United
Pacific Quintet – Aliya Vodovozova (flute), Fernando José Martinez Zavala (oboe), Liana Lessmann (clarinet), Kenichi Furuya (bassoon), Haeree Yoo (horn)
rec. 2022 and 2023, Teldex Studio, Berlin
Fuga Libera FUG827 [62]
If you’re interested in multicultural music – I mean the real thing, not the commercial fake – how about this? A quintet made up of a Ukrainian-Turkish flautist, a Honduran oboist, a German clarinettist, a Japanese bassoonist and a South Korean horn player! ‘United’ indeed; they play superbly together, and are clearly highly talented as individuals. Their choice of music for this CD reflects that diversity too, not only of nationality but of style and character.
Of the six composers represented, only two were known to me previously – Hanns Eisler and Leonard Bernstein. There is information online about all of them easily available, though in three cases, their dates have proved impossible to pin down. My apologies, then, for that omission – messages have been sent!
Fazil Say is a Turkish composer, and his title Alevi dedeler rakı masasında translates roughly, I am told, as ‘Grandfathers sit round the table drinking raki’. A lively and sometimes disputatious discussion is the outcome, which Say has described in his four varied movements. At the outset, we hear a mysterious unharmonised melody, which recurs between the different sections. Say shows an exceptional understanding of the qualities of the five instruments, and the ways they can be contrasted and – more challengingly – combined. A brilliant and engaging piece.
Jorge Santos’ Vida – ‘Life’- is a sequence of seven short movements, titled respectively ‘The awakening of the senses’, ‘curiosity’,’ imagination’, ‘puppets’, ‘wandering’, ‘the search’ and ‘fulfilment’. Quite a challenge to outline the progress of an entire human life in just under ten minutes….. Well, putting that on one side, this is a lively little piece, which eventually resolves itself into virtuoso cadenzas for the clarinet and then bassoon, before the rhythmical final section, which has something of La Cucaracha about it.
Much more straightforward and unassuming is Kyousei Yamamoto’s Medley of Japanese Folk-songs, short and sweet, and effectively if unadventurously arranged. Hanns Eisler’s Divertimento is an early piece, that dates from his years in Vienna, during which time he received composition lessons, uncharged, from Arnold Schönberg. The piece is in two movements; a short, clownish Andante con moto leading to a Theme and Variations on an angular melody started by the clarinet. It’s not in the least bit difficult or surprising to see the influence of his teacher; after all, Schönberg’s own Wind Quintet was written at very much the same time (and is one of the first works in which his 12-note system is put to full use). What is more interesting is how strongly Eisler’s own personality and wit comes through. He also uses what must have been an unfamiliar instrumental combination with great intelligence and imagination.
There’s a first for everything (pretty well), and I have to confess that, before this CD arrived, I had yet to hear a piece of concert music influenced by South Korean pop! But here it is, Soeui Lee’s Three Bagatelles, and it’s quite something. The booklet notes describe its ‘soundscapes of dazzling complexity’, which is especially true of the final Bagatelle, Mask Dance in Carnival, which apparently depicts a wild night out in the party district of Seoul known as Gangnam-gu. Great fun – count me in!
Incidentally, Lee’s first bagatelle is titled ‘When Nilliri Band Comes in Marching’, which appears to be a reference to a number played by the Wangjaesan Light Music Band – a North Korean group. How much music do we hear that emanates from that inaccessible land?
The playing on these tracks and the others is nothing short of spectacularly good. These are five brilliantly gifted young musicians, each of whom brings something very special to the quintet; but they also play together with sensitivity and flawless ensemble. They met together first in 2017 at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. That festival was originally founded by Leonard Bernstein, which makes it understandable that they finish the disc with a short suite of numbers from West Side Story. The only trouble is that the arrangements are, unfortunately, not terribly good, and do ‘lower the tone’; somewhat from the dizzy heights of most of the previous tracks. But no serious harm done – this is still an outstanding issue, and congratulations are due to all involved.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
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Contents:
Fazil Say (b. 1970)
Alevi dedeler rakı masasında, Op 35 (2011)
Jorge Santos (?)
Vida (2023)
Kyousei Yamamoto (?)
Medley of Japanese Folk Songs (1999)
Hanns Eisler (1898-1962)
Divertimento for woodwind quintet, Op 4 (1923)
Soueui Lee (?)
Three Bagatelles (2023)
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
West Side Story (1989) (arr. Richard Price)
