Kaleidoscope
Contemporary Piano Music by Female Composers From Around the World
Isabel Dobarro (piano)
rec. 2023, Estudio Uno, Madrid, Spain
Grand Piano GP944 [55]
This disc is a brilliantly inventive showcase for exciting music by contemporary women composers whose birthdates span the years 1943-1996, all of it written in the 21st century. Spanish pianist Isabel Dobarro, is driven by a commitment to playing the work of women composers, which is important as even today women still struggle to get their work heard. Proof of this is demonstrated by the fact that, unless I am very much mistaken, I am prepared to bet that there will be few listeners who will have heard of more than two or three of those composers whom Isabel Dobarro has chosen to feature on this disc, despite the fact that among them are GRAMMY, Pulitzer, Guggenheim and Latin GRAMMY award-winners. I have to admit I know of only four of them and that is not because of any lack of interest on my part.
In all likelihood it will be Dobrinka Tabakova whose name most will have come across, for the Bulgarian-British composer is prolific, has deservedly received many commissions and had her music featured at many high-profile concert series, including the Proms, on more than one occasion. She composed Nocturne in 2008. Its gently repeating series of notes from the right-hand hints at minimalism but doesn’t fall into the trap that much of that genre does by overstaying its welcome; instead, the left-hand balances things out with a deeply affecting melody that draws an emotional response from audiences who have thrilled to it throughout Europe and the US.
Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz’s Estudio 3 is as energic as Tabakova’s is the essence of calm. This piece demands stunning virtuosity that Dobarro possesses in spades and the excitement she delivers is truly memorable. The ‘Latin feel’ demanded in it is there to be heard amidst the frantic flurry of notes.
Nigerian-American Nkeiru Okoye’s Dusk is from her 2003-4 composition African Sketches and this extract certainly entices the listener to hear the full work. Okoye is the first recipient of the International Florence Price Society Award for Composition which itself honours a composer of major importance whose star is finally in the ascendant despite being little known until relatively recently.
Suad Bushnaq is from Jordan and the influence of the Arabic system of melodic modes known as ‘maqam’ is to the fore in her piece Improvisation, which itself is the essence of the system. The gentle nature of her piece is enhanced to by the pianist, who is free to add her own layers of interpretation.
Whatever our preconceived ideas about how music from certain countries is likely to sound, they are often likely to be shattered. I am willing to bet that Hana Wa Saku (Flowers Will Bloom) is a perfect example, for this simple but beautiful piece, played here in its version for piano, is nothing like what many might imagine music from Japan to sound like. Yoko Kanno’s composition appears so rooted in the ‘western tradition’ that the listener is taken by surprise by this disarmingly charming tune.
Cuban composer Tania León’s Tumbao embraces the African influence on Cuban music and, fusing it with local elements, shows what Afro-Cuban music has come to mean, namely a vibrancy that excites. As with Gabriela Ortiz’ work, there is an energising excitement from the Latin side that makes the experience an absolute joy. I see that Ortiz has been appointed Carnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair for 2024-25, taking over from Tania León who occupied the same position in 2023-24.
We reach Australia next with Blue Ocean by Carolyn Morris which brilliantly evokes the sea’s ebb and flow with gently undulating chords; the ensuing melody is as beautiful as it is affecting, with an almost filmic quality which remains long in the memory. We stay with the theme of water with another Japanese composer, Karen Tanaka, whose Water Dance III, is another evocative piece with the subtitle ‘very lightly, like a harp’; both the shallows and the depths are cleverly represented in contrasting harmonies.
Claudia Montero, who sadly died in 2021, paid a tribute to her country with Buenos Aires, Despierta y Sueña (Wake up and Dream). Four times Latin GRAMMY award winner Montero skilfully imbued this piece with a tangible nostalgia and love which Isabel Dobarro expresses perfectly. A huge contrast is brought out by Julia Wolfe (USA) whose short piece Earring has the pianist hammering single notes in the right hand while the left plays a dream-like melody. The whole may be deceptively simple but is in fact highly demanding of the pianist.
The longest piece on the disc by far is Gustave Le Gray by another American, Caroline Shaw. It is a homage to photographer Gustave Le Gray via his contemporary Fryderyk Chopin, whose Mazurka, Op.17, No.4 is at the centre of the composition, arrived at through constituent parts presented as a puzzle. Having arrived at the solution, it is then deconstructed into various elements in a thoroughly bewitching process that enthrals and fascinates by turns. This is a fiendishly clever work that needs multiple hearings to reveal itself in its entirety.
This amazing disc is concluded with Spanish composer Carme Rodriguez’s Alalá Das Paisaxes Verticais which she dedicated to Isabel Dobarro. It evokes the coast of Galicia, where both composer and pianist are from and takes as its point of departure the local melismatic solo chant (Alalá) where a single syllable or word is sung over several notes, some examples being the word Halleluia in Handel’s Messiah or the words I and you from Whitney Houston’s hit I will always love You. In Rodriguez’ piece the traditional music of Galicia is subjected to rich treatment using contrasting layers producing a wordless example of this ancient folkloric tradition.
Isabel Dobarro, is Professor at the Centro Superior Katarina Gurska, President of the European Music Centre, Visiting Professor at the London Performing Academy of Music and the recipient of various awards for rescuing works by women composers from the likely oblivion of prejudice. She is also a formidable and thrilling exponent of such works and this disc is an outstanding example of both her driving ambition to showcase women’s compositions and her riveting talent. This is a disc to savour through repeated hearings.
Steve Arloff
Previous review: Gary Higginson (December 2024)
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Contents
Dobrinka Tabakova (b.1980)
Nocturne
Gabriela Ortiz (b.1964)
Estudios Entre Preludios: Estudio 3, Homenaje a Jesusa Palancares (2007)
Nkeiru Okoye (b.1972)
African Sketches: II. Dusk (2003-04)
Suad Bushnaq (b.1982)
Improvisation (2001-02)
Yoko Kanno (b.1982)
Hana Wa Saku (2012) (version for piano 2015)
Tani León (1943)
Tumbaq (2005)
Carolyn Morris (b.1970)
Blue Ocean (2020)
Karen Tanaka (b.1961)
Water Dance: III. Very Lightly, Like a Harp (2008)
Claudia Montero (1962-2021)
Buenos Aires, Despierta y Sueña (2008)
Julia Wolfe (b.1958)
Earring (2000)
Caroline Shaw (b.1982)
Gustave le Gray (2012)
Carme Rodríguez (b.1996)
Alalá Das Paisaxes Verticais (2021)*
*First recording
