American
Record Guide
September/October
1997
Joan Tower is one of America's most honored and performed composers, and
the d'Note disc of solo concertos for various instruments offers some
reasons for it. She writes clear, directly-accessible music with attractive
melodies and a good, if conventional, rhythmic profile. She understands
the nature of each solo instrument. The violin and piano concertos are
the best pieces on the disc. There is a family resemblance when all four
of those are heard in one sitting, but that may just be evidence of the
unity of Tower's strong musical vision and of her conception of the solo
concerto. I would like to have heard the solo instruments play some material
against the tradition of the instrument, especially in the wind pieces.
Tower has the ability to engage the listener in what she is doing and
saying. The performances from the all-star group of soloists, as well
as from the reliable and experienced Louisville Orchestra, are top notch,
the sound is warm and clear, and the program notes are informative.
Fanfare
"a dazzling yet well-deliberated release that enlivens the prospects
for American music."
Elmar Oliveira, violin
Carol Wincenc, flute
Ursula Oppens, piano
David Shifrin, clarinet
Joseph Silverstein and Max Bragado-Darman conducting The Louisville Orchestra
d'Note 1016 (Allegro) 74 minutes
This is the first new Louisville Orchestra release in some years-and appears
on a fast-growing new independent label, too-and its generous survey of
four concertante works by Joan Tower proves to be a revelation for this
listener.
On the basis of her well-exposed orchestral works such as Sequoia and
Silver Ladders (both products of the early 80s, she had seemed to be primarily
a concocter of a species of lushly scored, hedonistically picturesque,
but somewhat emotionally shallow soundscapes couched in a generically
post-stravinskian, quasi-minimalist style. But these four highly concentrated
one-movement concertos-written over a six-year span from 1985 and 1991-show
Tower to have moved naturally into a much more structurally rigorous and
texturally lean dimension-"lean and mean" might be a more apt
description , as these are far from complacent works: they are tensile,
pithy, full of vim and vinegar.
Although requiring virtuosic skills from their soloists, these tremendously
compact and tautly emphatic fifteen-to-twenty-minute statements are permeated
by moodiness, mystery, and muscle. Their idiom proves beyond doubt that
Tower has completely absorbed and then gone beyond her influences to build
a solidly crafted and dramatically purposeful language of her own. Each
work opens in a K. A. Hartmann-like attacca manner and then seems to grab
the listener by his aural lapels, never loosening its grip until the music's
arclike imperatives are met and fulfilled. After all this conspicuous
expenditure of energy, a sense of resolution and completion-both formal
as well as psychological-hangs over the conclusion of all four concertos,
which remain throughout both symphonically and concertoistically persuasive.
Even though three out of four of these pieces were composed with specific
soloists in mind, the fact that pianist Ursula Oppens and clarinetist
David Shifrin were not among the original dedicatees confirms that these
are in any case significant contributions to the repertoire of their respective
instruments. They, together with flutist Carol Wincenc and violinist Elmar
Oliveira, play with a brilliant blend of whit-heat abandonment and polished
control, and the Louisville Orchestra, under co-conductors Joseph Silverstein
and Max Bragado-Darman, never sounded better.
This is a dazzling yet well-deliberated release that enlivens the prospects
for American music.
Paul A. Snook
Schwann
Opus
"These
four concertos are full of straight forward zest, but the effects are
always within the magisterial control of the composer. They are played
by four accomplished soloists who are at home with the virtuoso demands
of the works, and who beautifully convey the welcoming spirit of Tower's
writing."
Joan Tower: Concertos for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Piano
Elmar Oliveira, Violin; Carol Wincenc, flute; Ursula Oppens, piano; David
Shifrin, clarinet; Joseph Silverstein, Louisville Orchestra (Violin &
Piano Concertos); Max Bragado-Darman, Louisville Orchestra (Flute &
Clarinet Concertos)
d'Note Classics dnd 1016 (CD). 1997. DDD. TT; 74:05
Joan Tower has described the earliest of these four concertos, the Clarinet
Concerto as a "'galumphy' piece: big and colorful, with some lumps
in it." Take out the lumps and you have a reasonable description
of the other concertos as well. Written between the late '80s and 1991
(the Violin Concerto), these are colorful, bold works, intermittently
conversational, with their own lyricism and, at times, shimmering mystery
and exoticism. In a placid point in the Piano Concerto, pianist Ursula
Oppens toys with a swirling figure that leads to a solo violin playing
very high and eerily as Oppens languorously brushes at an unemphatic line
underneath. These moments of restful lyricism are as important to Tower's
concertos as their more typical rhythmic insistence, which she admits
owes something to Stravinsky. The sheer variety of sounds is impressive,
as is the sense of continuity. These are virtuoso works, but with a human
face.
