WUORINEN: VIOLIN SONATA; THIRD STRING QUARTET; “FAST...

WUORINEN: VIOLIN SONATA; THIRD STRING QUARTET; “FAST FANTASY.” Benjamin Hudson, Carol Zeavin, violins;, Lois Matin, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; Garrick Ohlsson, Charles Wuorinen, pianos. New World NW 385-2 (compact disc). With the assistance of a determined cluster of musicians, Wuorinen reminds us that he hasn’t compromised his complex, angular, cerebral idiom one iota lately. Not surprisingly, it is rough going all the way in the ever-shifting tempos of the sonata--and after an aggressive preamble, the Third Quartet drifts on an inward lyrical impulse that runs out of steam well before the piece ends. Beware of the misleading liner notes, which actually assert that the earnestly acerbic “Fast Fantasy” is a work of charm.