WETA FM 90.9 Blog

Dalbavie, Lutosławski et al., Piano Concertos, Andsnes / Welser-Möst / BRSO

EMI 64182 (76:06)

In those countries where (classical) CDs are still mainly sold in stores (see Deutsche Welle article), I fear the worst for Leif Ove Andsnes’ lastest recording, “Shadows of Silence”. Because CDs with more than two, sometimes three, composers, are filed under the artist or his instrument, they are removed from the main section (ordered by composer); are out of sight and easily out of mind. It would be such a shame, too, because “Shadows of Silence” is a brilliant recording of the Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) and Marc-André Dalbavie (*1961, featured on NPR in 2006) Piano Concertos, with Bent Sørensen (*1958) and György Kurtág (*1926) bits thrown in as value-adding solo piano diversions. Nice as the Sørensen nocturnal “Lullabies” (3 min.) and “Shadows of Silence” (16 min.) are, and nimbly as the Kurtág “Játékok” selectins are dashed off, this should be filed under Lutosławski or Dalbavie.

The Lutosławski Concerto could remind you of anything from orderly Stravinsky to restrained Varèse, spiky Ravel or astringent Rachmaninov, without being derivative of any existing work. Written for Krystian Zimerman (with a recording on DG), this is the sixth recording of the work. Not the least thanks to the contribution of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst, it is the most convincing of those I have yet heard. (Those include Zimerman’s, Paul Crossley / Esa-Pekka Salonen / LA Phil on Sony, and Peter Paleczny / Antoni Wit / Polish RSO Katowice on Naxos but not Ewa Poblocka with the composer conducting on CD Accord, or Poblocka’s second recording with Kazimierz Kord, also on CD Accord.)

If you expect Boulez student Dalbavie to follow his teacher’s abstract and intellectual musical footsteps, you will be surprised. Sorely disappointed if you wanted hard core avant-garde, most pleasantly surprised if you feared it. Dalbavie is tossed into the group of spectralist composers (Hugues Dufourt’s term) which essentially means a modern European romantic composer. Think Tristan Murail, Peter Eötvös, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, and then soften it up a little further. Like in the Lutosławski, the clarity and ease of execution on the part of both, soloist and orchestra, allow all details to emerge with crystalline purity—yet nothing sounds ever analytical. Without a penchant for reasonably modern music (Bartók and beyond), this disc is not going to appeal… for those who think classical music still has a pulse, in the late 20^th, early 21^st century, this is their gift from EMI.

Andsnes will perform “Pictures Reframed”, his and Robin Rhode’s Musorgsky-Schumann-Larcher based multi-media project (YouTube preview) at the Terrace Theater on November 20^th. (WPAS, 7.30PM)