The wholly convincing power of the first section of the Clarinet Concerto
gives way to a musing central section in which the solo clarinet engages
in a series of conversational gambits with various sections and members
of the orchestra, his long held lines imposing., finally, an exquisite
calm upon the band. In the violin, clarinet, and flute concertos are passages
in which the soloist converses with the first chair on the instrument
from the orchestra. The feeling is "collegial," says clarinetist
David Shifrin, but there's a note of anguish and loss in the case of the
violin concerto: Tower had heard violinist Elmar Oliveira playing with
his brother, also a violinist. The brother died of cancer, and Tower wrote
the sections for two bantering violins to memorialize their relationship.
The Flute Concerto begins, as its soloist Carol Wincenc notes, invitingly,
with the solo flute gently engaging both the audience, and, it seems,
the orchestra. Later, in the finale, Wincenc tells us "the music
blows wide open." Well, not quite. These four concertos are full
of straight forward zest, but the effects are always within the magisterial
control of the composer. They are played by four accomplished soloists
who are at home with the virtuoso demands of the works, and who beautifully
convey the welcoming spirit of Tower's writing.
Michael Ullman
The Louisville
Courier-Journal
Tower CD rededicates orchestra mission
The Louisville Orchestra has released dozens of recordings over the last
decade. Most have been of only marginal interest beyond the small circle
of new music specialists. Because the orchestra's First Edition Recordings
compact discs are sporadically distributed, listeners in many parts of
the country can't even find them in local stores.
Now the lean times may be ending. One indication is the recent release
of a CD devoted to four concertos by Joan Tower. Instead of First Edition
Recordings, the label is d'Note Classics, a small but feisty outfit based
in Sausalito, Calif. The company is particularly good at identifying repertoire
that lies just to the left of center.
The new d'Note release (dnd 1016) assembles several of today's leading
instrumentalists. Elmar Oliveira is soloist in the Violin Concerto, Carol
Wincenc in the Flute Concerto, Ursula Oppens in the Piano Concerto and
David Shifrin in the Clarinet Concerto. Max Bragado-Darman, the orchestra's
music director, conducts the flute and clarinet concertos: Joseph Siilverstein
is on the podium for the violin and piano concertos.
Tower's Violin Concerto was performed in Louisville and recorded in 1995:
the other three in 1996. The composer, whose works have helped define
American art music over the last 20 ears, was in town for most of the
sessions. She wrote the violin and flute concertos expressly for Oliveira
and Wincenc, with the other two works having been adopted by their soloists
as their own. The accounts could hardly have been more authoritative.
Few composers know their way around an orchestra as well as Tower. Though
she has characteristic touches that span all four works, each is distinctively
mated to its solo instrument. Your can listen to them in succession without
feeling that the same ideas are being recycled.
A fine place to begin is the Piano Concerto, Probably the Tower concerto
that deserves the widest audience. Under Oppens' exquisitely articulate
fingers, it may gain the recognition it warrants. But nothing about any
of these pieces should deter a listener. Tower writes music to be enjoyed,
not feared.
The music also sounds especially good on this disc. Too many of the orchestra's
recordings have suffered from the dry brightly lit acoustics favored by
longtime producer Andrew Disdain. The Tower disc is a good deal less wearing
on the ear, and kinder to the ensemble's upper brass.
Balances are tricky in this kind of music, where large choirs of winds
and percussion can obscure a soloist. With its microphones selectively
placed, a recording can accomplish what a live performance often cannot
ensure that the soloist can be heard clearly.
But there's a potential downside to such clarity: the overly prominent
instrumentalist. The d'Note CD preserves a reasonably natural perspective,
a sense of space.
You may not be able to tell that the flute and clarinet concertos were
recorded in the University of Louisville School of Music's North Recital
Hall, or that the violin and piano concertos were set down tat the Kentucky
Center for the Arts' Whitney Hall. What you can discern, however, is how
the solo instruments relate to the larger ensemble and to sections within
the ensemble.
About the
only way to make this release more comprehensive would be to include Tower's
first concerto, "Music for Cello and Orchestra." which she composed
in 1984 for Andre Emelianoff.
Meanwhile, the d'Note CD is an exemplary introduction to a vital American
composer, and a rededication of the mission of an intrinsically American
orchestra
Andrew Adler
Clarinet
Journal
Audio Notes
by William Nichols
Strongly
recommended is the d'Note Classics 1997 production of four concertos by
American composer Joan Tower. The disc contains the violin, flute, piano
concertos, and the Clarinet Concertos of 1988. The performers in the clarinet
work are David Shifrin and the Louisville Orchestra, conducted by Max
Bragado-Darman.
Joan Tower
has become a major force in American music who has in the last two decades
found her musical voice, and its a voice which speaks directly to audience
and performer. Rooted in academic training, Ms. Tower has moved past any
intrusive restraints that training may impart. He music exhibits a spontaneous
character and is (in current jargon) user friendly. The 20-minute Clarinet
Concerto is a virtuoso showpiece for soloist and orchestra alike and very
demanding, but at the same time idiomatically natural and almost comfortable.
