Kleemation & other
works
"a fine and varied showcase for Vercoe's considerable gifts" (Audiophile Audition)
...this CD is a must." (Samuel Jay Keyser)
"...Kleemation & Other Works is outstanding in every respect, an artistic masterwork..."
(IAWM Journal)
CONTENTS: Six imaginative chamber works written for combinations of piano trio, flute, voice, and percussion
"highly abstract yet accessible" (WRUV Reviews)
Kleemation for
flute and piano is in five short movements based
on five drawings by Paul Klee
titled:
Goodbye to You, Please!,
Afraid on the Beach, More Will Be Marching Soon, and Woman Sowing
Weeds. The music was written on commission and the performers are the superb
flutist Peter H. Bloom and pianist Mary Jane Rupert who have
performed the piece on tours in the U.S., Thailand, Australia,
and
New Zealand.
Sample track: Goodbye to You  mp3
"an imaginative, intense fantasy" (Clavier)
Fantasy for piano is
a dramatic, free-flowing piece for piano in six contrasting sections.
The piece was premiered at New England Conservatory and has been
performed at the St. Petersburg Spring Music Festival
in Russia, the Athena Festival in Kentucky, and has been broadcast
on French Radio.The pianist is Rosemary Platt, formerly head of the piano department at Ohio State and long-time faculty on mainland China.
Sample
track: mp3
"hugely funny, elegant" (The Post-Standard, Ithaca)
Irreveries
from Sappho is
a wickedly satiric piece for voice and piano, described
by William Bolcom as "fresh and fun," that is full of
musical jokes and parodies. It is in three movements: Andromeda
Rag, Older Woman Blues, and
Boogie
for
Leda. The
songs were recorded by noted mezzo Sharon Mabry and pianist Rosemary
Platt who have performed and broadcast the music around the world.
Sample
track: Andromeda Rag mp3
"Their musings on love...are deftly mirrored in Vercoe's concise and atmospheric settings" (Gardner Read)
"The Boston Musica Viva's rendition of Herstory II is exquisite" (Samuel Jay Keyser)
Herstory II:
13 Japanese Lyrics for
soprano, piano and percussion is the second in a series of
highly dramatic song cycles by Elizabeth Vercoe described
by the Boston Globe as "spare, reticent and suggestive." The
texts are by medieval Japanese women poets. The recording
is by the incomparable Boston Musica Viva with Elsa Charleston, soprano,
Randall Hodgkinson, piano,
and Dean Anderson, percussion.
Sample
track: Lady Otomo No Sakanoe mp3
"....successfully showcases the colors and techniques available to the modern flute." (Audiophile Audition)
To
Music for
solo flute is is a short, atmospheric solo for flute.
The titles of the four sections are taken from the haunting poetry
of the Russian writer, Anna Akhmatova: "my voice like a flute;" "quietly,
oh God so quietly, that it is audible is how time passes;" "music's
shadow flashed on the wall;" and "as if all the flowers
broke into words." The performer is flutist Nancy Stagnitta, a regular at the Amalfi Coast Festival and faculty member at Interlochen.
Sample
track: music's shadow flashed on the wall mp3
"Real interest lies in the dialogues and differences" (Boston Globe)
"Despite our differences #1 [is] a high-water mark of the disk" (Blogspot.com)
Despite
our differences #1 is a dramatic and fast-paced movement
for piano trio. It was written in Paris during a period
of collaboration between the composer and the Greek-American pianist,
Christine Paraschos, whose fiery musical personality became a strong
influence on the nature of the piano writing. Joining her are two members of the acclaimed Alea III ensemble: Joseph Scheer, violin, and Karen Kaderavek, cello.
Sample
track: mp3
recording session at the Shalin
Liu concert hall
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