Anders KOPPEL (b. 1947)
Concerto for recorder, saxophone and orchestra (2010) [39:07]
Triple Concerto for mezzo saxophone, cello, harp and orchestra (2009) [38:08]
Michala Petri (recorder); Benjamin Koppel (saxophones); Tine Rehling (harp); Eugene Hye-Knudsen (cello)
Odense Symphony Orchestra/Henrik Vagn Christensen
rec. 2013, Odense Koncerthaus.
DACAPO 6.220633 [67:25]
“Anders Koppel is to a rare degree a composer of
his time. With one foot firmly planted in the classical European musical
tradition and the other in world music, rock and jazz.” So begins
the booklet note for this excellent and strikingly bonkers release.
For the Concerto for recorder, saxophone and orchestra we have
a meeting of sonorities which unites the medieval with the modern in
the fantastic combination of Michala Petri’s delicate recorder
and Benjamin Koppel’s fruit and smoke jazz-coloured saxophone.
This however doesn’t mean that the recorder is forced into a different
musical idiom, and it’s a delight to hear Petri sliding and swinging
with the rhythmic impulses of the orchestra and her solo partner. The
first movement has some stunningly cinematic writing, and while you
can invent your own narrative drama there is a strong likelihood it
will include some film noir stereotypes and perhaps a cartoon animal
or two. The booklet notes suggest a concerto grosso connection,
but in their dialogues between themselves and the orchestra I would
say that this is but a distant echo. The central Larghetto
is another scene from the same movie: perhaps a plush penthouse suite,
the rarefied view from which is penetrating the atmosphere within. The
soloists interact, but passions remain largely suppressed, and no-one
is laughing at the dry humour from either protagonist. An orchestral
passacaglia builds, and is interrupted by an elegant duo cadenza with
some lovely ironic touches. The curtains are parted once again, and
the shimmering lights of the city adorn a final coda with some fascinating
timbres in the orchestration. The energy and not-so-subtle minor-key
menace of the final Allegro moderato shakes us out of our reverie,
and on top of the restlessly detailed and rousingly melodramatic orchestra
there are plenty of virtuoso fireworks from the soloists to keep us
on our toes. For a time this looks like ending up as a downbeat denouement,
but before too long we are once again chasing amongst the stars and
facing down every challenge with fortitude.
The Triple Concerto is scored for mezzo saxophone, cello, harp
and orchestra. The mezzo saxophone is a sort of in-between instrument,
milder in tone than the soprano sax but with a remarkable upward flexibility
and a fine lyrical quality. Benjamin Koppel’s tone is still seductive
and jazzy but toned down a little amongst the cello and harp, which
both have their own idiosyncratic contributions to make. Near the beginning
the cello is made to sing out like some kind of Chinese instrument,
and the harp has some moments of punchy syncopation. With the complexity
of the orchestration it is the saxophone which comes off best, and while
the character of each instrument is explored nicely in the first movement
cadenza you have the feeling of three musicians looking away from each
other rather than really interacting. The second of two movements is
full of fascinating sonorities and interesting musical development,
combining simplicity with subtlety, “characterised by a metamorphosis
technique where the same themes return, but in gradually changing forms
– as in a kaleidoscope which constantly reveals new dimensions
of a world that seems familiar.” Anders Koppel has a way of combining
and uniting moments of apparent banality and strokes of inspired nuance
to create something compelling and with a fascinating alchemic mystery
of its own.
This release follows on from a set of four works for marimba and orchestra
by Anders Koppel (review)
under the same conductor as this fascinating pair of concertos. Anders
Koppel has a track record in his use of his son’s saxophone playing,
with another release from Da Capo presenting another two concertos,
also performed by Benjamin Koppel and the Odense SO (review).
This addition to a growing discography is superbly recorded and presented,
and is another of those accessible and rewarding programmes of new music
which should encourage more of us to cast our nets ever wider.
Dominy Clements