Joan Tower has a keen sense of instrumental capabilities and the performing
process. She is an accomplished pianist with I have heard on several occasions
with the Da Capo Chamber Players, a distinguished new music ensemble of
which I believe she is a founding member. Her years of performance experience
provide an invaluable tool in creating music which is accessible and yet
sophisticated and finely wrought. Her style engages both listeners and
performers, around whom some of her music is tailored. As one might expect
with virtuoso solo works, several of these concertos were written with
particular artists in mind.
David shifrin
and the Louisville Orchestra deliver a stunning performance. Shifrin's
tone is rich, warm, and superbly controlled with just a little bite here
and there where called for. This is certainly world class artistry at
its best. The Clarinet Concerto is a significant contribution to our literature
and a work which exudes an optimistic and exuberant spirit. There is some
very effective interplay between the soloist and the orchestral clarinetist.
Kudos to
conductor Bragado-Darman regarding balance and the overall performance,
and also to d'Note's engineers and producers who have yielded a recording
of exceptional warmth and natural ambience. This recording makes a god
case for those digitalphiles with whom I occasionally found myself at
odds. (This stuff sounds too good for DDD). It is heartening to have the
Louisville Orchestra continue its long commitment to the recording of
20th century American music, and in this case feature a stellar cast of
American performers- violinist Elmar Oliveira, flutist Carol Wincenc,
pianist Ursula Oppens, and David Shifrin. This disc is on d'Note Classics
dnd1016 and is available by calling 1-800-995-2657.
Denver
Post
Classical
Review
The Colorado Symphony will soon be heard in a CD of contemporary American
composer Joan Tower's orchestral works. Meanwhile, "Joan Tower Concertos"
(d'Note Classics 1016) is a superb introduction to her sometimes atonal,
often difficult but always rewarding Music. Joseph Silverstein and Max
Bragado-Darman conduct the Louisville Orchestra in the Violin concerto
(soloist Elmar Oliveira), Flute Concerto (Carol Wincenc), Piano Concerto
(Ursula Oppens) and Clarinet Concerto (David Shifrin), all of whom deliver
virtuosi performances of strikingly different works written between 1985-1991.
Jeff Bradley
Rocky Mountain
News
"This
is fresh, new music that is gimmick-free."
Ancient, modern themes tug at 20th-century composers
Joan Tower Concertos: Elmar Oliveira, violin; Carol Wincenc, flute; Ursula
Oppens, piano; David Shifrin, clarinet; the Louisville Orchestra (d'Note
1016). One of America's leading female composers unblushingly uses the
traditional form of the concerto to express her forward-leaning ideas.
These four explore the virtuoso possibilities of the violin, flute, piano
and clarinet (interpreted by four incomparable soloists), but rarely pander
to 19th-century effects or structures. This is fresh, new music that is
gimmick-free.
Marc Shulgold
Richmond
Times-Dispatch
Joan Tower, a leading contemporary American composer, first attracted
wide notice in the '70s with impressionistic works: "sequoia,"
"Silver Ladders," "Black Topaz." That tone of voice
carries over into abstract words such as the four concertos she wrote
between 1984- and 1991.
A new disc (d'Note Classics 1016) features highly regarded advocates of
new music as soloists in Tower's concertos: Elmar Oliveira in the Violin
Concerto. Carol Wincenc in the Flute Concerto, Ursula Oppens in the Piano
Concerto and David Shifrin in the Clarinet Concerto. They play with the
Louisville Orchestra, conducted by Max Bragado-Darman and Joseph Silverstein.
The concertos, while fairly brief (15-20 minutes), are packed with technical
and expressive challenges. The soloists are not cast as "Rach 3"-style
bravura protagonists, but as leading voices in the kind of dialogues found
in chamber music. Tower's soft-textured impressionists style suits the
wind soloists especially well
Clarke Bustard
Arizona
Republic
New crop
of CDs from local artists
Timothy Russell was the conductor last fall for one of the most memorable
new-music events in recent Valley history. Russell led the ASU Symphony
Orchestra in accompaniments to piano and clarinet concertos by Joan Tower.
Both those works are now out on a CD from d'Note Classics called Joan
Tower Concertos (dnd 1016) along with two more Tower concerti: one each
for flute and violin. The soloists are stellarDavid Shifrin is superbly
fitted to the plangent expressivity of the Clarinet Concerto. Ursula Oppens,
piano; Carol Wincenc, flute; and Elmar Oliveira, violin, are the others,
each excelling in bringing out Tower's brand of post-Romantic intensity.
Each concerto is a study in the potential of its respective instrument;
a CD to replay frequently.
Kenneth LaFave
To
Order : dnd1016 Joan Tower Concertos
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