Search - Carter Pann, José Serebrier, Barry Snyder :: Pann: Piano Concerto & Dance Partita

It's the Music, Stupid!

04/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reactions of people who listen to Carter Pann's debut recording are likely to take the form of questions rather than comments: "Who's Carter Pann?" and "He's only twenty-eight?" and "Was that a snippet of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto I heard?" and "When is his *next* disc coming out?". Those tired of dutifully sitting through concerts that feature new music only to breathe a sigh of relief when it's time for Eine kleine Nachtmusik are in for a shock, a treat, and possibly a belly laugh or two. Though it's clear that Pann's music can only be the work of a very serious composer, it is also tremendously funny--and that's the "ha-ha" kind, not the strange kind. (Well, maybe a bit of the latter.) There's nothing harder to convey in music than genuine wit and humor, and it's a trait that Pann's work has in plenty. (And lest anyone dismiss the composer as merely a musical class clown, also be prepared to be moved by music of great tenderness, exquisite intimacy, and pure, elemental exuberance.) There's a real sorcery in the way the composer assembles, for example, melodramatic baroqueries, gestures straight from the classical piano concerto, almost embarrassingly straightforward (for music written on the cusp of the twenty-first century, that is) folk dances, and television-music cliches into a single work (the Dance Partita) that is so simply *right* in its pacing, balance, and the only thing that really matters, the impression it makes. If you chuckle as you listen to this disc, as I do, it will just as likely be a reaction to the music's sense of don't-look-back brashness as from its sly and ever-acute parodistic sense. The greatness of these pieces, especially the aforementioned Partita and the Piano Concerto, lies in the fact that given their wildly disparate elements, they should by all expectations be a chaotic, muddled mess. Instead, the confidence and mastery with which this cornucopia of contrasts and oppositions are bound together into an effective whole suggests the work of a striking and truly original compositional talent. With the world of new music flooded with works that range from mediocre to unremarkably competent, this is by no means an inconsiderable achievement. It's new, it's a knockout, and it's even on a budget label: Do yourself a favor and impress your friends by being able to say that you came to know Pann's music *before* he hit the big time. Move over, Elliott--new music has a new Carter."

Pann Continues the American Classical Tradition in Spades

Neil Dennis | VA USA | 07/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A number of critics lately have batted around the idea of a "classical music crisis" in America. With the recent passings of such modern greats as Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, many have been more than willing to perpetuate the myth that classical music's future is a dismal one. But I beg to differ. After hearing the first collection of the works of twenty-eight year old Carter Pann, I can't help but see the light at the end of the classical tunnel. His work, which primarily seems a mixture of John Cage's thumping dissonance, Charles Ives's robust textures, and Bernard Herrmann's dark romanticism; Pann's music stands as some the finest contempory work I've had the pleasure to hear. As part of Naxos' ambitious "American Classics" series, this collection also stands as one of that series' finest recordings so far. Among its most promising moments are those within the Dance Partita, which adds hints of the Baroque style to give it a surprisingly heated sound. However, the centerpiece of this CD, the Piano Concerto is what makes this CD. Blending latin and blues sounds into an ethereal and dissonant world, it is one the finest piano concertos to be written by anyone in decades. A budget priced CD, this a musical oil strike for connoisseurs of modern composition."

Hats off, gentlemen!

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 05/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Carter Pann is a hugely talented 28-year-old composer, student of, among others, William Albright and William Bolcom at the University of Michigan. A CD of his music, conducted by José Serebrier and stupendously played by the Czech State Philharmonic, Brno, on Naxos 8.559043, has just been released. It includes: Piano Concerto (1996/7), Barry Snyder, piano; Deux séjours (1994;Dance Partita (1995), Barry Snyder, piano obbligato; Two Portraits of Barcelona (1994)The overall comment I would make about Pann's music is that he is a master orchestrator, a brilliant pasticheur, a sly practitioner of musical humor, and that he is capable of some of the most lusciously melodic and moving slow music.The piano concerto has five movements. The first, entitled Piña Colada (yes, inspired by that silly pop song of some years ago), is a loose-jointed Caribbean-influenced piece that reminds me a lot of Michael Torke in his slaphappy mode. The second, Nocturne, is quiet, slow, Debussyesque. The third, Your Touch, is for solo piano and sounds an awful lot like jazz pianist Denny Zeitlin's smoky classic 'Quiet Now.' This is a high recommendation; it's got a gorgeous tune and luscious harmonies. The fourth, Blues, sounds like updated jazzy Bernstein in its dislocated accents, stride bass, throwaway virtuosity. The fifth, Concert, is a hilarious knockoff of just about every classical concerto cliché and even quotes, almost note for note, a bridge passage from Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, before exploding into one of those hilarious never-ending classical-era tonic-dominant endings. I found myself laughing out loud.Deux séjours (Two journeys) are evocations of two small towns - one in France, one in Italy - and are intentionally modeled on the orchestrations by Debussy of Satie's 'Gymnopédies'. Quiet gardens, civility, serenity, lovely melodies.Dance Partita is an eight-movement (actually four movements and four ritornellos) orchestral suite, with piano obbligato, based on baroque models. Stravinsky in his neoclassic music - think 'Jeux de cartes' or, better, 'Pulcinella' - comes to mind. Also Bolcom's 'Orphée-Sérénade' (an under-recognized masterpiece) is evoked. Brilliantly done. One's toe taps until tripped up by the irregular time signatures. Delicious.Two Portraits of Barcelona. The first, 'Antoni Gaudí's Cathedral' is a six minute tone-poem that builds from a mysterious opening, evoking the religious grandeur of the Cathedral, to a wicked Rouse-ian description of Gaudí's wild architecture. The second, 'The Bullfight', starts with mock-heroic Spanish bullfight music, complete with trumpet duo flourishes, and builds to a frenetic danza, ending the CD with high spirits and this listener with a desire for more. ¡Olé!Lest it sound like I think Pann has no 'sound' of his own, I want to emphasize that this man has the goods and is discovering a voice that I predict will be increasingly listened to."