'Between Two Worlds'

Record and Artist Details

Genre:

Orchestral

Label: Reference Recordings

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 59

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: FR754

FR754. 'Between Two Worlds'

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Overture on Jewish Themes Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Dmitri Berlinsky, Violin
Eric Nowlin, Viola
Eric Zuber, Piano
Guy Yehuda, Clarinet
Suren Bagratuni, Cello
Yvonne Lam, Violin
The Dybbuk Suite Joel Engel, Composer
Dmitri Berlinsky, Violin
Eric Nowlin, Viola
Eric Zuber, Piano
Guy Yehuda, Clarinet
Jon Weber, Percussion
Kevin Brown, Double bass
Suren Bagratuni, Cello
Yvonne Lam, Violin
Quintet, for Clarinet and String Quartet Paul Ben Haim, Composer
Dmitri Berlinsky, Violin
Eric Nowlin, Viola
Guy Yehuda, Clarinet
Suren Bagratuni, Cello
Yvonne Lam, Violin

As his extensive discography makes plain, clarinettist Guy Yehuda is always on the lookout to place Jewish-related music and Jewish composers in a thoughtful while often provocative context, which is amply reinforced by the three pieces on this latest release from Reference.

Least familiar here is Russian-born Joel Engel (1868-1927), whose key role in disseminating Jewish musical culture found its most potent manifestation in music for S Ansky’s 1914 play The Dybbuk. The present suite mainly comprises a sequence of dances, the most substantial being the ‘Beggar’s Dance’, with its pungent harmony and impulsive rhythmic profile keenly emphasised by percussion, even if the jaunty ‘Wedding March’, chillingly ominous ‘The Veiling of the Bride’ and darkly eloquent ‘Hassidic Melody’ feel no less arresting. These are framed by the thematically related introduction and conclusion of ‘For What Reason?’, whose sustained emotional intensity is in keeping with the essentially tragic nature of this narrative. Idiomatic as was the earlier Pittsburgh version, this new account is now the preferred option.

Although his sizeable output is increasingly appreciated, Paul Ben-Haim remains best known for his Clarinet Quintet (1941), its three movements amounting to a formally cohesive while expressive diverse unity. These musicians capture the volatility of its unpredictable opening movement then the agile and angular repartee of its Capriccio – though, in the cumulative anguish and ultimate resignation of its Tema con variazioni, it is the ARC Ensemble (on a wide-ranging selection of chamber music) who get closest to the equivocal heart of the matter.

A highly characterful take on Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes (1919), its juxtaposing irony with pathos being more vividly conveyed if less acutely integrated formally than that by Ensemble Contraste, leads off a programme that can be warmly recommended – not least for Yehuda’s informative annotations and Shoshannah Brombacher’s evocative illustrations.

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