June 20, 2016

  • Shie Rozow's Musical Fantasies

     

    Musical Fantasy
    Brian O’Connor, French horn. Robert Thies, piano.
    Lyris Quartet: Alyssa Park and Shalini Vijayan, violins. Luke Maurer, viola. Timothy Loo, cello.
    4Tay Records 4047
    Total Time:  45:37
    Recording:   (*)***/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Shia Rozow is an Israeli-born composer who has worked in Hollywood over the past couple decades usually as a music editor in film and television, but also with a few documentary scores to his credit.  The present release features a number of his chamber and solo works pulled together to celebrate his musical career.

    Two very personal works for piano appear on the disc.  The first of these is the Fantasia Appassionata.  The inspiration for the work is the pianist Alice Herz-Sommer who was sent to Theresienstadt during WWII and managed to survive by being forced to play concerts.  The work is a rather free-flowing piece with plenty of passion to go around and with a somewhat Eastern-European subtlety in its thematic material.  The music has a somewhat romantic quality with a touch of improvisational feel.  Some moments are quite striking.  The second piano work, Esme’s Moon, has its own deeply personal story and its musical style takes its inspiration perhaps from modern Hollywood.  There certainly is a hint of Silvestri in its opening bars.  The piece is a rather beautiful little work.

    The more substantial of the works on the album is Expedition, a four-movement work for string quartet.  Cast in a tonal language, the music has a somewhat episodic structure in the opening “Fantasy in Flight” and a sound that might be quite appropriate for an indie-film (along the lines of say Clint Mansell’s The Fountain).  Melodies are certainly quite moving and engage the listener as the rhythm helps provide the extra energy to these soaring lines.  The second slower movement, “Destination Unknown”, feels a bit more personal with intertwined writing, but a rhythmic idea that underlies the main themes.  This idea continues as the music returns to a slightly faster tempo in “Journey.”  “Uncharted Territory” does indeed create this sense of exploration.  Indeed, the whole work has this sense of moving through interesting vistas, almost as personal reflection.

    The Lyris Quartet’s violist, Luke Maurer, performs one of two smaller solo works which close the album.  Old Friends explores the richness of the instrument and a variety of techniques to try and create a duet of sorts for solo viola.  It was hard not to think of Corigliano’s The Red Violin at times when hearing the technical writing explored.  Brian O’Connor was a noted studio musician in Hollywood who died tragically of brain cancer.  The solo work for French horn, Ananke, is his final recording and the haunting melody here is perhaps somewhat appropriate to end this very personal album.  There are some moments of haunting magic and a bit more intense work then some of the earlier explorations.

    One always runs the risk of finding a balance in chamber music between exploring techniques and creating a sense of structure and forward movement.  Rozow is able to maintain interest through his engaging lyrical writing.  The pieces seem to spin out and draw one in to the musical journey’s he is exploring.  An interesting collection of serious music with accessible musical language and beautiful melodies worth seeking out.  The sound is pretty good as well with the central works feeling like they have the best presence.