This recording presents brand new concertos from two vibrant and contrasting American composers. Adolphus Hailstork’s First Piano Concerto draws on his African American heritage to create a work brimming with energy and high spirits. The Violin Concerto “Eleven Eleven” by Danny Elfman – renowned for his many film scores including Batman – has its roots in the composer’s rock, film and television background, but also illustrates his love for the music of Shostakovich and Prokofiev.
REVIEW:
Two major works from contemporary American composers sit side by side here in this latest American Classics production from Naxos. Well-known for his prolific film score output Danny Elfman’s Violin Concerto “Eleven Eleven” has echoes of his early Batman. There is an interesting note about the subtitle in the accompanying words – apparently the number 11 has special meaning for the composer. Alongside this we have Adolphus Hailstork’s Piano Concerto No 1. This has influences from his Afro-American heritage. Both are in fine new live recordings here.
Cellist Inbal Segev’s inspirational commissioning project, 20 for 2020, originally released as four digital EPs, brings all 20 compositions together in a 2-album deluxe digipack, capped by the premiere of Inbal’s own work, Behold for cello quartet. The convergence of cataclysmic events of 2020 spurred cellist Inbal Segev to conceive an ambitious and inspirational commissioning project, 20 for 2020, for which she asked 20 composers to document in music their responses to the challenges posed by the pandemic and social unrest. The result is an utterly moving and immensely varied palette of strong and distinctive compositional voices spanning a range of ages, genders and cultures. Originally released over time as four digital EPs, all 20 compositions come together for the first time in a 2-album deluxe digipack, and are capped by the premiere of Inbal’s own work, Behold for cello quartet. When Inbal conceived 20 for 2020, she could not have foreseen the scope of musical imagination from the 20 composers she asked to write works for her. Further pronouncing her passion for promoting new works for her instrument: “Art needs to move forward, otherwise it will die.” Collectively these compositions celebrate a stunning array of music for the soulful sound of the cello in the 21st century.
This release comes from one of the hardest-working and most respected pianists in the world today- Stewart Goodyear. Every album from Goodyear is released to widespread critical acclaim, and this one is sure to be no different. Goodyear writes of this release: “It was the year Glenn Gould died when I first heard his legendary name. It was his Bach that introduced me to his playing. His sound struck me immediately… a sound that was compelling and uncompromising. It was not designed to speak words of mere prettiness, but of an individual truth… My decision to record Glenn Gould’s program came right after performing it in Montreal. While playing homage to one of the great Canadian legends, I was being transported to childhood memories of growing up in Toronto, Gould’s home town, studying at the Royal Conservatory, Gould’s home alma mater, and being an artist from Canada, Gould’s country.
REVIEWS:
The Bach is brisk and crisp and the ornamentation with the Gibbons piece is tightly coiled. The Brahms selections are robustly songful. If the concept and execution of this release aren’t appealing enough, Goodyear’s program was engineered by Daniel Shores at the Sono Luminus studios in Boyce, Virginia, the source of some of the finest piano recordings on earth.
– Absolute Sound
He does have a good grasp on the way Gould played, capturing his crisp attack and emotional impact. Goodyear perfectly captures Gould’s unusual approach to Brahms, which was resolutely unsentimental. His performance of the Berg Sonata again captures Gould’s approach, albeit with a piano sound more resonant than the one Gould himself favored.
