Used Bin Troll Tweets T.

Ethelbert Nevin

[October 2016.]

Iva BITTOVÁ: Fragments (2012). Iva Bittová (vln, voice, kalimba). ECM 2275 (1 CD) (http://www.ecmrecords.com/).

A lonely story lurks within 12 sections, perhaps Sephardic, Moravian or older, with nods to jazz, Gertrude Stein and Joaquín Rodrigo. MAYBE.

“Polish Violin Concertos.” Grażyna BACEWICZ: Violin Concerto No. 1 (1937). Alexandre TANSMAN: Cinq pièces pour violon et petit orchestre (1930). Michał SPISAK: Andante and Allegro for Violin and String Orchestra (1954). Andrzej PANUFNIK: Violin Concerto (1971). Piotr Plawner (vln), Kammersymphonie Berlin, Jürgen Bruns (cond.). Naxos 8.573496 (1 CD) (http://www.naxos.com/).

75% of Polish music is neo-Classical? Bacewicz and Tansman are more animated than dark Spisak or Panufnik. Excellent sound and vitality. YES.

“Works for Violin and Piano (1969-1983).” Charles WUORINEN: The Blue Bamboula (1980)¹; Six Pieces (1977)²; Spinoff (1983)³; The Long and the Short (1969)⁴; Fantasia (1974)⁵. Benjamin Hudson^2,3,4,5 (vln), Garrick Ohlsson^1,2,5 (pno), Donald Palma³ (cbs), Joseph Passaro³ (conga drums). Bridge Records BCD 9008 (1 CD) (http://www.bridgerecords.com/).

Wuorinen has not worn evenly. Persist past the Bamboula (piano) to the spikier, resonant Long and the Short (violin) and duo Fantasia. MAYBE.

J.S. BACH: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (1741). Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 (1819-23). Frederic RZEWSKI: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (1975). Igor Levit (pno). Sony Classical 88875060962 (3 CDs) (http://www.sonyclassical.com/).

Absent charm and memorability, Levit pushes his way through three great variation sets. Listening singly, they become begrudging chores. NO.

Michael TIPPETT: String Quartet No. 1 (1934-35; rev. 1943); String Quartet No. 2 (1941-42); String Quartet No. 3 (1945-46); String Quartet No. 4 (1977-78); String Quartet No. 5 (1990-91). Heath Quartet: Oliver Heath, Cerys Jones (vln), Gary Pomeroy (vla), Christopher Murray (vlc). Wigmore Hall Live WHLive0080/2 (2 CDs) (http://wigmore-hall.org.uk/).

A varied span of work, nicely achieved via risky, live performances. However, the accolades perplex for this fair but not great music. MAYBE.

“The Unknown Sibelius.” Jean SIBELIUS: Var. comps. Var. perfs. BIS 2065 (1 CD) (http://www.bis.se/).

Charming songs, gloomy strings, orchestral scraps, and premiere piano bits to convince neophyte or fan of Sibelius’ inconsistent genius. YES.