Lara Downes
Exiles' Cafe; Lara Downes, Piano; Steinway & Sons 30016 (2013)
The
first recording of the pianist Lara Downes was 13
WAYS of Looking at the Goldberg: Bach Reimagined;
Tritone Records (2011). It was at once a solo piano recording and a
collaborative project, with an impressive roster of prominent
composers volunteering their own variations on the
Goldberg Variations of J. S. Bach.
On
Exiles'
Cafe, Lara
Downes is a meta-composer of sorts. She has collected 21 tracks of
miniatures by composers who are mostly major figures in classical
music. Often the pieces have been overlooked in the classical
repertoire. The pianist provides this introduction:
“THIS
ALBUM'S INSPIRATION – and title track - is American composer Michael
Sahl's 'Tango from the Exiles' Cafe,' which I heard years ago and
which captured my imagination. I began to fantasize about this cafe
as a place both real and metaphorical, a place where individuals
gather from all over the world to find a home away from home.”
“The
music
collected here reflects that transformative passage of what is left
behind and what is discovered ahead. The miniatures speak to
vanished worlds and altered lives, to the fragility of destiny and
the possibilities of new beginnings: postcards from the Exiles Cafe.”
The
pianist's mastery of the role of meta-composer manifests itself
immediately. Brief and obscure fragments of music from unrelated
periods and places are artfully assembled into an uninterrupted
musical narrative.
Béla
Bartók: Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District, BB 45/b.
Sz. 35a: No.
1. Rubato (1:17); No. 2. L'istesso tempo (1:05); 3. Poco vivo (0:50)
Lara
Downes tells us Bartok fled Hungary in 1940 because it was occupied
by the Nazis. She concludes: “In exile in New York, Bartók's
grief over the fate of his country was never healed...”
Frédérick
Chopin: Mazurka, Op. 6, No. 1
The
liner notes tell us Chopin was only 20 when successful premieres of
two piano concertos led him to begin a tour abroad. “Just three
weeks later, the November Uprising broke out as the Poles revolted
against the rule of the Russian Empire; the insurrection spread, only
to be crushed a year later.” Chopin composed this mazurka during
the first year of his lifelong exile.
Sergei
Prokofiev: Pastoral Sonatina, Op. 59, No. 3
Prokofiev
left Russia in 1917 as the Revolution approached, the notes tell us.
He enjoyed success while living in Paris, yet returned to the Soviet
Union in 1936, a year after composing the Pastoral Sonatina.
Bohuslav
Martinu: Dumka No. 2, H. 250 (“Contemplation”), Dumka No. 3, H.
285bis
Dumka
No. 2 was written in pre-war Paris; No. 3 dates from “the first
difficult days of Martinu's exile in America.”
Stravinsky:
Tango
“In
1939 Stravinsky moved to California, where he would remain for the
rest of his life. The Tango dates from his first year in Hollywood.”
Rachmaninov:
Prelude in D minor (Op. Posth.); Fragments
These
works are among the few Rachmaninov composed in the year before he
left Russia in 1916.
Kurt
Weill: “Lost in the Stars”
“Lost
in the Stars was
Weill's last work for the stage, written in 1949, the year before he
died.”
Erich
Wolfgang Korngold: Sonata No. 2 in E major
“Korngold
was a boy of 13 when he wrote this sonata, shocking in light of the
emotional scope and power of the piece.”
William
Grant Still: Africa: II. Land of Romance
William
Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which
features a comprehensive Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de
Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com The
entry for Africa
begins:
“Africa;
suite,
for orchestra (1930). 1.
Land of peace; 2. Land of romance; 3. Land of superstition.”
The
Africa entry
goes on to explain that William Grant Still reorchestrated the
composition
in
1931, a year after its premiere. The work was withdrawn by the
composer, but it was subsequently recorded in versions for solo piano
and for orchestra.
A
symphonic version of Africa
(27:51) was recorded by the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra under John
Jeter, Conductor, on Naxos 8.559174 (2005). The liner notes by David
Ciucevich proclaim: “Africa
is one of Still's grandest achievements.” The
disc also contains William Grant Still's Symphony No. 1
(Afro-American)
and In
Memoriam (1943)
(7:22).
Lara Downes notes that authentic music of Africa was not available
to Still. She writes: “William Grant Still expressed his struggle
living in the permanent exile of the African diaspora through a
musically imagined mythical Africa, unknowable and unreachable in any
factual way...”
Paul
Bowles: Preludes for Piano
Paul Bowles writes of a
person who had lived a life of travel, in The Sheltering Sky:
“Indeed, he would have found it
difficult to tell, among the many places he had lived, precisely
where it was he had felt most at home.” Lara Downes performs four
of the Preludes, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6.
Michael
Sahl: “Tango from the Exiles' Cafe”
Lara
Downes writes above that this music furnishes both the inspiration
and the title track of her recording.
Darius
Milhaud: Romance, Op. 78, No. 2
“This
Romance was written in 1922 during Milhaud's first visit to America.
Enthralled by the improvisatory freedom he found in Harlem's dance
halls, he found a new independence in his own music, a personal voice
that deepened over the next decade...”
Frédéric
Chopin: Mazurka, Op. 68, No. 4
“This
Mazurka would be Chopin's last composition, written just months
before his death.”
Mohammed
Fairouz: Piano Miniature No. 6, “Addio”
“Fairouz's series of
piano miniatures is subtitled 'Addio.' I include it here in tribute
to all the farewells that are said, in all the journeys of exile.”
This
recording is a keeper, with a permanent place in our music player.
Bartok's opening pieces, Three
Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District, welcome
the listener with a tinkling cheerfulness. The weighty burden of the
exiled composers notwithstanding, the recording as a whole provides
an exotic and rewarding musical experience.
Disclosure:
A
review copy of this recording was provided by the record label.
Comments by email:
Thank you so much, Bill! I'm very glad you enjoyed the disc - my thanks for such a thoughtful and comprehensive review. All the best, L [Lara Downes]
Comments by email:
Thank you so much, Bill! I'm very glad you enjoyed the disc - my thanks for such a thoughtful and comprehensive review. All the best, L [Lara Downes]
Posted on the Collaborative Piano Blog Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/collaborativepiano Chris [Dr. Chris Foley]
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