In many ways, this album is a wonderful testament to the old saying, that music knows no boundaries. Composers and performers from different parts of the world assemble for a fun musical adventure, heading for old and new worlds.
One of Oliver Messiaen’s last students, composer Qigang Chen shares his teacher’s panache for seductive orchestration, but also absorbs additional musical elements missing from the great French composer. This is especially evident in the newly composed Violin Concerto, titled “The Joy of Suffering”, with star violinist Maxim Vengerov as soloist. This ten-movement piece has echos of twentieth-century giants such as Stravinsky, Barber and, perhaps, some Shostakovich, combined with some Hollywoodian soundtrack elements, blues, jazz and traditional Chinese. Amazingly, not only does this concerto melts these together, it manages to be truly original. It is well written for the violin, with Vengerov sounds like having fun (Joy?) with the role, and the orchestral accompaniment is expertly done.
Chen’s “Five Elements” which opens the album is a more serious piece, with water, wood, fire, earth and metal depicted in superb orchestration technique, giving instrumentation on par with masters such as Ravel and, yes, Messiaen. It’s a short piece, with each of the five movements last no more than two minutes, but surely many listeners will want to re-listen many times. It’s a fascinating work that keeps revealing itself with each listening.
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After an awkwardly placed (though superbly executed) Kreisler piece, arranged for violin and orchestra by Clark McAlister, we get a rendition of Rachmaninov’s dramatic “Symphonic Dances”. It’s a fine account; Assured, muscular and dramatic, with stable control of rhythm and ensemble uniformity, showing the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra as an impressive group. The recording engineering plays a central role in this performance, with a dynamic range and transparency which rarely (if ever) heard in this dance cycle. As it happens, the first dance includes a motif which can be found in the second “element” (wood) from Chen’s opening piece, coincidently or not.
Others may want a more flexible or sentimental account of the Rachmaninov, in which case Mikhail Pletnev (DG) or Evgeny Svetlanov’s performances will do the trick, or an overall balanced account by Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra as a good alternative. The lovely booklet contains an interesting article by Gramophone Magazine’s James Jolly, an added bonus to a Highly enjoyable album.
“Gateways”
Chen – “The Five Elements”, “The Joy of Suffering” (Violin Concerto)
Kreisler/McAlister – Tambourin chinois op. 3
Rachmaninov – Symphonic Dances op. 45
Maxim Vengerov – Violin
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
Long Yu – Conductor
Deutsche Grammophon, CD 0289 483 6606 4
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