The
recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey has compiled a beguiling
programme of solo music to titillate the ear and sharpen
the minds of auditors in her latest disc for ABC. Many
were written specifically for her and to all of them she
brings her accustomed hypnotic tonal allure and amazing
technical equipment. She’s called upon to act the multi-instrumentalist
as a look at the particular instruments will show and there
are instances where samplers, multi-tracking and computers
are employed.
Steve “Stelios” Adam
has written et døgn a rich seven minute tapestry
of bird and other calls for sopranino, Ganassi in C, treble
and tenor recorders and computer. The density of the avian
tropicality induces sweat droplets to form. The album title
track was written by Liza Lim in 2007. It was originally
written as a solo for Lacey but later incorporated into
Lim’s opera The Navigator. There’s a copy of an
email from Lim to Lacey about this recording which says; “This
particular interpretation is quite free but I like the
expressivity of it so let’s not change anything…” It’s
quite an intense piece with arduous and technically demanding
arabesques to surmount. Brett Dean and Bob Scott have composed
an enjoyable tribute to Lacey that moves from languorous
near impressionism to fluttering flurry strong on “bass
guitar” or gong-like percussive emphases.
These
few examples should indicate the breadth of the music on
offer. There are others. Arvo Pärt’s Pari intervallo was
written between 1976 and 1980 and evokes a kind of Tarkovskian
tintinnabulation in its two minute duration. Meanwhile
the two recorder-and-tape Confessions of Damian
Barbeler are reflective studies. In No.2 the recorder circles
over scuzzy tape beneath and in No.3 there’s ruminative,
rumbling tape noise before the loquacious recorder appears.
John Rodgers contributes some brief enticing bird studies – deft,
insistent, full of whimsical song. Birdcall also permeates
Jason Yarde’s A Midnight Dream of Summer with its
electronic drones adding strongly to its evocative drama.
Max de Wardener didn’t write Minutia for Lacey but
it fits her perfectly; he hopes that this unadorned version
will have something of the effect of a “lost field recording.” I
agree – it’s got that old fashioned, front of the porch
vibe, which makes it one of my favourite pieces here.
But
there are good things everywhere we turn – the long cool
lines of the virtuoso John Surman’s In the Distance – based
on one of his own improvisations - and the colourful lyricism
of Sculthorpe’s Maranoa Lullaby. To end we have
the bizarre charms of Moritz Eggert’s Alien, an
imagined meeting between an alien and a human. This one
is full of funky sampled vocals, beat box insinuations,
and rapid switching between instruments. Good fun.
The
sound quality throughout is superb and I mustn’t neglect
to praise the book-style CD and images by Nicola Cerini.
Jonathan
Woolf
Details of instruments played
et døgn: sopranino, Ganassi in C, treble and tenor recorders and computer
weaver-of-fictions, In the Distance, The Butcher Bird: Ganassi
in G
Miss Genevieve's Nocturne: tenor and bass recorders and electronics
Pari intervallo: descant, treble, tenor and bass recorders
Confession 2: descant recorder and tape
Confession 3: treble recorder and tape
Jackie Winter and Friends, The Grey Thrush, Little Brown Honeyeater: sopranino
recorder
The Magpie: descant recorder
Minutia: sopranino, descant, treble, tenor, bass and contrabass
recorders
A Midnight Dream of Summer: sopranino,
descant, treble, tenor and bass recorders, effects and tape
Maranoa Lullaby: descant, treble, tenor,
bass and contrabass recorders
alien:garklein, sopranino, descant, renaissance-alto recorders
(1 player),effects (harmoniser,
chorus, octaver), sampler, three microphones
Genevieve
Lacey (see end of review for instrument details) 
