As can be clearly seen this is a compilation CD put together
under this slightly misleading title. Arthur Benjamin was of course Australian
but his Square Dance, not incidentally for two pianos and orchestra
as the booklet tells us, but for small orchestra is, of course, Yankee
inspired, and Moncayo is quite certainly Mexican. Incidentally this latter
piece receives a more powerful rendering by the Mexican Festival Orchestra
conducted by Enrique Batiz on Naxos 8.550838.
We quite often sniff at these compilations but this
one is a very attractive proposition. The music follows a general pattern
of lively items sometimes followed by a slightly quieter piece. It is
possible to play the CD right through without fear of being satiated
by too many exciting rhythms and by music that is too similar.
A terrific performance directed by Klaus Arp of Gershwin’s
‘Strike up the band’ overture is followed by his delightful ‘Lullaby’
a work not heard until 1967 but originally composed in 1917 for string
quartet. Copland’s outrageous ‘Danzon Cubano’ follows and then comes
‘Huapango’ which could be described as a slightly more polite version
of Revueltas’s barbaric ‘Sensemaya’.
Jay Livingston’s all too brief ‘Mr. Christopher Columbus’
conducted by Ernst Wedam was new to me as was the composer. It comes
from the film ‘Here comes the Groom’. This piece and the two Scott Joplin
‘Ragtimes’ that follow are typically pastiche Americana. In this anonymous
orchestration the Joplin is pastiche. The piece comprises ‘rags’
from his ill-fated opera ‘Treemonisha’ completed in 1911.
I would like to know the arranger/compiler of the ‘Oklahoma-medley’.
It so happened that I heard this the day after the Proms performance
of parts of the musical. Comparisons of the style of orchestration are
intriguing. Bernstein’s popular and reflective ‘Song’ then follows from
his amazing theatre-play ‘Mass’. The disc ends with a scintillating
performance of Gershwin’s ‘Girl Crazy’ Overture directed by Caspar Richter.
Another problem with compilations can be a disparity
in the standard of recording, acoustic and volume levels let alone standard
of performances. This is not a concern here. Hänssler, who, after
all, are a very reliable company with high ideals have selected carefully
and avoided these pitfalls. All recordings are especially vivid and
ideal for this music. The German orchestra plays as if they know the
music backwards and each conductor brings out the character and individuality
of each work.
The very readable and easily understood booklet notes
by Sebastian Urmoneit are translated from the German into French, Spanish
and a rather quaint English.
As a reviewer I often wonder if the CD is worth keeping
or passing on to green and pleasant lands, but this one will be kept
and I suspect regularly played especially by my wife. Therefore I have
to recommend it to all readers.
Gary Higginson
SWR Rudfunkorchester Kaiserslautern/Klaus
Arp, Saul Schechtmann, Ernst Wedam, Caspar Richter