Complete Violin|Viola and Piano Works [Limited Edition]

Morton Feldman (Composer), Christina Fong (Performer), Paul Hersey (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Christina Fong, Paul Hersey
• Composer: Morton Feldman
• Audio CD (January 1, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: OgreOgress productions
• ASIN: B000A5F5EG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,887 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Classical > Chamber Music > Duets

Editorial Reviews

Review

Looking for a reference to Feldman's [Composition] for violin (1984) - which doesn't appear in the work list for The New Grove entry on the composer - I found by accident a review of this release. I don't normally make a habit of reading other people's reviews of recordings that I am reviewing, but one phrase caught my eye before I could turn away: 'Although not exactly ambient sounds, much of his music is so eminently listenable you can play it and work at the same time without (a) having it distract you, and (b) missing much through random attention lapeses.'

I feel just the opposite. I can't do anything while I'm listening to Feldman's music. It commands my attention through its persistence and its opacity. In spite of its great beauty and the relative simplicity of its musical gestures, I rarely find the experience an easy one. This has to do, I think, with his abnegation of recognizable musical time spans, which he manages to do even as he uses recognizable and eerily familiar musical ideas and gestures. The music defies explanation just as surely as it commands attention, so the thought of evaluating a recording of it against others of the same repertoire seems almost hopeless.

Before attempting that, let me say that this new release includes an early sonata for violin and piano from 1945 not present on its chief competitor, the complete violin and piano music collection on Mode 82 with Marc Sabat and Stephen Clarke as well as the poignant (and uncharacteristically brief) For Aaron Copland (1981) for solo violin. The other compositions are the Piece (1950), Projection 4 and Extensions 1 (both 1951), Vertical Thoughts 2 (1963), The Viola in My Life 3 (1970), Spring of Chosroes (1977), and For John Cage (1982).

Christina Fong plays with an understated authority and a surprising variety of articulations and timbres. I especially like her straight-forward and yet elegiac performance of the Copland piece; she responds very well to the open, simple sonorities in the work that so unexpectedly and uncannily evoke Copland's own music. Paul Hersey matches her artistry in every detail; in fact, he gives me the rare experience of a pianist who sounds more like another soloist rather than an inspired but secondary accompanist.

The recording quality is spacious and richly textured - this is by far the best OgreOgress recording I have ever heard. In fact, it makes a more compelling case for the music than the Mode release. Sabat and Clarke perform very well, too. Their more expansive For John Cage (80 minutes versus Fong's and Hersey's modest 66) contains a lot of unexpected rhythmic hesitation that makes a great case for the music. (The effect is hard to describe; it's not anything even remotely like rubato, but something more coy and elusive.) Unfortunately Mode offers the works in a dry, close-up-and-personal acoustic that stresses Feldman's asceticism but neglects his sensual, even erotic qualities. Here, perhaps, is an element that might make it possible to distinguish between different but just as expert Feldman performance: sheer sonic allure. With the benefit of the added repertoire, OgreOgress's release is superior on every count. Press materials mention that this is the first in a series of complete violin and viola works by well-known composers. I can't wait to hear the ones to come. --Rob Haskins, American Record Guide, September/October, 2006

Product Description

Ninth in a series with previously unreleased works by well-known composers, this 128-minute 2CD set features the world premiere recordings of Morton Feldman's 1945 Sonata and 1984 Composition and is first to encompass the works for violin|viola and piano.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fine, and even more thorough, survey of Feldman's string works, March 22, 2006

By 

Sparky P. "jsparkyp" (composer, all around nice guy, yada yada yada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Violin|Viola and Piano Works (Audio CD)

In this collection, Christina Fong and Paul Hersey perform not only the "official" (that is, published) works for violin and piano, but also add the only official work for viola and piano, and three unpublished works, the scores courtesy of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Switzerland. I will not dwell upon the official works (I previously talked about those in my review of the Sabat/Clarke collection on Mode), but rather on the other compositions. The violin sonata was written in 1945 when Feldman was 19 years old, and while it does not show yet his penchant for quiet surroundings, it does present Feldman at his most Bartókian, with fast octaves in the piano part and spiky harmonies between the two players. "The Viola in My Life 3" is the third in a four part series of works (five, if you include "Rothko Chapel", which was written at the same time) focusing the lovely and dark tones of the viola. This set was composed in 1971 and marked a new departure for Feldman. Previously were his compositions seen as quiet attackless works for ensembles with very subtle differences in timbre. Now he started writing more melodically (almost meoldy and accompaniment; "big Puccini-like melodies!"), but never losing feeling for his own kind of harmony. The first two VaIML for viola and small ensemble (almost the so-called "Pierrot Ensemble"), the fourth is for viola and orchestra (the first of 1970's "concerti"). VaIML3 is reduced to viola and piano and is a gorgeous miniature for the two instruments. Then there are the two very short works for solo violin. The four minute "For Aaron Copland" was written in 1981 and was intended for a short film about the elder composer. The piece has only single notes with rests in between, with the pitch material being the "white notes" of the scale (you really cannot say it is in C Major or A minor, but it has a pure modal sound nevertheless) and, compared to his works written until his 1987 death, no repeat marks were used. Whether it was a coincidence or a harbinger of things to come, it reminded me later of the modality that would be heard in the antepenultimate pages of "For Philip Guston". On the other hand, there is the untitled composition for solo violin that is quite dissonant and in which every measure bears repeat marks. This was supposedly written for Paul Zukovsky, with the idea of writing something for unadorned violin, but was most likely abandoned in favor of "Violin and String Quartet". Again the economy of Feldman comes through as there are only a specific number of material that is constantly reordered.

Overall the performances are very good and the recording quality is excellent. There is moment of pure coincidence when the violin's last note of "Projection 4" (written in graphic notation) happens to be its very first note of "Extensions 1" (written in standard notation). But this just confirms John Cage's assertion even more: Feldman's music does not change, but continue.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, March 1, 2006

By 

R. Lenz (Reno NV 89506) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Violin|Viola and Piano Works (Audio CD)

I bought this CD because I am a violinist and had wanted to hear more of Morton Feldman's work. These two musicians did a great job of "selling" this music to me with their performances. I would have liked liner notes that discussed the pieces in greater detail. Great recording!