Music does not have the power to end wars. Peace, said Daniel Barenboim, whose West-Eastern Divan orchestra brings together Israeli and Palestinian artists, “needs something more.”
But that doesn't mean musicians are powerless. On this album, recorded and released with great urgency following the latest conflict in Israel and Gaza, Igor Levit documents a personal reaction as he uses his platform as a star pianist to support two anti-antisemitism organizations based in Berlin, where he lives. .
In the past, Levit has been accused of adopting an opportunistic political stance, but his philanthropic projects have been virtually apolitical and too substantial to dismiss. Early in the pandemic, he turned his “house concert” livestreams into a Satie “Vexations” marathon that raised money to help artists. And the profits from this album will go directly to the Berlin organizations.
Levit wanted to record selections from Mendelssohn's “Lieder Ohne Worte” or “Songs Without Words” because, he said, “there's a certain melancholy in them that really helped me a little.” That gloomy mood permeates these performances: a sadly beautiful tone; an emotional climax that evaporates rather than reaching resolution; a heartbreakingly simple hit of high keys.
Equally emotionally communicative is the cover, a grayscale photograph of Levit's hand holding his Star of David necklace. The background is black: a void that emphasizes absence, the “without” of the music title, and loss. This image does not necessarily choose sides in the war, but rather laments its fundamental tragedy. JOSUE BARON
Ethan Iverson: “Technically acceptable”
Ethan Iverson, piano; Thomas Morgan and Simon Willson, basses; Kush Abadey and Vinnie Sperrazza, percussion; Rob Schwimmer, theremin (Blue Note)
One of the marketing hooks for this pianist and composer's latest release is that it contains the first piano sonata ever released on the historic Blue Note jazz label. Anyone in the mood for an ambitious and tuneful formal composition should proceed directly to the end of this album.
The sonata, Ethan Iverson's first, reflects his various north stars. Classical in conception, right down to a repetition of expository material in the opening movement, it also contains traces of crisp harmonic modernism and the presumptuous sounds of classic American jazz styles. The protean first movement dictates that some syncopated figures must sound in the manner of Harlem's stride master, James P. Johnson; the middle lyrical movement sports bluesy licks, marked as strong, which Iverson compares to the style of Bobby Timmons. (For a taste of the notation, watch the sheet music scrolling videos that Blue Note has uploaded to YouTube. While you're there, check out the rest of the album, which includes some excellent jazz trio work, not to mention a theremin solo on “'Around midnight.')
In an interview last year, Iverson said: “I feel James P. with me; I feel Erroll Garner with me. Me too feel ralph shapey.” That final mention of the name (of a maverick American composer) is another useful reference point. While the risk in a piece like Iverson's sonata usually involves accusations of pastiche, he steers clear of that trap through a rigorous engagement with his chosen inspirations. The result, performed by him in this recording, is a work that is both joyful and forceful. I look forward to his second effort in this regard. SETH COLTER WALLS
'Songs of destiny'
Gidon Kremer, violin; Vida Mikneviciute, soprano; Kremerata Baltica (New ECM Series)
Several years ago, Gidon Kremer told the New York Times that his roots run “deep in many directions.” This moving, if elusive, new album sounds like a nod to all, or at least several, of them. There is the notion of Judaism, something that surprised the Latvian-born violinist, according to his note. The album also reflects his Baltic heritage, with music by three composers little known outside the region: Raminta Serksnyte, Giedrius Kuprevicius, both Lithuanian, and Jekabs Jancevskis, of Latvian origin. The inclusion of Mieczyslaw Weinberg speaks to his ardent defense of that Polish-born composer.
To my ears, hovering over everything, there is a markedly despondent tone that signals that this project is haunted by the current horrors in Ukraine, something that would be appropriate for a musician who is not afraid to link art and politics.
One thing is certain: this is one of Kremer's most personal ventures. His playing, especially on Serksnyte's “This Too Shall Pass” and Weinberg's simple, mournful “Nocturne,” has the breath and rhythm of a staccato speech. Soprano Vida Mikneviciute imparts a tone similar to Kuprevicius's “Kaddish” and excerpts from Weinberg's “Jewish Songs.” Jancevskis’ “Lignum” for string and bell orchestra, played with profound sensitivity by the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, progresses from dissonance to resounding affirmation and open conclusion. It sounds like Kremer's description of the album's purpose: “to remind us of the tragic fates along the way and that each of us has a 'voice' that deserves to be heard.” DAVID WEININGER
'Eventail'
Heinz Holliger, oboe and oboe d'amore; Anton Kernjak, piano; Alice Belugou, harp (New ECM Series)
There is a dreamy, melancholic quality to this album of French music by oboist Heinz Holliger. At 84 years old, his tone is less sweet and bright than mysterious and sinuous, amber in color, with occasional passing clouds. His phrasing is sensitive, as in the romance in the center of the middle movement of Saint-Saëns's last sonata; This version of the finale of that sonata is calmer and more lyrical than other accounts. Pianist Anton Kernjak is an eloquent companion, here and elsewhere on the recording.
Holliger makes some intriguing decisions. He plays Charles Koechlin's pastoral “Le Repos de Tityre,” written for the gentle oboe d'amore, and then also uses that instrument for two works by Debussy: the plaintive “Syrinx” (originally for flute) and the “Petite Pièce.” (clarinet). Oboe adaptations abound, including wordless vocalizations by Ravel, Messiaen, and Saint-Saëns. Robert Casadesus's sonata, at times quietly noble, joyous and elegantly conducted, receives a rare and pleasing performance.
Everything is beautiful, if a little monochrome. The highlight is André Jolivet's bleak and scary “Controversy,” from 1968, dedicated to Holliger and the harpist Ursula Holliger, his wife. On the album, the harp part is performed by Alice Belugou, who interacts with Holliger to impressively creepy effect. ZACHARY WOOLFE
Puccini: 'I Canti'
Carlos Castronovo, tenor; Munich Radio Orchestra; Ivan Repušić, director (BR Klassik)
All but two of Puccini's operas are staples of the repertoire. There isn't much vocal music left to discover from the beloved composer of great, soulful melodies. So this album of Puccini songs, presented with new orchestrations by Johannes And, in fact, some of the material was recently rediscovered.
The original piano parts of the songs, pro forma in the extreme, sound like a vocal and piano reduction of an opera score. Schachtner fills in the instrumental colors (obligated winds, vocal dubs, radiant strings) that might have swirled in Puccini's mind. While Schachtner's orchestrations lack the confident stroke of the maestro's pen, they remain a pleasing simulacrum of his extravagantly emotional style.
Robust, with just a touch of dryness in tone, tenor Charles Castronovo sings these songs as if they were proto-Aryans. And in some cases they are: Puccini, an inveterate self-borrower, reused melodies for his operas, and Castronovo's broad, moving phrases, gregarious outbursts, and linguistic taste recall the reckless romantics Rodolfo, Ruggero, and des Grieux.
This year marks the centenary of Puccini's death and Angela Gheorghiu publishes her own recording of this repertoire on the Signum Classics label. Leaving aside her overly milked phrasing and whimsical tone, the Romanian soprano's voice retains flashes of her delicate, kaleidoscopic colors and a sense of interiority.
Whether art songs or disguised arias, both singers express their character with an unmistakably Puccinian ardor. OUSSAMA ZAHR
