William Bolcom (b. 1938)
The Complete Cabaret Songs
Stephanie Acraman (soprano)
Liam Wooding (piano)
rec. 2022, Gallagher Theatre, Waikato University, New Zealand
Sung texts enclosed
Reviewed as download from press preview
Rattle RAT-D140 [60]

William Bolcom has a long list of compositions to his credit, including four operas, ten symphonies, numerous concertos, solo piano music, and song cycles. As a pianist, he has also championed ragtime composers and together with his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris, he has launched popular songs from around the turn of the 20th century. His aim is to erase the boundaries between popular music and art music. Since the 1960s, he has collaborated with lyricist Arnold Weinstein. This culminated in the four volumes of Cabaret Songs, which have been frequently performed and recorded, not least by Bolcom and Joan Morris. They set them down in the 1970s, together with another five songs under the collective title “Ancient Cabaret”. That is still available as download, and must be regarded as the benchmark, but many others have recorded bits and pieces. A great favourite of mine is Measha Brueggergosman’s debut recording from 2007, titled Surprise! (review) – but she sings the songs with orchestral accompaniments. I have several others singing the original piano version, including Lisa Delan and Malena Ernman, and good they are in their respective ways. Ms Delan has been hailed for her versatility and special affection for contemporary music, while Ernman sings anything from baroque to present day music and also has been top of the chart in her native Sweden. New Zealand born Stephanie Acraman began her performing career as a dancer and now shares her time as a classical soprano and jazz singer. I would say that on this disc she is more of the jazz singer in phrasing and expression but with the beauty of the trained soprano. She often employs the portamento technique of the former and creates the hard-to-describe blues feeling or a teasing seductiveness. She also mixes singing and phrases effortlessly. Her handling of the text and the music is typically “all-inclusive”.

Bolcom’s music is very varied, with influences from various directions. One model is, no doubt, Kurt Weill, but there are echoes from popular genres from the previous century, ragtime, jitterbug, Erik Satie, blues and ,of course, jazz. A motley mix but the end product is distinctly Bolcomian. He is a superb tunesmith, writing easy-to-digest melodies, while the accompaniments are often spiced with daring harmonies. As a matter of fact, the piano part often plays its own role as commentator or counterpoint to the vocal line. The first song, symbolically titled “Over the Piano”, is overloaded with dissonances that may repel some listeners at first hearing – but please persevere; the dissonances are the sparks of life that inspire us to go on listening, to explore sorrows and causes for rejoicing. Arnold Weinstein’s lyrics are also of great importance in these songs, but I leave it to the listeners to analyse them in depth.

I listened through all twenty-four songs one night when I couldn’t sleep, and was overwhelmed. Still, I think, that isn’t the best way of savouring them; one volume at a time is a healthier proposition. I am not going to comment on each and every song, even though all of them are little masterpieces, but I’ll mention the good handful which I marked with four exclamation marks in my notes as suitable starters for those who want to sample them. In chronological order, they are: the beautiful “Waitin’” (track 4), which I immediately reprised; the strutting, half-spoken “Song of Black Max” (track 5); the mischievous “Amor” (track 6) with blues-feeling; the jazz waltz “Oh, Close the Curtain” (track 11); “George” (track 12); the bluesy “At the Last Lousy Moments of Love” (track 22) and the slow ballad “Blue” (track 24) which concludes this fascinating and life-enhancing series of songs. At the moment I am deeply in love with Stephanie Acraman’s personal interpretation of the songs, and just as much with Liam Wooding’s superb pianism. Most of all, it is the music of William Bolcom, belonging in the borderland between classical modernism and popular idioms, that lingers in my memory.

Göran Forsling

Availability: Bandcamp

Contents
VOLUME ONE
01 No. 1. Over the Piano 2:55
02 No. 2. Fur (Murray the Furrier) 2:40
03 No. 3. He Tipped the Waiter 3:19
04 No. 4. Waitin’ 2:02
05 No. 5. Song of Black Max 3:24
06 No. 6. Amor 3:28
VOLUME TWO
07 No. 1. Places to Live 2:20
08 No. 2. Toothbrush Time 3:11
09 No. 3. Surprise! 0:58
10 No. 4. The Actor 1:57
11 No. 5. Oh, Close the Curtain 3:58
12 No. 6. George 3:40
VOLUME THREE
13 No. 1. The Total Stranger in the Garden 2:10
14 No. 2. Love in the Thirties 3:38
15 No. 3. Thius King of Orf 0:13
16 No. 4. Miracle Song 3:04
17 No. 5. Satisfaction 0:54
18 No. 6. Radical Sally 4:12
VOLUME FOUR
19 No. 1. Angels Are the Highest Form of Virtue 1:22
20 No. 2. Poet Pal of Mine 2:15
21 No. 3. Can’t Sleep 1:17
22 No. 4. At the Last Lousy Moments of Love 2:25
23 No. 5. Lady Luck 0:53
24 No. 6. Blue 3:45