Published on Jan 15, 1998
To the disinterested listener — or maybe even just the
uninformed — classical music is dead. They believe that while it
may still be played, it is no longer written. In fact, classical
music is still being created, though its authors might not be as
recognized as such composers as Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.
Cuban-born Andres Cardenes wanted to pay tribute to more modern
classical music composers, especially those who were from the
United States, his adopted country. The end result is
Made In The U.S.A., a collaboration between the violinist
and pianist Luz Manriquez. The pairing is a natural one, and there
are some excellent performances here – though a few do fall
flat.
Cardenes’s selections run the gambit, from the better-known
artists (Aaron Copland, Andre Previn) to the more obscure (Cecil
Burleigh, William Bolcom) to the current (David Stock). The pieces
themselves are shorter than one might expect — the average
selection only runs about three minutes, allowing the listener to
get a taste of each composer (and, in some cases, wanting
more).
The interplay between Cardenes and Manriquez is a natural one —
this is not their first album together — with the piano and violin
blending in quite well. In one sense, this is just as much
Manriquez’s album as it is Cardenes’s — one wonders if the same
magic would have been there had there been a different pianist. I
don’t think it would have been the same.
The discovery of such artists like Burleigh are welcome ones,
sounding a little more like “regular” classical music than its
modern counterpart. Burleigh’s pieces are especially complementary
to the violin-piano arrangements; pieces like “Ghost Dance”
especially highlight the interplay between the two instruments.
“Summer Idyl” is an incredible piece, allowing Cardenes’s violin to
ring out.
The one piece by Bolcom, “Graceful Ghost,” has inklings of
slower ragtime embedded in it, which brings Manriquez to the front.
(I found it funny that I heard this, seeing that the piece was
written in 1979 — not that I’m complaining.) Other artists who I
wish had been touched on a little more include Samuel Barber
(“Canzone” is a beautiful, well-chosen piece) and Frederic Knight
Logan (I liked the subdued nature of “Pale Moon”).
Surprisingly, it is the more established composers whose work
doesn’t always adjust to the arrangements. “Hoedown” from “Rodeo”
is probably Copland’s best-known piece, but the Cardenes-Manriquez
version has more of a Southern feel to it. It may be hypocritical
to say so, but this feel just doesn’t suit the piece as well; I
prefer the full orchestration’s richer sound. And while “Naava”,
one of Previn’s “Two Little Serenades”, is a powerful piece, its
predecessor, “Noah,” suffers in that it does not resolve itself
well.
In one sense, this is a hard disc to review, mainly because
Cardenes selects pieces from several different composers. When a
particular selection succeeds or fails, it is difficult to
determine if the weakness was in the performance or the composition
itself. (More often than not, I thought the weakness was on the
shoulders of the composers.)
Made In The U.S.A. is a different disc, and is one that
takes some time to get used to, but Cardenes and Manriquez are able
to win over the listener in due time. Afficionados of the violin
and piano will find much to love about the disc, while fans of
classical music will appreciate the chance to discover composers in
a genre that, according to the naysayers, shouldn’t even be
alive.