John Rutter: Dancing Tree; Charles Villiers Stanford: The Blue Bird; Charles Forsberg: Buttercup Days; Debussy: Trois Chansons; Britten: Hymn to St. Cecilia; Jake Runestad: Cello Songs. St. Charles Singers conducted by Jeff Hunt. Navona. $18.
Ástor Piazzolla: Arrangements for Mezzo-Soprano. Daniela Mack, mezzo-soprano; JP Jofre Quintet (Eric Silberger, violin; Amy Kang, cello; Pablo Cafici, piano; Chris Johnson, double bass; JP Jofre, bandoneón). Pentatone. $20.99.
Voices are as identifiable in their own way as fingerprints are in theirs. And modern vocal music often comes across as being as much “by” the performers as it is “by” the composers. Thus, the three works on a new Navona CD that were commissioned by the St. Charles Singers and are performed by them emerge as collaborative compositions: the chorus is not so much realizing each composer’s aural vision as participating in that vision and becoming a part of it. The works receiving this treatment are Dancing Tree by John Rutter (born 1945), Buttercup Days by Charles Forsberg (born 1942), and Cello Songs by Jake Runestad (born 1986). Rutter’s work sets eight poems by Charles Causley (1917-2003) for chorus and harp (Erin Freund). Moderately paced, warmly harmonious and gently expressive, the poems give the chorus plenty of chances to show how capable it is in conveying emotion while paying close attention to rhythm and pacing. Forsberg’s piece is the opening movement of a six-piece set for choir, piano (Stephen Uhl) and double bass (Joe Policastro), originally intended to be sung by a soprano. The words are by A.A. Milne from his Winnie-the-Pooh works. The single movement heard here is pleasant enough but is quite short and never fully establishes a mood or sense of place. Runestad’s work, with words by Todd Boss (born 1968), has four seasonal movements – starting with summer and ending with spring – and is for chorus, cello (Jean Hatmaker), and piano (Uhl). It includes some effective instrumental tone-painting that is often more engaging than the vocal material, which gets rather short shrift except in the longest movement, which is devoted to winter – but even there the emotive quality of the instruments exceeds that of the singers. These contemporary works are intermingled on the CD with three earlier ones. Stanford’s The Blue Bird sets a poem by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge in near-worshipful tones even though the titular topic is entirely secular. Debussy’s Trois Chansons, to texts by Charles d’Orléans, are quite short (each less than two minutes) and on three different topics: love, springtime and winter. Impressionism and extended harmonic development are the notable characteristics here, and the chorus and soloists manage the sometimes challenging rhythmic elements skillfully while delivering the texts with suitable expressiveness. And Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia, with words by W.H. Auden, gets its due as a paean to the patron saint of music and a personal expression by the composer, who was born on St. Cecilia’s Day. This is the most challenging work for singers on the CD, and the chorus under Jeff Hunt handles it with considerable skill, with the third and last, lyrical section coming across with particular warmth and a sense of personal involvement. Vocal music, particularly modern vocal music, is not to all tastes, and with classical music in general now considered a “niche,” vocal works like the ones here are a kind of niche-within-a-niche. And in truth, the specific pieces do not all fit well together (the Stanford and Debussy do not mix very well with the commissioned works, although the Britten is worth hearing anytime); also, more of the Forsberg would have been better. It is the high quality of the singing that is most attractive here, and the way the chorus audibly participates in the creation of the soundworlds of Rutter, Forsberg and Runestad. This is a disc for singers as much as for listeners – indeed, perhaps more so.
The focus is both collaborative and Argentinian on a Pentatone CD featuring mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack and arranger JP Jofre, both of whom deeply respect as well as enjoy the tango-focused artistry of Ástor Piazzolla (1921-1992). Drawing on the geographical as well as musical roots they share with Piazzolla, Mack and Jofre produce focused, very personal, highly idiomatic performances of Piazzolla works with words by a variety of lyricists, most notably Piazzolla’s frequent collaborator, Horacio Ferrer. All the elements of nuevo tango are much in evidence here, along with a sultry underpinning in Mack’s voice that connects the music more directly than usual with its dance-hall origins. Jofre’s arrangements are respectful of both the jazz and classical elements with which Piazzolla imbued the tango form, and the bandoneón-focused quintet that Jofre leads accompanies Mack with consistent skill and stylish flair, but without taking the spotlight off her voice. The cabaret style of Yo Soy María, from Piazzolla’s tango opera María de Buenos Aires, is a high point here, contrasting effectively with the plaintive Poema Valseado. The more-extended instrumental introductions to some numbers, such as Chiquilin de Bachin, extend the interpersonal elements of the recital, as does the inclusion at the end of a work by Jofre himself: Dulces Sueños, a sweet and tender lullaby sung by Mack with delicacy and, sometimes, in a near-whisper. Although everything here is handled with considerable sensitivity and understanding, some of it innate, this is a CD for a very, very limited audience – a kind of niche-within-a-niche-within-a-niche. It is Argentinian through and through, and Piazzolla-focused almost from start to finish (Jofre’s work takes up five of the disc’s 49 minutes). There is a great deal here to attract audiences predisposed to enjoy the material – just listening to Mack’s super-quick spoken material at the start of Balada Para un Loco is a treat, the sensuality of Las Paraguas de Buenos Aires stands out, and the sensitivity of Jacinto Chiclana, the milonga written by Jorge Luis Borges, is pervaded by a sense of quiet dignity both vocally and in the spare accompaniment. Audiences interested in a deep dive into the world of Piazzolla and the Argentine experience and national character will find Mack and Jofre to be exemplary guides. Yes, the reach of the CD is limited through its very strong, narrow focus; but those to whom it speaks meaningfully, those whom it guides to a specific geographical location and specific composer, will find it an auditory journey that is very much worth taking.
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