This release on the
Bright Shiny Things
label by pianist
Elizabeth Newkirk
comes with a lengthy set of reflections on Americanism, both in musical terms and in general. Whether three works could do justice to the various themes
Newkirk
raises is questionable, especially when one of the three works included,
Ravel
's
La valse
, is not American at all. It's true, as
notes, that
, like many other French creative figures, came under the influence of
Edgar Allan Poe
and that the mood of
has been likened to that of the final scenes of
Poe
's story The Masque of the Red Death, but there are other
works, notably the
Violin Sonata No. 2
with its direct jazz and blues influences, that would have been more apposite and made for a more coherent program. This said, there's a lot to enjoy here. The
single-piano transcription of
and the
Gershwin
piano version of
An American in Paris
are finger-breakers, the
especially, but
handles them confidently. Best of all, perhaps, is
William Grant Still
Africa
, composed in 1930 for chamber orchestra and once again arranged by the composer for piano. This work was quite widely played at one time but has fallen into disuse for a variety of reasons, including the rediscovery of other African American composers and a certain attitude characteristic of its time and exemplified in the last movement's title, "Land of Superstition." Set this aside and listen, though; the movement is a distinctly African American take on
Stravinsky
's language of
Les Noces
and other "primitivist" works (nobody is uncomfortable with this when
does it), and it makes an infectious finale.
has certainly not stuck to the straight and narrow on this, her debut solo album, and that's all to the good. ~ James Manheim