“ANY RESEMBLANCE IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL: CHARLES DODGE.”...

“ANY RESEMBLANCE IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL: CHARLES DODGE.” Enrico Caruso, tenor; Alan Feinberg, piano; Joan La Barbara, soprano; Baird Dodge, viola. New Albion Records NA 043 CD. The title track on this collection reveals Dodge’s mordant wit as well as his technical expertise in matching a 1907 recording of Caruso singing “Vesti la giubba” with Feinberg’s bold pianism, and then warping both electronically. The seminal, synthesized “Speech Songs” retain their spare magic, making “The Waves,” worked around La Barbara’s rich vocal resources, sound indulgent and unfocused in comparison. Baird Dodge provides plangent, expansive lyricism for the “Viola Elegy,” a deft electro-acoustic tribute to Morton Feldman.