Recordings: Kernis’ quartets get their due; Cuban music’s subtler side is revealed; old-time Puccini is unearthed, and more.
The coloristic and expressive possibilities of a string quartet and a single clarinet are deftly, distinctly explored in works written within this decade by five prominent American composers.
John Corigliano’s “Soliloquy,” an adaptation of the second movement of his earlier Concerto for Clarinet, is heartfelt. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Quintet makes crystalline and haunting points throughout its five movements. Joan Tower’s layered “Turning Points” for Clarinet Quintet relies on architectural strength and dance energy.
Bright Sheng’s three-movement Concertino finds jazz impulses in delicate or busy Chinese landscapes. Bruce Adolphe’s three-part “At the still point, there the dance is” meditates deeply upon T.S. Eliot’s image of the axis of the turning world.
The works are played joyously by clarinetist David Shifrin, violinists Ida Kavafian and Ani Kavafian, violist Paul Neubauer and cellist Fred Sherry. Excellent sound.
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