JAVS Fall 2005

ance, wi cl1 attractive melodic writing for boili insuurnents. Roy Harris' Soliloquy and Dance proves cl1e more interesting of the rwo American works for viola and piano on cl1e disc. Minor intonation smudges aside, Cortese plays throughout wicl1 a dear and focused sound and a great deal of rhycl1mic energy and personal flair. 1one quality in ilie upper register occasionally soLmds pressed but cl1e overall recording quali ty is natural and wel l balanced. Herwig Coryn and .Artanios Roc prove admirable partners. This is a disc well worili owning for ilie Litcle heard repertoire and dynamic viola and cello duos.

CD featu re Mack and Bonaz.zi per forming works of Monteverdi and Britten and the Chanson Madecasses of Ravel , for which they are joined by T imothy Day, flute and Stephen Kates, cello. T he Brahms Songs arc inspired works and always worth hea ring in any setting. Here Gestille Sehnsucht is offered in a somewhat ponderous rendition. Karen Tuttle plays with a throaty and intimate qua lity bur mezzo-soprano Elaine Bonaz.zi's voice sounds too present and overly dramatic. In Geisdiches Wiegenlied Bonazzi again sounds as if she is performing grand opera rather than chamber music, bur Ti.mle and pianist Ellen Mack offer sensitive accompaniment. Some of d1e fault may lie in the microphone placement as Bonazzi seems at times to overpower the recording levels. T his CD is valuable for Karen Tuttle's sensitive performance, a small part of a legacy from an artist who taught and inAuenced generations ofviolists.

er Easley Blackwood . Blackwood, a longtime faculty member at cl1e University ofChicago, also performs on this disc with Chicago Symphony principal violist Charles Pikler. Following almost a decade in the CSO's first violin section, Pikler was appoinrecl to the post of princi pal viola in 1986. poser's own admission, this is a "di sr incrly conservative" work and is by turns remin iscent of Bartok and Prokofieff But me work cer tainly cannot merely be termed derivative; Easley's wri ting is idiomatic for both instruments and he displays a marvelous gift fo r melody. This is a subst;uuial addi tion to the viola repertoire as a con temporary but compl etely accessi ble work of considerable virtuosity. In complete contrast is Easley's Pirst Viola Sonata, Op. 1 of 1953. This is an austere, atonal work inAuenced by Easley's stud ies wiili O livier Messiaen and the work of Alban Berg. Here too, Easley's mong melodic command is evi denr though in a different idiom. T he piano writing is spectacular and recalls Berg's Piano Sonata. This is

TheArt of Elaine Bonazzi, mezzo-soprano

Johannes BrahmsTwo Songs, Op. 91

With Ellen Mack, piano, Karen Tuttle, viola, Timothy Day, Aute, and Stephen Kates, cello

Bridge Records 2005 Bridge 9176

Easley Blackwood Chamber Music

This album pays rribure to mezzo soprano Elaine Bonazz.i, who had a long and successful career in opera and oratorio and as a recitalist. The previously unreleased material on thi s disc comes from 1985 when Bonazzi was teaching at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Karen Tuttle was also on d1e facul ty at ilie time and d1e tracks of primary in terest for vio lists feature Turtle, Bonazzi, and pianist Ellen Mack performing the Two Songs, Op. 9 1 ofJohannes Brahms. O ther offerings on the

Viola sonatas O p. 1 (1 953), Op 43 (200 I )

Easley Blackwood, piano Charles Pikler, violi n and viola Gary Srucka, cello

Cedi lle Records 2005 CDR 90000 08 1

T his elise spans almost 50 years of works by eminent Chicago compos

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