Fantasia & Other Pieces
Albany, 2022
8/10
Listen to Fantasia & Other Pieces
The composer Allen Shawn is well versed in symphonies, concertos, works for large ensemble, choral, vocal, chamber music and solo piano, and here plenty of exceptional musicians illuminate his work in a chamber setting.
“Fantasia For Cello” starts the listen with Maxine Neuman’s graceful and expressive cello emitting much beauty and even haunting moments, and “Aria-Caprice” follows with Holger Michalski’s double bass and Julia Bartha’s keys interacting with a very moody quality that pays close attention to timbre and tone.
On the back half, Jim Stubbs (trumpet) and Laurie Stubbs (bassoon) come together for the 4 movements of “Summer Suite”, where a rich intimacy unfolds with a very reflective climate, and “In Memory Of” exits with Jo-Ann Sternberg (clarinet), Sheila Reinhold (violin), Maxine Neuman (cello) and Genevieve Feiwen Lee (piano) making for a melancholic and dense album highlight that thematically surrounds the death of Shawn’s mother.
A very well thought out affair that often recruits instruments across the lower register, both blues and jazz sounds are present in spades here, and the melodic, dreamy and even ominous stabs sure to keep the listener enthralled from beginning to end.
Travels well with: Allen Shawn- Improvisation Diary 2020; Victoria Bond- Blue And Green Music