BERG: Chamber Concerto; BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto 4; Peter Serkin, p; Pina Carmirelli, v; Harvard Chamber Orchestra, Marlboro Festival Players/ Leon Kirchner—Verdant World 4—71 minutes. Review by Ralph P. Locke/American Record Guide:
The multitalented and long-lived Leon Kirchner (1919-2009) was, at various times, a solo pianist (with the New York Philharmonic), a beloved teacher at Mills College and Harvard, a frequent participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, a respected composer (Pulitzer Prize 1967), and an inspiring conductor. Here are two recordings made in concert of major masterworks, with Kirchner conducting and Peter Serkin as piano soloist. The recordings have been brought together through the efforts of Lisa Kirchner, the composer's daughter, who is also a noted singer-songwriter. (See Jack Sullivan's appreciative review of one of her own CDs, "Something to Sing About” Nov/Dec 2011.) Lisa K. has also put together a major book about her father (see Book Reviews in this issue).
The Beethoven is full of fresh details and interpretive decisions, including shifts in tempo. Peter Serkin is not always perfectly in control of certain quick passages, though he's breathtakingly at ease in others. (We have become spoiled by the consistency of studio recordings.) His reading of II, ably assisted by Kirchner and his freelance players from the Boston area, is immensely poetic, taken a bit slowly. One can almost hear Kirchner and Serkin thinking, measure by measure. And the finale really cooks, with marvelously delicate playing and subtle use of the right pedal by the pianist.
For the Berg Chamber Concerto, the two Americans are joined by the renowned Italian violinist Pina Carmirelli, renowned as Concertmistress of I Musici and as founder of the Boccherini Quintet and the Carmirelli Quartet. The chamber group accompanying them is itself a constellation of masters, including flutist Paula Robison and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. A violist is erroneously listed; Berg's orchestra here consists entirely of wind and brass, with one player per part. The work, carefully structured by Berg according to numerical and traditionally musical principles—remains a challenge to the ear even today. It uses some 12-tone principles but is not strictly serial. The performance is marvelously secure, the sound vividly captured. I enjoyed the work more than in any recording I've encountered before.
There are excellent, informative notes by musicologist Robert Riggs, whose acclaimed biography of Kirchner is available from University of Rochester Press. The three movements of the Berg are played without pause, as indicated by the composer. Still, I'd have liked separate track numbers to help me navigate. The recording can be purchased at verdantworldrecords.com or by phoning 917-338-6057. - Ralph P. Locke/American Record Guide
The multitalented and long-lived Leon Kirchner (1919-2009) was, at various times, a solo pianist (with the New York Philharmonic), a beloved teacher at Mills College and Harvard, a frequent participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, a respected composer (Pulitzer Prize 1967), and an inspiring conductor. Here are two recordings made in concert of major masterworks, with Kirchner conducting and Peter Serkin as piano soloist. The recordings have been brought together through the efforts of Lisa Kirchner, the composer's daughter, who is also a noted singer-songwriter. (See Jack Sullivan's appreciative review of one of her own CDs, "Something to Sing About” Nov/Dec 2011.) Lisa K. has also put together a major book about her father (see Book Reviews in this issue).
The Beethoven is full of fresh details and interpretive decisions, including shifts in tempo. Peter Serkin is not always perfectly in control of certain quick passages, though he's breathtakingly at ease in others. (We have become spoiled by the consistency of studio recordings.) His reading of II, ably assisted by Kirchner and his freelance players from the Boston area, is immensely poetic, taken a bit slowly. One can almost hear Kirchner and Serkin thinking, measure by measure. And the finale really cooks, with marvelously delicate playing and subtle use of the right pedal by the pianist.
For the Berg Chamber Concerto, the two Americans are joined by the renowned Italian violinist Pina Carmirelli, renowned as Concertmistress of I Musici and as founder of the Boccherini Quintet and the Carmirelli Quartet. The chamber group accompanying them is itself a constellation of masters, including flutist Paula Robison and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. A violist is erroneously listed; Berg's orchestra here consists entirely of wind and brass, with one player per part. The work, carefully structured by Berg according to numerical and traditionally musical principles—remains a challenge to the ear even today. It uses some 12-tone principles but is not strictly serial. The performance is marvelously secure, the sound vividly captured. I enjoyed the work more than in any recording I've encountered before.
There are excellent, informative notes by musicologist Robert Riggs, whose acclaimed biography of Kirchner is available from University of Rochester Press. The three movements of the Berg are played without pause, as indicated by the composer. Still, I'd have liked separate track numbers to help me navigate. The recording can be purchased at verdantworldrecords.com or by phoning 917-338-6057. - Ralph P. Locke/American Record Guide
