Cello Concertos by BRUNO MANTOVANI & GILBERT AMY; PHILIPPE SCHOELLER: “The Eyes of the Wind” Concerto – Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello/ Radio Symphony Saarbrucken/ Gunther Herbig, conductor/ Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra/ Alexander Briger, conductor/ Paris Orchestra/ Gilbert Amy, conductor – Harmonia mundi 901973, 68:56 ***:
This type of music can prove so frustrating. These are all new or relatively new compositions for cello and orchestras of varying sizes, major works each, but I am afraid that they fall into the category of the “new elitism”. This class designation, solely my own by the way, attempts to give refuge to those composers, who for some reason, have chosen to ignore the decisive and overwhelmingly general classical music public’s negative vote to any extension of the avantgarde tradition that revved up in the thirties. Believe me, I am not an anti-atonalist, or in any way someone who doesn’t give esoteric music at least a fair shake. I love much of the music of the Second Viennese School, some of the early sound experimentation of Penderecki, all of George Crumb, much Cage and early Stockhausen, much Boulez, etc. But in those works I have found shreds of genius that transcend even the music forms and traditions chosen. But even among these composers I think they succeed almost in spite of themselves, and their work is very much part of a tradition that was inculcated in no small way because of the times they lived in; we have moved on from that, learned what we could from it, and even those who were part and parcel of it, at least many of them, later moved away from such music. The Milton Babbitt axiom of “who cares if you listen” has been taken to heart by 99.9 percent of the music loving public—they stopped listening, and in most cases, early on. Yet some few pieces have remained in the public eye, selected by history as being worthy to pass on.
But today we have a number of composers, and I suppose this would include those on this present disc, who insist on continuing out of a desire for either “self-expression” or some more nebulous categories like “sound structures” or “formal logic” to churn out music that quite frankly isn’t even going to be remembered ten years hence. I really am sorry to say it, but it does seem as if it is music being specifically created for an elitist mentality. Now classical music in general is elitist to a certain extent, though not intentionally so—it doesn’t set out to exclude people from listening to it, but would love everyone to climb aboard. The type of music on the recording in question is reaching only a miniscule proportion of classical music lovers—there is nothing exciting, attractive, and ingratiating enough for people to hear and relate to, aside from a number of mental constructs that appeal to one aspect of artistic listening alone—the purely intellectual. While this type of listening does indeed have rewards, I will posit the notion that most music lovers react on a far different level of emotion when hearing music—they want to be moved, exhilarated, brought all the way through the frustration-elation emotional curve that is so part and parcel of the human experience, focusing on the innate sense of song and melody.
While I think that both the Mantovani and Schoeller concertos here show significant expertise in the writing for the instrument, and certainly a bucket full of orchestral techniques, the concern for “a feeling of continuous flow: linear developments, catchy sections” or “the orchestra is like a shell, a resonator, or to put is simply, a ‘deformer’ of the cello sound” (Mantovani) and “the sound like light which projects its powerful waves, pure lines, sustained to the point of paroxysm” (Schoeller) are descriptions that will have little appeal for most listeners. Though even Gilbert Amy’s attempt in his work is to produce a multi-movement light form “juxtaposing acoustic states of highly contrasted ambience and density” I came away from several hearing sessions feeling more confident in what he had produced. The longest concerto here, it is also the most rewarding in terms of overall feel and interest, possibly because of the shortness and contrast of the movements which give the listener a bit of a break.
Mr. Queyras, a longtime soloist with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, is greatly influenced by Boulez and an obvious believer in this sort of music and these pieces in particular. The orchestras all play very well—indeed, astoundingly well—and the sound is terrific. This is for that .1 percent of dedicated believers in the contemporary avant-garde—all other should definitely listen before buying.
— Steven Ritter
