Ear-Engaging New Piano Music, Beautifully Played
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/31/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I had never heard of Tanya Bannister until a Naxos release of her playing Clementi piano sonatas came my way, and I was impressed. Clementi: Piano Sonatas Opp. 34,41 & 50 Now she has released a disc of pieces by four living American composers, three of whom wrote these pieces specifically for her. And I'm impressed again.
The grand old man of the four composers here -- although I suspect he might not like that term -- is David Del Tredici whose 'Three Gymnpédies' (2003) are given their first recording. They do indeed partake of the feeling of Satie's neologistically-named 'Gymnopédies', however more modern they may sound, in that they are slow triple-meter musings. 'My Goldberg' uses that descending bass line from Bach's Goldberg Variations and towards the end quotes the melody of its 'Aria'. Harmonies, though, could not have been written by anyone but an American.'My Re' has sinuous and winsome melodies that always end on a D ('re'). They are accompanied by charming arpeggios of impressionistic hue. The work is dedicated to Del Tredici's life-partner, Ray ('re' again). The third gymnopédie, 'My Loss', is in memory of Del Tredici's teacher and friend, the pianist/composer Robert Helps who died in 2001. It is weightier, somewhat more dissonant and longer than the others and expresses the composer's sadness at the loss of his friend and mentor. I loved these three pieces and would love to see them taken up by pianists everywhere.
Christopher Theofanidis is a hot composer these days, known primarily for his orchestral works Rainbow Body / Blue Cathedral / Symphony 1 / Appalachian Spring Suite. Although he started out as a virtuoso pianist, he had not composed any pieces for solo piano for a number of years before being commissioned to write 'All dreams begin with the horizon' (2007). The title of this four-piece suite comes from a comment the composer's father made to him years ago. 'lucid, present' is impressionistic, whirling, reminiscent of Ravel's 'Ondine' with its tolling bell. 'charged, erratic' is more aggressive, with driving assymetric rhythms and virtuosic demands on the pianist. 'noble' -- a 'toast to love' -- has a lyrical melody presented in three different guises: filigreed, hard-charging, and expansive. 'threatening' is just that, with a hypnotic 7/8 figure that worms itself into one's ear.
Suzanne Farrin's 'This is the story she began' (2005) is a seven-minute work that receives its impetus from the retelling of the Pyramus and Thisbe myth in Ovid's 'Metamorphosis, Book IV', the passage that starts with 'This is the story she began.' You may remember Pyramus and Thisbe, if not from Ovid, from 'Midsummer Night's Dream' or even 'The Fantasticks'. It's a story of star-crossed lovers. The composer indicates that the piece is not a retelling of the story but the weaving of a musical impression of the story. The work does indeed have a narrative feel. The music itself is a mixture of tonal and atonal elements.
Sheila Silver's 'Six préludes pour piano, d'après poèmes de Baudelaire' (1990) comprise (in their English translations) The Sea at Cassis; The Pendulum Clock; The Descent into Hell; In the Half-Burned Forest; There, All is Perfection and Beauty, Luxury, Calm and Delight; and Toward the Paradise of My Dream. These are tone poems, impressionistic and using modern compositional styles. Like Farrin's music, they are more descriptive of mood than of story, rather like Baudelaire's poetry.
Ms Bannister is a fine pianist who clearly has both musicianly instincts and a finely honed technique. I quite enjoyed the CD and am sure I'll return to it again and again.
Scott Morrison"
Track Listings (4) - Disc #1