Aria
Navona, 2023
8/10
The second album of chamber sounds from the inestimable composer Michael Cohen, the duo, trio, quartet and a larger ensemble lands here and are both studio and live recordings.
The dreamy “Aria for Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harp” starts the listen with Jennifer Gunn’s flute, Alex Klein’s oboe, Claudio Jaffe’s cello and Rita Costanzi’s harp interacting with much flowing beauty in the light and cautious landscape, and “Fantasy No. 2” follows with violins from Marti Sweet and Katherine LiVolsi and cello courtesy of Fred Zlotkin, as well as Juliet Haffner’s viola, Karen Griffen’s flute, Blair Tindall’s oboe, Charles Yassky’s clarinet and Ethan Bauch’s bassoon for the rich, fluid song craft.
In the middle, “2 Songs on Texts of Edna St. Vincent Millay” pairs Amy Burton’s stunning soprano and J.J. Penna’s intimate piano for much grace and beauty, while “Canção Pequena” is even more absorbing thanks to Rita Costanzi’s harp and Klein’s oboe, which emit gentle, dreamy textures.
The last track, “Monday Morning”, enlists the Trio Casals, i.e. Alexandr Kislitsyn (violin), Ovidiu Marinescu (cello) and Anna Kislitsyna (piano), whose dynamic interaction places the dancing keys amid frisky strings.
A confident collection of sounds with much character, the wide array of instruments and tonality sure do make an impression, where each selection is equally as great as the one before it.
Travels well with: Randy Bauer- dis/entanglements; Kenneth Thompkins- Compelling Portraits