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December 2007
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Newport 1958 (LPCD 102,902)
Hosted by Willis Conover, who donated much of his private
collection to University of North Texas, the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival
featured diverse performers ranging from Chuck Berry to Eric Dolphy. It
may have been this diversity that prompted Columbia to record many of
the performances. Artists such as Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Mahalia
Jackson, and Duke Ellington all released albums from this festival.
As
with the festival itself, Ellington’s Newport 1958 offers a number of
rarely performed pieces that represent his wide compositional range.
“Multicolored Blue” highlights the subtle alto saxophone of Johnny
Hodges within a sophisticated version of the blues, alternating with
the equally subtle vocals of Ozzie Bailey. The next track “Princess
Blue,” which could have been the second half of “Multicolored Blue,”
features alternating solos by clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton and alto
saxophonist Russell Procope, culminating in a section featuring nearly
atonal counterpoint. While these pieces demonstrate Ellington’s
compositional elegance, “Just Scratchin’ the Surface” and “Feet Bone”
perfectly highlight the more traditional driving swing of the Ellington
orchestra.
Ellington’s Newport 1958 demonstrates the range of his compositional mastery and provides his fans with excellent performances.
J.S. Bach: Missae Breves (LPCD 102,885-102,886)
Whereas recordings of the B-Minor Mass are myriad in number (and quality), attempts at focusing on Bach's other mass settings are virtually nonexistent, especially in the realm of Baroque performance practice. Cantus Cölln and Konrad Junghänel do an admirable job of rectifying that on this recording, which features four Latin settings belonging to the Reformed Liturgy, i.e. only Kyries and Glorias. Junghänel's grasp of clean yet expressive vocal performance once again shines through, as the orchestral textures remain supportive of the text and Affekt of these works.
C.P.E. Bach – Gellert Oden (LPCD 103,106-103,107)
Christian Fürchtegott Gellert was a professor of philosophy at the University of Leipzig, where he lectured on poetry, rhetoric and literary style - when he published his 54 Geistliche Oden und Lieder in 1757, Bach immediately set them music. During his time in Hamburg, Bach followed the success of his Gellert settings (many of which were included in hymnals) with a collection of psalm settings, which furthered his career as a composer of sacred music. (He was not the only composer to do this - witness Beethoven's Opus 48.) Here, Dorothee Mields and Ludger Rémy present a delightful program of these often-overlooked gems, some as arranged piano solos by Rémy (possibly in the style of CPE?); Mields' tone is appropriately mellow for the chamber, and Rémy's accompaniment neither stands on her toes nor is lost in the fray.
Handel: Nine German Arias; Three Oboe Sonatas
There are not many vocal works by Handel in his native tongue, but the language does not change his unmistakable style or quality of composition. Here, Carolyn Sampson (who recently sang the lead role in Boston Early Music Festival's production of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Psyché - see also here and here and here) skillfully manipulates the phrases into a pleasant balance with Stéphanie-Marie Degand obbligato violin, forming a sweet (sometimes savory) feast of operatic chamber delight. Cleansing the palate are well-chosen oboe sonatas, which (like those for violin) are more geared toward the entire solos, rather than a showcase for the oboe's particular timbre or capabilities.
Trio Settecento: An Italian Sojourn (LPCD 103,249)
Baroque Italian trio sonatas are plentiful in number and variable in quality, so recording an entire album of them requires careful planning, flawless execution, and palpable musical sensitivity. Fortunately, Trio Settecento admirably commands all of these qualities here, flavoring the subtle nuances between composers with remarkable flair and fluidity. Rachel Barton Pine’s violin blends effortlessly with the basso continuo, where John Mark Rozendaal’s cello has a distinct voice in conversation with David Schrader’s elegant harpsichord realization.
Bach: Lute Works, Volume 1 (LPCD 103,257)
Any new album by Paul O'Dette is usually a lock, especially solo performances - however, when it's the beginning of an all-Bach series, one really takes notice. The influential recordings of Andrés Segovia are perhaps the high watermarks of these works, but to have O'Dette (finally) present them on lute is quite the treat everyone expects it to be. Amazingly precise and yet free to move with the movements of the dance suite, O'Dette's interpretation is the usual joy - there is really not much more to be said, except run (do not walk) to this recording.
Andrew Justice