Avie 2386
Mirror, mirror on the wall, guess who released one of the most intriguing recordings of them all? Anne Akiko Meyers, of course. This boutique style CD features arrangements of works by composers of our time that contain a satisfying amount of spirituality and pathos. While Ravel is a composer for all time, the disc includes Tzigane, one of her go to pieces, and for good reason.
Every time I hear Meyers play it, it leaves the impression that the music is evolving with her – especially in this performance where luminous tone and supple fingerwork seem to morph into a rhapsodic vision of piquant ecstasy. She performs the work with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Kristjan Jarvi, Music Director of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony. What makes this account even more appetizing is the use of electronics to simulate the lutheal – of which these effects are supplied by Jakub Ciupinski. Ravel originally scored the piece for violin and piano with optional lutheal extension, a gizmo that evokes inflections of a cimbalom or harp. Kudos also to collaboration from Elizabeth Pridgen (keyboard).
All these mellow selections put you in a kind of musical trance, which is further represented in works by Glass and Part: the Metamorphosis II, Spiegel im Spiegel and Fratres. Metamorphosis II of Glass was used as a soundtrack for the film The Hours and this version by Michael Riesman unfolds like an unbroken chain of dark and brooding elliptical patterns. Part’s Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in Mirror), this CD’s namesake, also has an element of circular purity to it and seems the perfect listening remedy for a rough day at the office or other stress related issues.
Meyers pulls out rich earth tones that allow this music to take on an even more natural and resonant quality. By contrast, Part’s Fratres opens like a hyper Paganini Caprice but has a mystical quality that is integral to this composer’s musical persona. Meyers dives into this work with virtuosic flair and meditative reflection, which are integral to her musical personality.
Akira Eguchi is the sensitive accompanist-pianist in these works by Glass, Part and Corigliano - his Lullaby for Natalie, dedicated to Meyer’s first daughter. Meyers draws out a palette of honey-toned sonorities in this cradle song and in Ciupinski’s Edo Lullaby for violin and electronics, based on a Japanese folk tune, which shimmers and zings with subtle electro-ambient nuances.
Ciupinski’s Wreck of the Umbria, a work commissioned by Meyers in 2009 is another fascinating example of how this composer’s use of electronics recreates the sounds of a ship sunken in water by mimicking sonic imprints of underwater life swirling, crackling and echoing. Meyer’s incandescent sound floats above an accompaniment of orchestrated reverberations, making Ciupinski’s work seem rather visionary. But since Penderecki and Christopher Rouse were among his teachers, this composer knows how to skillfully captivate our imagination.
The aesthetic experience ends with an arrangement of Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium for violin and orchestra (played by the Philharmonia Orchestra) that was written for Meyers. This modern day masterwork reminds me of the best of the Renaissance in Josquin des Prez for its polyphonic clarity and timeless beauty.
In the booklet notes Meyers says, “For the last piece on this recording, I harassed Morten Lauridsen for quite some time. Originally hoping to have him compose a new work, he agreed to arrange one of his most famous choral compositions…” Needless to say, the atmosphere it creates is mesmerizing as is the entire recording.