AUTOUR
DE MESSIAEN
Gilles Tremblay, Michele
Reverdy,
Tristan Murail & Qigang Chen
Jean-Michel
Fonteneau cello & Mack McCray piano
Seyoung
Lee & Beatrice Kohlloeffel violins
Ryan
Mooney viola Corry Rankin cello
Ensemble Parallèle
San Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble
NICOLE
PAIEMENT
$14.95 ~ MS1151
"Recording
quality and performance standards are high throughout this disc...Listeners
interested in contemporary music are recommended to sample the works by reverdy
and Chen in particular...it is refreshing to hear that none [of the composers
featured] has merely aped [Messiaen's] style."
Fanfare - July / August 2007
"Clarity,
both in texture and intent, is...one of the predominant elements that unites all
four works, from the opening of Reverdy's Concerto pour Orchestre, whose
delicate volume level and crisp performance by the San Francisco New Music
Ensemble often belies the music's inner density...Aided here by some splendid
performances, these composers elegantly raise their diverse source material into
a different realm [from Messiaen's] entirely."
Gramophone - Awards Issue 2006
"[Reverdy's
Concerto for Orchestra] is delightful...excellent performances directed by
Nicole Paiement..."
Turok's Choice - October 2006
"...
the one thing
each composer has in common is a carefully refined approach, idiomatically
sympathetic to the instruments and with only occasional forays into the ‘avant-garde’...One
of the most memorable and substantial works on this disc is Michèle Reverdy’s
Concerto pour Orchestre. Beginning and ending quietly with flute solos,
the piece is constructed around the idea of "[giving] everyone a
voice", and indeed there is some delightfully contrapuntal wind writing,
percussion both delicately colourful and punchily rhythmic, chamber-like
strings: this is surely highly rewarding music to perform, let alone to
experience as an audience. Ideas and sequences are presented, developing and
weaving into textures of ever-increasing complexity. Rhythmic ostinato takes
over in a central section around which variations build to a climax which is a
little like an accelerated moment from ‘Oiseaux exotiques’. This climax
could well be the end of the piece, but there are another ten minutes in which
another organic movement is allowed to grow out of some gorgeous low percussion
sounds and extended bass clarinet and bass flute conversations. The piece is
somehow dark without being at all gloomy, and I found it a fascinating musical
journey...
Tristan
Murail is a name some will have seen as Ondes Martinot player in many
works by his teacher, Olivier Messiaen... Attracteurs étranges is a work
for cello solo which explores the instruments range through... fractal patterns
to which Murail applies poetical analogy to create an interesting... study....
Instants
d'un opéra de Pékin is a piano solo written for the Messiaen Contest in
Paris in 2000. Chen uses famous instrumental extracts from the Beijing Opera...
After a mystic opening, a more openly rhythmic character introduces a ‘theme
and variations.’ The resulting virtuoso elements turn up some fun, if rather
eclectic moments, superbly performed by multiple-prizewinning pianist Mick
McCray.
This
is an interesting collection of pieces, showing how many and varied are some of
the voices which have emerged from the Parisian ferment which orbited one of the
greatest names of 20th century music... All of the performances have been
carefully prepared and professionally performed, and anyone interested in
exploring some new and engaging repertoire will find much to enjoy in this
recording."
MusicWeb
International, August 2006
"[Reverdy's
Concerto for Orchestra] is fun to hear...[Qigang Chen's work] is an attractive
event...All in all... an interesting and well-performed excursion into the world
of new music"
American Record Guide - September/October 2006
*
* *
Conductor
Nicole Paiement has
been the Artistic Director of Ensemble Parallèle since 1993. With this
professional ensemble, Paiement has recorded and performed many world
premières. She is also the the Artistic Director of the BluePrint Project - a
concert series which is dedicated to building New Music in the San Francisco Bay
area. Since 1999, Paiement has also been the Artistic Director of the San
Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble. Under her baton, the Ensemble has
quickly gained recognition in the Bay Area as a dynamic New Music ensemble
promoting, recording and commissioning works of living composers. Paiement is
the Director of Ensembles at the University of California Santa Cruz where she
conducts the orchestra, chamber singers and the full opera productions. Paiement
is an active guest conductor, with recent engagements that include the
conducting of a world première opera in Seoul, Korea. Other recent guest-conducting engagements
include the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic orchestra, Seoul Contemporary Opera Company,
Ensemble Kochi of Japan, Monterey Jazz
Festival Orchestra, Minneapolis Chamber Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony and San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players.
Founded
in 1968, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s New
Music Ensemble is
dedicated to the performance of late 20th century works and new works
of the 21st century. The
Ensemble has commissioned and premiered many new pieces by prominent American
composers.
Ensemble
Parallèle focuses on the performance and
recording of lesser-known works of the 20th century and the music of
today. In its repertoire selection, the Ensemble attempts to bridge the gap
between the recent past and the present, providing audiences with historical
insight that helps them appreciate the musical language of today, which is at
the root of the Ensemble’s mandate. As suggested by its name, the Ensemble
focuses on collaborations with other art forms that increase the accessibility
to and visibility of contemporary music. Since its formation, the Ensemble has presented many world and American premières and has commissioned
several composers of various countries.
