Flute Sonatas & Solo Works / Brandon Patrick George
Profil
CD
$20.99Sep 18, 2020
Flautist Brandon Patrick George describes his debut album as a dialogue between the past and the future. It is indeed quite a leap in time from Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) to the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho, born in 1949 – yet he has included works for solo flute by both composers on this recording. There are also two important chamber works for a flute and piano duo which represent milestones in the repertoire: a sonata by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) and a sonatina by Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) – and so this release represents a walk through musical history spanning 300 years. Brandon Patrick George is the flutist of the Grammy®-nominated Imani Winds, and has performed with many of the world’s leading ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE).
REVIEW:
What strikes the listener on this debut release by Brandon Patrick George is the chances he takes. Until the final Flute Sonata, Op. 94, of Prokofiev, George plays perilously virtuosic works, with every detail of his playing exposed by hyper-clear sound. George chooses an intelligent program that begins with the Bach's Flute Partita in A minor, BWV 1013. George's crisp, sharp-edged performance is masterly. The pieces by Pierre Boulez and Kalevi Aho not only extend the virtuoso challenges but tie into the implied Baroque counterpoint of Bach's Partita. Only with the Prokofiev Flute Sonata does the music relax, and George with it. It's an exceptionally well-structured program, flawlessly executed.
Cello Libris / Moldrup, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir
BIS
CD
$10.99$21.99Save 50%Apr 03, 2020
Dividing his time between the United States and the United Kingdom, the composer Geoffrey Gordon writes music that has been described as ‘darkly seductive’ (New York Times), ‘richly satisfying’ (BBC Music Magazine) and ‘iridescent and fierce’ (The Chicago Tribune). The present album brings together three of his recent works, all composed between 2013 and 2018 for the soloist recording them here, the Danish cellist Toke Møldrup. In several of his works, Gordon takes his inspiration from other art forms – sculptures by Giacometti, a self portrait by Warhol, a children’s picture book by Maurice Sendak. The works gathered here are inspired by or reactions to three literary masterworks. The ‘creative blueprint’ for the opening work, the Cello Concerto, is the novel Doktor Faustus by Thomas Mann. Organized into a Prologue and Seven Episodes, the work traces the progress of Mann’s protagonist Adrian Leverkühn from innocence to madness, with the cello both embodying and (occasionally) commenting on the proceedings. For this recording, Møldrup receives the support of the Copenhagen Phil and conductor Lan Shui. In the score of Fathoms, Gordon’s sonata for cello and piano, each of the five movements is headed with a quotation from Shakespeare’s The Tempest which sets the scene for the musical impression that follows. Here Møldrup is joined by the American pianist Steven Beck. The amply-filled album closes with Ode to a Nightingale, with the words of John Keat’s immortal poem heard from the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir, and given emphasis by Toke Møldrup’s obbligato cello.
Born in Texas in 1939, Andrew Rudin fondly remembers his childhood music teacher who opened the doors to the world of art for him. Already composing when he entered the music department of the University of Texas, Austin in 1957, his aesthetic sense then shifted toward the 12-tone technique, and later in the 1960s, electronic music. He continued his writing and teaching career through the 1970s, 80s and '90s. His Three String Sonatas, one each for violin, viola and cello, written after his retirement from teaching, were recorded for Centaur in 2009 and 2011.
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