Review: Michael Daugherty - Blue Electra - Meyers, Albany Symphony, Miller

This latest Naxos release, its ninth dedicated to contemporary music by Michael Daugherty, features the premiere recording of Blue Electra, a violin concerto commissioned by Anne Akiko Meyers. The concerto is in four movements, honoring “the sensational life and mysterious disappearance of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.”

Daugherty – Blue Electra

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The opening movement of the concerto, Courage, was inspired by a poem Earhart wrote before her first transatlantic flight across the Atlantic (the poem is included in the liner notes). The music’s open-hearted lyricism, reminiscent of Samual Barber, immediately drew me in, as did Meyer’s full-throated Romantic performance. Miller and his Albany players offer expert accompaniment, Meyers shaping phrases with rhapsodic freedom.

The second movement imagines Earhart feted as a “Hot Jazz” soirée” in Paris and features many passages of virtuosic difficulty which Meyers tosses off with ease. I could imagine a seedier, more rambunctious rendition, but Meyer’s richly burnished tone (at any dynamic) keeps the festivities classy.

The third movement, “From an Airplane” again reflects on another poem by Earhart in which she dreams of the time she will pilot her plane through the clouds. The music is dreamy, delicate, and passionate by turn, its mercurial mood shifts beautifully caught by these performers.

In the final movement, “Last Flight,” I thought Daughtery might write a Hollywoodesque depiction of Earhart’s disappearance, but his writing is more reticent, and therefore more affecting. The coda too, effectively suggests the unknown ending to Earhart’s life story. This is a wonderful new work, played with sensitivity and bravura by its dedicatee.

The dance symphony Last Dance at the Surf honors and remembers “the three rock ‘n’ roll legends who died in a plane crash on 2 February 1959” – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, mere hours after performing at the Surf Ballroom earlier that evening.

Written in one movement, the work begins with a five-note rhythmic groove evoking a Buddy Holly guitar riff. Different dances follow, which are then varied in a Rondo-like structure. The music could easily become episodic in lesser hands, but Miller ensures the momentum of each dance flows into the next with an organic inevitability. If at times slower dance passages brought a drop in energy, Daugherty’s kaleidoscopic orchestration kept me fully engaged from first to last.

I cannot muster much enthusiasm for the final work, To the New World. Elissa Johnston’s soprano obbligato is nicely sung, but, especially in the first movement (reflecting what the Apollo 11 astronauts may have felt during their journey), her wordless melody reminded me of Alexander Courage’s theme music for the original Star Trek series. Some may find it more enjoyable than I did.

Michael Daugherty, Anne Akiko Meyers, David Alan Miller (Image: Chris Shields)

The opening two movements begin with audio excerpts: the first is a short clip of President Kennedy’s “We explore space not because it is easy, but because it is hard” speech; the second, Neil Armstrong’s famous “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” I expected Daugherty would begin his music at the end of each quotation, somehow meshing words, and music. Instead, the music begins after a pause, which creates a disconnect for me. The second movement, built on a rhythmically translated ostinato of Armstrong’s iconic phrase, quickly grew tiresome.

The liner notes by the composer are concise and informative. Naxos’ engineering is excellent, all three performances captured live in the pleasing acoustics of the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Currently I know of no other orchestra doing more to support American music. This artistic partnership has now released over thirty recordings, mostly on the Naxos and Troy labels, of music by living American composers. Composers and audience are indeed most fortunate to have such steadfast, committed advocacy. I enjoyed the first two works and was glad to have an opportunity to hear the third.