Soprano Tony Arnold has appeared on several other Bridge recordings containing difficult contemporary music by composers such as Carter and Babbitt. Her performances of Ancient Voices of Children and Madrigals are the first that challenge the classic recordings by Jan DeGaetani on Nonesuch and New World. Aside from her totally fearless delivery, she presents the music with a naturalness and ease that allows us to forget all about its technical difficulty, focusing instead on pure expression. Boy soprano Justin Murray also does an excellent job in his appearances in Ancient Voices of Children, a work that has lost none of its power and freshness over the intervening decades. The instrumental accompaniments are equally distinguished and are gorgeously recorded–check out the opening of Madrigals Book IV, or the finale of Ancient Voices (on the marvelous text “My heart of silk is filled with lights”). No composer has captured the magic of Lorca’s poetry to the same degree that Crumb has in these works, and these performances do them full justice.
Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik was commissioned by pianist Emanuele Arciuli as part of his traveling road-show featuring various composers’ takes on Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight. Written for amplified piano in Crumb’s inimitable style of performance both inside and outside the instrument, its nine brief movements (lasting about 20 minutes) don’t limit themselves to Monk. “Golliwog Revisited” has some fun with Debussy, while Wagner and Richard Strauss also pop up now and again. When I heard the piece live, in the dead acoustic of Columbia University’s Miller Theater, much of its color and atmosphere was lost; but here, as played by Arciuli, it sounds marvelously jazzy and evocative. In fact, Crumb’s music is ideal for home listening, where nothing comes between the listener and the music, and where it’s much easier to give the music the quiet concentration that it requires. In sum, this is another outstanding release in Bridge’s exceptionally important ongoing complete Crumb edition. Don’t miss it! [8/5/2005]
