at other times her part recedes into the background. In what Meltzer calls “an anti-concerto of sorts”, the soloist actually loses more and more primacy of place until it is overwhelmed by the orchestra when the piece finishes. Virginal serves not only as an interesting commentary on the soloist vs. orchestra “Us vs. Them” construction of many concerti, but it is also an affecting work in its own right.
Both David Rakowski and Thea Musgrave also tinker with the juxtaposition of soloist and group in their respective offerings. Rakowski’s Locked Horns (2002) is a horn concerto in which the horn soloist is only gradually revealed to actually be the soloist. It starts out as a member of the ensemble, contending with the orchestra’s horn player and various other ensemble members who try to assert themselves and take center stage. It is only at the end that the horn soloist (in a valiant performance here by Daniel Grabois) effectively vanquishes his rivals and comes to the fore. Rakowski, a professor at Brandeis University, always seems to create energetic music with an attractive pitch language and forceful dramatic thrust. Locked Horns is no exception.
Musgrave, a Scottish composer who has taught for years in New York as a professor in the City University system, presents an even more intricate dramatic plan in her concerto Lamenting with Ariadne. The piece starts as a viola concerto, with the viola solo representing Ariadne mourning the departure of her lover Theseus. Soon, however, it morphs into a double concerto for viola and trumpet. The trumpet represents Dionysus, and his music replicates the feverish dancing of a Bacchian orgy. Unwilling to be drawn into the celebration, the viola reasserts Ariadne’s lamenting music at the piece’s conclusion. This imaginative scenario is realized with the utmost compositional grace and facility. Musgrave’s use of diaphanous instrumental textures and luxuriant harmonies makes this a most appealing piece; Lamenting with Ariadne works whether you listen with the program in mind or just appreciate it as abstract music.
|
 |
|
For the most recent articles click here
|
|
