Search - Elliott Carter, Dahler, Renggli :: Happy Birthday Elliott Carter/New Chamber Works

Jewels from a master craftsman

Joe Barron | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States | 05/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I almost passed on this CD, since I already own most of the works recorded here in other, excellent versions, and the two that I do not amount to only about six minutes of music. But a friend recommended it strongly, and I am happy I followed his advice (and a little embarrassed that I had to).



So many good recordings have been issued recently in honor of Elliott Carter's 100th birthday (11 December 2008) that it's difficult to decide on a single standout, but this one is certainly in the running. It contains seven works, including three that may be regarded as major statements, all written since 1994 and all given warm, affectionate readings by the Swiss Chamber Soloists.



Carter wrote his wonderful Oboe Quartet for Heinz Holliger, who appears on this disk in other roles. The solo honors here, however, go to Emmanuel Abbuhl, who gives a playful, appealingly graceful account, accompanied ably by Jürg Dähler, violin, Christoph Schiller, viola, and Daniel Heafliger, cello -- though "accompanied" does not do justice to their contribution, since Carter treats the four voices as equals who trade musical figures like infielders tossing a ball around the horn.



Holliger takes the stage in HBHH, a haunting, somewhat melancholy mediation for oboe that Carter wrote as a birthday tribute for his good friend and champion. (Besides spelling out a musical motif, the title is an abbreviation for "Happy Birthday Heinz Holliger.) This is one of three world premiere recordings on this disk. The others are the brief but substantive Figment IV for solo viola, which Dähler plays with suitable flair and gravitas, and Mosaic. Carter writes wonderfully for the harp, and the soloist on this recording, Holliger's wife, Ursula, sparkles in the grateful solo writing. (Mosaic also appears in a fine performance on a Naxos disk, but I think this one may have the edge.)



The soprano Silvia Nopper also deserves mention. She has a rich, smooth tone in Tempo e Tempi, which contains some of Carter's most sensuous music. (He has rarely written so beautifully in English.)



The other pieces on this disk are the two Fragments for string quartet and the Enchanted Preludes for flute and cello, which has become perhaps Carter's most popular short instrumental work. (It's an audience favorite and has been recorded multiple times.) The performance here, by Haefliger and flutist Felix Renggli, is everything one could wish -- sprightly and stately at once.



Contemporary recordings on small labels like NEOS sometimes don't stay in the catalog very long. Grab this one before it gets away."