ENDNOTES, 16th May 2016
Interview with Royal Philharmonic Society Award-winner, Clare Hammond on “German & French Recorder Concertos”
Having just described the music of Kenneth Hesketh, I hope that we will not be overburdening our readers with another modern recommendation – this time, a collection of German and French recorder concertos (three world premiere recordings, no less) given by Michala Petri – a soloist, perhaps, better known for baroque performances – supported by the superb Odense Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Poppen. The CD comes from OUR Recordings (distributed by Naxos). The three concertos are by Gunter Kochan (1930-2009), Markus Zahnhausen and Fabrice Bollon (both born, 1965) – Bollon’s genre-crossing, rock-group Genesis-inspired concerto standing out in particular, due to his view that “contemporary art music is a lost cause” and his use of the orchestra as…
“… an imaginary band, thereby expanding Genesis’s typical palette of artful fairy-tale, childish fascination and cartoonish fantasy: an orchestra without woowinds or horns, without violins or violas, but with three trumpets, three trombones, marimba, vibraphone, drum set, harp, cellos and double-basses, joined by a very dominant keyboard. The keyboard and the recorders are the only amplified instruments, and the keyboard is employed with the colours typical of its genre to conjure effectively the authentic Genesis sound: Chorus, E-Piano, Rock Organ, Old Pianino…”
Recorded at the Carl Nielsen Hall, Odense, Denmark last year, the quality of the engineering is superb: listen in particular for the extraordinary capturing of such details as side-drum taps, and the “bright light” of the solo instrument, the recorder – which emerges as a dynamic instrument with much range and potential in 21st-century new music; much more of a presence than just a charming, antique sound from the world of the Brandenburg Concertos. (OUR Recordings, cat. no. 6.220614.)