Search MusicWeb Here Custom Search     International mailing

Searching Musicweb Monthly index Recordings of the Year Label index Masterwork index Series index Search engines Review Archive Classical Downloads Jazz Concerts Nostalgia Books Film music Resources Composer pages National discographies Online books Piano Trio Survey Gerard Hoffnung Arthur Butterworth's columns Philip Scowcroft's British light music collection Interviews Programme notes Other material Articles Seen & Heard Jazz reviews Message Board Announcements About Musicweb About Musicweb Contact Musicweb Contributors What they say about us Visitor stats Site Map

Founder: Len Mullenger

Classical Editor in Chief: Rob Barnett

BUY NOW    AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Paul SCHOENFIELD (b.1947) Viola Concerto (1997-98) [19.11] Robert Vernon (viola) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Yoel Levi recorded Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin, November 2000 Four Motets (1995) [11.22] BBC Singers/Avner Itai recorded St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, London, July 2000 The Merchant and The Pauper (1999) – Excerpts from Act II [26.48] Jennifer Larson (soprano) Pei Yi Wang (mezzo soprano) Christopher Meerdink (tenor) Gary Moss (baritone) Tyler Oliphant (baritone) Mark Kent (bass) Isaiah Sheffer (speaker) University of Michigan Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Kenneth Kiesler recorded Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan, January 2001 NAXOS MILKEN ARCHIVE 8.559418 [57.41]

Schoenfield’s music has often been noted for its Hassidic aspects though the melancholic elements that co-exist have perhaps been downplayed. In his recent Viola Concerto we can certainly hear an aesthetic which we can impute to the influence of Bloch, with a patchwork of melodic strands and some bold rhythmic dance gestures in both solo and especially orchestral lines. To that we can add light but elegantly precise scoring with an especially delightful moment in the central, slow movement where the oboe winds behind the musing viola’s solo - it has an expressive, communing quality that impresses. Schoenfield isn’t afraid to take his soloist up high over the reflective, supporting orchestral tissue. This is warmly romantic, purely tonal and carried off in this performance with considerable aplomb. In the finale there are hints of Shostakovich, and the Hebraic elements are more artfully, less effusively presented than in a contemporary work such as Isaac Schwartz’s Yellow Stars. There’s increasing drama, especially in the Dance of David, with dance patterns renewed and some Klezmer smear as well. The Viola Concerto is the major work here but the Four Motets make an individual mark with their reflections on High Renaissance practice, the chromaticism adding to an effect of newly minted traditionalism. The harmonies are at their richest in the second of the four – all are short – and the sense of displaced time, or a sense of time as a continuum, is maybe at its most effective in the last. There are also three excerpts from Act II of The Merchant and The Pauper, his 1999 two-act opera. This was based on mystic ideas enshrined in the writings of Reb Nahman of Bratslav (1772-1811), a charismatic leader of his community. The most substantial is the twelve-minute excerpt from Scene 1 – strong romantic lines and sonorous narration, whilst there’s vibrant dance music in the fifth scene. Extensive though the notes are – they always are with the Milken Archive discs – it’s invariably only a partial view of the opera. All the performances are committed and the trio of recording locations fortunately doesn’t jar the ear. I found the Concerto the most impressive of the works here – full of Bloch and Shostakovich lineage and attractive. All are premiere recordings.   Jonathan Woolf     Gerard Hoffnung CDs Advertising on Musicweb Donate and get a free CD   New Releases   Musicweb sells the following labels Acte Préalable (THE Polish label) Altus 10% off Arcodiva Atoll 10% off CDAccord CRD 10% off Hallé 10% off Hortus Lyrita 10% off Nimbus 10% off Nimbus Alliance Prima voce 10% off Red Priest 10% off Retrospective 10% off Saydisc 10% off Sheva £2 off Sheva Contemporary Sterling 10% off Toccata Classics Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our free weekly review listing sample Sample: See what you will get Editorial Board MusicWeb International Founding Editor    Rob Barnett Seen & Heard Editor Emeritus    Bill Kenny Editor in Chief    Vacant MusicWeb Webmaster    David Barker MusicWeb Founder    Len Mullenger

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.