This is a marvellous programme of American populist music, played
wonderfully by the Oregon Symphony. The symphony's relationship with
conductor Carlos Kalmar has yielded great results: intrepid musical choices,
high artistic quality, and this recording contract with Pentatone, which
keeps bearing new and delightful fruit. Previously on MusicWeb
International: "the playing is excellent and Carlos Kalmar conducts all
three works with understanding and flair" - John Quinn on a
Vaughan Williams and Britten pairing; and "Music for a
Time of War" was our
Recording of the Month.
Walter Piston's
The Incredible Flutist is a ballet written for
the Boston Symphony, a total peach of a piece with a lovely tango, a
seductive and French-sounding long solo for the titular flutist, and a
parade of circus performers who inspire the non-performing orchestral
musicians to shout and whoop with glee. The Oregon Symphony players really
tackle their shouting parts with relish. It's great. There's a Spanish dance
to maracas, and a polka that escalates wildly from Midwestern America's East
European immigrant heritage into an exuberant, out-of-control finale.
In other words, every orchestra should have this piece in its repertoire.
There are some good recordings of Piston's suite from
The Incredible
Flutist, though few are as good as this. Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony
leave no chance for vivid playing untaken, from the gentle nocturne woodwind
solos to the wild finale. True, Leonard Bernstein's Sony take might have an
extra notch of thrill to it, but isn't that always the case with Bernstein
in American populist music? To quote the philosophers of
This is Spinal
Tap, Bernstein goes to 11.
George Antheil's
A Jazz Symphony is a nutty, joyful romp with
bouncing brass. It was written in 1927, just a couple years after the
Rhapsody in Blue, but the famous score it sounds most like is
West Side Story. The orchestral piano doubling the strings; the way
different orchestral sections try to belt out different tunes at the exact
same time; climaxes with thundering kettle-drums; a weirdly repetitive piano
solo that would later help inspire
Porgy and Bess. This is jazzy
music for sure, but ahead of its time. Leonard Bernstein never recorded
A Jazz Symphony. He probably felt threatened by the obvious
similarity to his own music. Kalmar & Co. easily out-dazzle a recent,
much slower rendition by a German band on CPO.
Aaron Copland's
Symphony No. 3 is the most famous piece here, a
sort of American pastoral that celebrates the end of World War II in its
finale, which incorporates the "Fanfare for the Common Man". The work was
begun in 1944 and finished in 1946. This is not my favourite Copland piece,
sorry to say; its structure reminds me of the Vaughan Williams Fifth -
written just years before - but its language is louder, more brash. Kalmar
and the Oregon Symphony temporarily convince me otherwise, however: their
first movement is urgent in its drama, the brass section plays with great
flair and excitement throughout, and Carlos Kalmar knows exactly how the
piece should go. Maybe the Oregon Symphony violin section isn't as full or
as lavish as the world-class bands but otherwise there are very few signs
you are not listening to a top-notch orchestra. Certainly, there's every
indication you are listening to a top-notch performance.
If you're interested in this programme, invest with confidence. The
recorded sound is superb, and although I don't have an SACD player to test
the surround-sound capabilities, Pentatone knows what they're doing. Their
redesigned graphics also include a larger-print booklet, useful for
listeners with older eyes. My one and only complaint, which will make me
sound like a grumpy old man, is that Pentatone now wish their name be
printed entirely in capital letters (Something we need not reflect here.
Ed.), as if we are shouting it, or as if it is some sort of top-secret
intelligence command post.
Brian Reinhart
Previous review:
Brian Wilson
