UHF No 70 (Net).indd - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

of Bückenburg, is immense.
There is a superb arrangement by
Labadie of a part of J.S. Bach’s Art of the
Fugue, in which he doses the harpsichord
and the organ with remarkable discernment.
On track 12 there is the gift of a
sublime aria drawn from Handel’s
Dafné, sung by the divine soprano
Karina Gauvin. When her voice rises,
no matter what you’re doing she will
command your attention. Indeed, all of
the voices on the recording — not only
Gauvin but also Dorothea Roschmann
and Russell Braun — are magnifi cent,
and they touch us to our very hearts in
pieces by Handel and Bach.
After that come two remarkable concertos
by Vivaldi, rendered in dazzling
fashion. In the midst of it, a fi rst violin
enthralls us with the utter beauty of a
Largo e spiccato.
Bach’s Goldberg Variations follow, in
an orchestral arrangement by Labadie,
and finally three movements from
Mozart’s deathless Requiem, with a contribution
from the choir and soloists of
the Chapelle de Québec.
I feel it would be redundant for
me to say much about these works so
well-loved for centuries. Except for the
J.C.F. Bach piece, they are staples of
both recordings and concert halls, all
for our greater pleasure. I’d rather praise
the dynamic playing of the musicians,
always perfectly coordinated, but whose
discipline in no way banishes a healthy
dose of sensitivity.
The sound? Dorian at its best.
Obseción
Trio Amadé
Klavier K11134
Rejskind: The meaning of the title is
evident, though not why the Amadé Trio
chose it. The music is eclectic, covering
Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein,
Astor Piazzola and Emilio Colón. I’ve
run across Colón’s music on several
recordings in the last short while, but
this recording is signifi cant for a particular
reason: the cellist of this superb piano
trio is none other than Colón himself.
So let me begin by his own contribution,
a tango with the enigmatic title N.
Written specially for this ensemble, it
opens with a gentle piano solo, followed
by a ravishingly beautiful violin passage
that is well supported by the graver tones
of the cello. It is in the second half of
the piece, running six minutes, that
you recognize that yes, this is indeed a
tango.
This worthy piece is followed by a
suite from the late Argentinian tango
master, Astor Piazzola, titled Las Cuatro
Estaciones Porteñas, a clear reference
to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. One doesn’t
expect to be able to dance to Piazzola’s
tangos, of course, though one almost
could to the Verano Porteño, the Summer
sequence. It alternates between fiery
brio and heartrending nostalgia. Spring
is deliciously melodic, while Autumn
is lyrical and hints tantalizingly at the
tango rhythm, which then bursts out
in full fl ame. Winter is another delight,
whose mood changes blindingly fast,
revealing its dance nature. It can be
surprisingly easy to make Piazzola sound
dull and confused, but even he didn’t
often make his music sound as delightful
as it does on this recording.
The other half of the CD is more diffi
cult to recommend. Copland’s Vitebsk
(Study on a Jewish Theme) is inspired by
a folk song Copland heard during a New
York performance of The Dybbuk by the
Moscow Arts Theater. It is angular and
austere, not at all like Copland’s bestknown
works, which often themselves
sound like folk music. It seemes dated
today. And I was left cold by a 1937 trio
composed by Leonard Bernstein when
he was 19.
The Amadé Trio, in case I haven’t
already made it clear, is absolutely fi rstclass.
Violinist Felicia Moye in particular
has a penchant for lyricism that can
bring you close to tears, as she does on
both the Piazzola and the Colón. Pianist
Heather Coltman is excellent, and I need
hardly add that the group’s composercellist
understands this music perfectly.
Best of all, the whole adds up to even
more than the sum of its parts.
The microphones were placed close
to the instruments, and so the actual
sound you hear will depend in large part
on the acoustics of your own room. Yet
it never sounds unpleasantly forward,
or shrill and edgy. The transfer to CD
is spot on.
Norman Dello Joio
Stamp & Keystone Wind Ens.
Klavier K11138
Rejskind: My first reaction: I was
delighted to learn that Norman Dello
Joio was still alive. Indeed, the last cut
on this disc is a 23 minute interview with
him, part of Klavier’s The Composer’s Voice
series. I became a fan of his orchestral
and choral music many years ago. Not
only is he a master melodist, but he
has a natural understanding of how to
use variations on a theme to surprise
and delight the ear. Clearly, he himself
delights in the sheer sound of the orchestra.
And I must add that this delight has
never been more evident than in this
stunning recording, a topic I shall return
to in a moment.
Dello Joio is musically eclectic. He
studied composition with Hindemith,
but he also spent part of his youth
playing jazz, and he acknowledges Fats
Waller as one of his infl uences. It seems
to me he was always drawn to the use of
percussion and brass to fi ll the space of
a hall, and it appears natural for him to
compose for wind band, as he has in all
of these pieces. I was surprised to hear
that he wrote his fi rst work for wind band
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 65
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