Tchaikovky: Symphony No. 4/Leshnoff: Double Concerto
Michael Rusinek, clarinet.  Nancy Goeres, bassoon.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck
Reference FR-738
Total Time:  63:12
Recording:   (*)***/****
Performance: ****/****

Manfred Honeck pairs a world premiere modern concerto with one of the great classical war horses on this new “Fresh!” live release from Reference Recordings.  As the orchestra’s music director over the past decade, Honeck has continued to raise the orchestra’s profile with often invigorating explorations of classic literature and expansions to the groups repertoire.  Their series of highly-acclaimed releases continues here in amazing Super 5.0 Stereo realization.  The Tchaikovsky was actually recorded in 2016 and is the last of the three later symphonies to appear in the orchestra’s recent releases.

Tchaikovsky’s later symphonies are among his most-performed and popular works.  The fourth (composed over 1877-1878) in particular holds fascination for its motivic development and intensity that seem to expand upon Beethoven’s own exploration of fate and destiny.  This is the third of the symphonies to make it to disc with Honeck and the PSO.  A quick glance at the overall timings for each of the movements suggests a rather traditional performance with just a slight more time taken in parts of the second movement.  What is most striking about the performance, and which is apparent from the opening bars, is the extreme care that is being taken to the shaping of themes.  One can hear parallel articulations across the sections of the orchestra.  Honeck also makes a lot more out of the sudden shifts in dynamics which can make those moments doubly exciting.  The wind playing throughout the symphony is quite exquisite as a result and that sinuous oboe melody in the second movement moves forward without too much pathos.  This allows some of the yearning to grow more as the movement proceeds.  Brass also are on great display here, especially in the powerful opening and conclusion.  The strings do well, but seem a bit lower in the sound picture, sometimes being overwhelmed by other parts of the orchestra.  This is particularly the case in the opening movement.  The second movement also seems to have some sense of balance adjustment that is not distracting (and might be a result of the 5.0 imaging).  Throughout the bass end seems particularly boom-y at times.  The scherzo really lets the strings shine with the pizzicato playfulness casting itself nicely in the outer sections and a light, trio section.  The finale brings us back to those large monolithic brass blocks of sound and crisp, shots that balance against the lyrical contrasts.  There is solid, controlled energy to get us to the exciting conclusion and Honeck lets the music play for itself without adding any additional, artificial urgency.  This makes the final minutes quite satisfying.  (There is just a brief moment, where it feels like the orchestra was getting a bit over-excited and Honeck manage to pull them back).  That makes those final moments really exciting.  Personal favorites of this symphony include Montreux’s classic Boston set, and Gergiev’s Vienna series (also a live recording).  The latter has a bit more passion (though arguably the bassoon solo in Honeck’s recording in the second movement could not be more emotionally plaintive).  Honeck’s is not a “careful” rendition, but a rather deeply thought out interpretation that draws out Tchaikovsky’s emotional core and creates a consistent performance approach across the orchestra.  In that respect, it is certainly a wonderful performance that is worth exploration and the solo work throughout is really worth the price of admission here.

The album is paired with a new work by Jonathan Leshnoff (b. 1973) commissioned by the orchestra and premiered in June 2019 (when the recording was made).  A collection of his orchestral music appeared last year on the Naxos label exploring his lyrical orchestral music with its always engaging thematic ideas.  Leshnoff’s music is a link to the great Neo-Romanticists of the 20^th Century (Creston, Diamond, Harris).  In this new work, he pairs clarinet with bassoon for a rather fascinating exploration of the double concerto genre.  The work is cast in three movements.  The first movement begins with long, descending string lines that shift into the bassoon’s upper, songful register.  The clarinet then enters to twine itself around this idea with some stunningly beautiful, romantic harmonic backgrounds.  A brief off-kilter waltz follows with a delightful lower bassoon staccato line to open and a nice lyrical clarinet commentary to provide a contrast.  It features a delightful section for solo bassoon accompanied with the orchestra’s bassoons as well.  The final movement brings us a more energetic dash that brings the soloists into more dialogue with the larger orchestra in a more traditional fashion, kicked off with a brass chord before the perpetual motion lets the soloists display their technique.  Leshnoff’s music is always quite engaging and the interaction between the soloists here helps create a lot of delightful interplay.  The accessible harmonic style also invites the listener in with its almost cinematic qualities.  Bassoonist Nancy Goeres and clarinetist Michael Rusinek are quite superb interpreters of the work.  They seem more forward in the sound picture and imaged on either side to create a somewhat realistic spatial feel though sometimes they get shifted more to the center.

This is an overall an excellent release.  Really, one should pick this up for Leshnoff’s delightful concerto.  The Tchaikovsky is obviously what will grab the attention of the casual listener at first, but what a great way to introduce a new work to a broader audience.  Of course, it is second on the album so it might not get that first listen it might otherwise have.  It is also rather odd that neither soloist is listed anywhere on the cover or really anywhere.  One sort of discovers by leafing through the booklet who they are and there is a little Q and A section there.  Notes for the Tchaikovsky are fine and a nice overview of this more familiar work.  Whether one is attracted to this release for either repertoire, there will be much to enjoy in both cases.

Brahmsiana: Music by and Inspired By Brahms
Steven Masi, piano
Navona Records 6260
Total Time:  78:26
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Steven Masi has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.  More recently he undertook a massive project of recording all of Beethoven’s sonatas which was well-received.  For this program, he has paired two modern works with their own roots connected to two of Brahms’ memorable piano collections (Op. 117, and 118).  The sense of looking back and reflecting on one’s place in history is something which thematically links all four works on this new release.

Brahms’ Three Intermezzi, Op. 117 (1892) and the Six Klavierstucke, Op. 118 (1893) are among the composer’s more intimate pieces.  There is often a touch of sadness within their reflections.  In the case of the intermezzi, it feels more like a last love letter, and even resignation that his longtime love for Clara Schumann would not be reciprocated as he had hoped.  There is also a sense of Brahms beginning to consider that his rich harmonic language was beginning to evolve into something quite different in the new generation of composers.  In the intermezzi, the tone has a more tragic quality.  The Op. 118 pieces seem to have a more wistful quality that has some heartbreaking romanticism along the way.  The “Intermezzo in A” and final intermezzo are touchingly performed here.  The following “Ballade in g” has a somewhat careful approach as it moves through its moods.  That sense of longing can be heard in Masi’s intimate performance of the opening Intermezzo in Eb in a really beautiful performance that sets the tone for what is to come.

Brahmsiana II takes the intermezzi as its inspirational departure point.  Robert Chumbley’s three movements might best be explained as new music that uses the compositional techniques of these pieces and then reinterprets them into more modern qualities.  His approach incorporates the stronger bass lines and larger harmonic structures as well as the multiple layers of voices that are hallmarks of the intermezzi.  The first intermezzo’s music opens with an extension of Brahms’ style and then begins to slowly morph into more modern qualities.  The central one becomes even more intricate as it moves to some more extended harmonic ideas and explores a wider piano range.  The final intermezzo takes the romantic gestures and adds a bit more dissonance but still manages to feel like a parallel thread to the works that inspired it.  Masi commissioned Echoes of Youth from composer Jonathan Cziner which concludes this album.  The four-movement work has a sense of nostalgic references with the Cziner wanting to find a way to merge some of the musical trends at the end of the 19^th Century into his own style.  These are quite reflective in nature as a whole with a quality that parallels their musical inspirations.

Masi’s performances equally focus on the reflective and nostalgic tone of many of these pieces in ways that help the listener begin to hear the connections between the modern retellings and reimagining of Brahms’ original works which are lovingly performed.