Vol. 6
Bridge, 2023
8/10
A listen that celebrates the German-born American composer and teacher Ursula Mamlok’s 100th birthday, the new recordings present were made in Berlin and New York City, and bring in some excellent help.
“Polarities” gets the listen off to a lively start, where Upama Muckensturm’s agile flute and Clemens Linder’s firm violin complements Holger Groschopp’s exploratory keys, and “Music For Clarinet, Cello And Percussion” follows with Ruben Staub’s moody clarinet suiting the adventurous percussive sounds from Haris Dzanic and Moisés Santos Bueno.
Halfway through, Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs bring their piano playing to the calm versus busy ideas of “Mosaics”, while “Terzianum”, the best track, pairs Kolja Lessing’s violin with Kasper Zehnder’s flute for the uniquely dreamy, expressive climate.
Landing near to the end, “Music For Stony Brook” is particularly striking, and benefits much from Adele Bitter’s elegant cello, and “For Seven” exits with a cinematic presence of intrigue that makes great use of Bertold Stecher’s well timed trumpet and Christine Felsch’s strategic double bass.
Although Mamlok passed away in 2016, her influence is still very much present today, and the colorful, tonally focused songs here are culled from more than a half century of her career and handled with much care.
Travels well with: William Bland- Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2; Yoojung Kim- Scriabin Recital