February 4, 2011

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  American Portraits (Higdon/Coleman/Holland/Pann/Puts)
  Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Jarvi
  Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Media 945
  Total Time:  76:18
  Recording:   ***/****
  Performance: ****/****

   

  The present release is a perfect example of how American orchestras are adapting to the changing musical world by creating their own label and promoting their concert repertoire.  In this case, the recordings here span from 2003-2007 from broadcast concerts with the orchestra.  They represent in some cases first performances of contemporary American orchestral music, and most are premiere—if not only—recordings of these works.  Among the composers represented Jennifer Higdon is perhaps the one with the most name recognition followed next by Carter Pann whose music has seen several recordings devoted solely to his own music.  Each of these works appears to be receiving world premiere recordings.

  The CD opens with a work by Charles Coleman, Streetscapes.  The piece had its premiere at Jarvi’s inaugural concert with the CSO from which portions of the recording were taken.  Modeled, according to the composer, on Resphigi’s The Pines of Rome, the work is filled with a real bubbling energy at its start.  The work is more reminiscent of John Alden Carpenter’s Skyscrapers.  Coleman’s work takes a real jazzy nervous energy with an intense sense of drama and an updated sound that is like a fascinating hybrid of Steve Reich minimalist pulses with Gershwin like harmonies and a full orchestral approach a la John Adams.  But overall it is a quite satisfying orchestral tour de force that does bear resemblance structurally to its inspiration.  One could easily see this work fitting well with the Resphigi and Carpenter in concert or on disc.  The more intimate moments demonstrate a penchant for long, semi-chromatic melodic lines that appear in dialogue in the second section between violin and cello.  What is most fascinating is the way the two ideas of the rhythmic pulses and the sinuous slower segments slowly come together and move to their exciting conclusion in a great orchestral build that one might say is like watching a building go up. 

  Coleman’s other work on the disc is Deep Woods taking its inspiration from a painting of the same name by New York Painter Charles Yoder (reprinted in black and white in the booklet).  The music attempts to recreate the light that is seen cutting through the darkness of the compressed trees.  This piece too has a constant rhythmic pulse that insistently plays in percussion or sections of the orchestra like the earlier work included here and has a real John Adams-like feel to its energy and orchestral writing.  It is a bit darker than Coleman’s other piece and without the jazz influences.  Instead a variety of clusters give way to long lines that play against a variety of shifting rhythmic ideas in a emotionally powerful piece that is quite intense at times with a fascinating final few bars.  Both Coleman’s pieces included here are really engaging and perfectly performed!

  Higdon’s Fanfare Ritmico follows which explores tempo and rhythm through another great contemporary orchestral work of great energy that also shows off the players of the CSO along the way.  Higdon’s music is a fascinating blend of orchestral colors coupled with rhythmic and sonic crescendo along the way.  It makes for a fine demonstration of the percussion section of the orchestra

  Pann’s Slalom may be the other most-performed work next to Higdon’s.  The piece has had many performances and is another orchestral showpiece that tests the endurance of the ensemble with its relentless energy.  The piece is a sort of miniature overture/tone poem with multiple section subtitles to reflect the musical narrative.  Starting with a Beethoven quote the work has an almost cinematic quality (think Michael Torke’s Javelin with a little of John Williams) in its orchestral style that would be perfectly at home in pops programs or seasonal concerts.  It sounds like great fun to play and is one of the strongest works on the disc.

  Halcyon Sun is a commission of the CSO that coincided with the opening of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.  Jarvi and the CSO premiered the work in its 2004 season.  The work provides a perfect contrast to all the energetic music that precedes it here.  Holland’s work is a study in orchestral shades starting in darkness and bursting into light with amazing tone clusters.  It is also one of the better-recorded works on the disc.  It unfolds like tone poem and a 2-note rhythmic idea helps create a sort of walking motif that moves through the piece in melodic and harmonic versions in a fascinating display of musical maturity and restraint.  The colors continue to burst forth as the piece continues and the orchestra is sumptuously recorded lending a magic all its own sonically.  In fact, everything that Pann’s work demonstrates at high speeds, Holland’s accomplishes in an engaging idyll-like work of beauty, control, and power.  Both of these pieces deserve a spot in contemporary orchestral repertoire.

  Kevin Puts’ Network is the “oldest” (composed in 1997) and shortest work of the program and brings the disc to a close.  It too continues the trend of post-minimalism heard in the work of Adams and Torke.  The work does a fine job though of creating a variety of fascinating orchestral colors and maintaining a strong rhythmic drive that has a more metallic feel in its choice of percussion.  Small motives and rhythmic patterns are tossed in and around the orchestral as a variety of colors swirl about in another showpiece for orchestra that makes for a perfect conclusion to the disc.

  While the performances are all quite good, the recording feels very dry.  This might feel like it makes the music more immediate and exciting but sometimes it can cause the performances to come across as a bit sterile or compressed.  Fortunately Jarvi’s committed performances here help make the case for these works as a whole and create a strong effort of contemporary orchestral music.  The strongest works are Slalom, Halcyon Sun, and Deep Woods, but they others hold their own.  Overall this is a strong release of new music that is at once well-composed and quite accessible by contemporary audiences.  The CSO is to be lauded for making these excellent performances available to a wider public and for giving these new voices a chance to be heard.  Easily recommended for fans of American symphonic music.

   

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