Reviews by Paul Cookthat appeared in Andante.com:

TITLE: Philip Glass: Piano Works
ARTISTS: Aleck Karis, piano
LABEL: Romeo Records
CATALOG: 7204
REVIEW: Anyone familiar with the minimalist music of Philip Glass will find these works a bit too familiar and exceedingly monotonous. Perhaps this has to do with the limited range of the piano, but Glass’s rising and falling melodies create repetitions that quickly use up all their charm. Pianist Aleck Karis obviously cares for these pieces and his touch is loving, yet very confident. He is particularly good at capturing the meditative character in the five sections of Metamorphosis. Unfortunately, there’s nothing Mr. Karis can do for the music if the music itself is restricted to simple melodies repeated in predictable patterns. Even Mad Rush sounds like just another variation of Metamorphosis. The other works, Opening and Modern Love Waltz, are no different. In these works you can hear everything he Glass has written since his graduate school days. Only those who are new to Glass’s music will find this music remotely entertaining. The rest should avoid it. –Paul Cook

TITLE: John Corigliano: Phantasmagoria; Fancy on a Bach Air; Fantasia on an Ostinato; Etude Fantasy
ARTIST: Yo-Yo Ma (cello); Emanuel Ax (piano); James Tocco (piano)
LABEL: Sony
CATALOG: 60747
REVIEW: These are works by American composer John Corigliano for solo cello (Fancy on a Bach Air), solo piano (Fantasia on an Ostinato and Etude Fantasy), and a cello/piano duet (Phantasmagoria). These works are quite simple and mostly tonal, but none seem written as performance showcases for the talents involved (and the talent doesn’t get much better than Yo-Yo Ma, James Tocco and Emanuel Ax). Instead, Corigliano chooses to highlight the meditative character of each instrument in these pieces. There is no prolixity here. Fantasia on an Ostinato (Emanuel Ax on the piano) is a set of cogent variations around a series of ostinato declarations that are quite hypnotic. The Etude Fantasy, also for piano, is more brusque and assertive in the beginning, but as it moves through its five variations, the piece becomes quieter, simpler. The last work Phantasmagoria is for cello and piano. Each instrument carries its themes in virtual isolation from the other, allowing the listener to follow two different arguments at the same time. The performances are terrific, the sound focused and clean, typical for Sony. You can’t lose with this music. –Paul Cook

TITLE: Ludwig van Beethoven: Archduke and Ghost Trios
ARTIST: Jos van Immerseel (piano); Vera Beths (violin); Anner Bylsma (cello)
LABEL: Sony
CATALOG: 51353
REVIEW: This disc contains Beethoven’s two most important piano trios, the Archduke Trio (No. 6, composed in 1810-11) and the “Ghost” Trio (No. 4, composed in 1808). The Archduke Trio arose from Beethoven’s friendship with Archduke Rudolph of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne. Its delicate, unassertive nature is rare in Beethoven, outside some of the piano sonatas. The so-called “Ghost” Trio gets its name from its dour slow movement, a Largo assai e espressivo. Beethoven said it reminded him of the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Both of these works were written at Beethoven’s peak of creativity (the Archduke Trio was written just before the composer’s deafness set in). These are high-caliber performances with a carefully balanced recording ambience throughout, which is par for Sony. This ranks as one of the best recordings of these two piano trios on the market. Highly recommended. –Paul Cook

TITLE: Jean Sibelius: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor; Karl Goldmark: Concerto for Violin Concerto in A minor
ARTIST: Joshua Bell (violin); Esa-Pekka Salonen; Los Angeles Philharmonic
LABEL: Sony
CATALOG: 65949
REVIEW: These are two powerhouse violin concertos by two rather different European composers, and one, Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), was the student of the other, Karl Goldmark (1830-1915)–at least for a time. Goldmark’s musical heritage draws from Eastern European influences with traces of Wagner and Mendelssohn. Sibelius is his own creature (or he had become such by the time he got around to writing the Violin Concerto in 1905). The revelation on this disc of two stunning performances is how stridently Romantic they are. The Sibelius Violin Concerto is, by now, world-famous and is rife with soaring melodies (propelled by both orchestra and the violin); the Goldmark is filled with buoyant march-like themes and gorgeous Gypsy-like flirtations provided by the violin. The true treasures of this disc, however, are the performances themselves. Conductor Salonen, never heavy-handed with any of his music, approaches these works–but particularly the Goldmark–with a light-hearted spirit. (This has always been Salonen’s strong point. He never hammers away at anything, even if he’s supposed to hammer away at it.) But the star here is young Joshua Bell. His touch is light, swift, and accurate, so much so that he’s almost self-effacing. But he makes the Sibelius sing and the Goldmark dance. This is music so beautifully performed that, after a while, you forget you’re listening to human beings in a recording studio somewhere. This is about as pure as music can get, a joy from beginning to end. –Paul Cook

TITLE: Paul Giger: Organum; Karma Shadub; Tropus; Alleluja; O Ignis
ARTIST: Paul Giger (violin); Marius Ungureanu (viola); Beat Schneider (cello); Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
LABEL: ECM New Series
CATALOG: 1681
REVIEW: Of these highly atmospheric works for strings and choir, only one is an original composition by violinist/composer Paul Giger. The other four are based on liturgical sources from the Middle Ages, but they all have Giger’s unique interpretive stamp. They are heavily polyphonic and informed by medieval chant and plainsong. What adds to the atmospheric quality of the actual sound here is the fact that they were recorded in the Niguliste Church in Tallinn. Its spaciousness allows the sonics to flesh out the usually limited sound range of the strings. Organum, for string trio, is a fine example of this. Heavily polyphonic, the music has an almost mystical quality, but the cathedral allows the strings an extraordinary spatial volume. Karma Shadub, for choir and violin, is a Giger composition and will remind some listeners of Lygeti’s famous Lux Aeterna, with its tremulous, tintinnabular choir. However, Karma Shadub, is much more understated than the Lygeti. Tropus, which follows, is for choir and string trio, and Alleluja, after that, is for string trio only. These two works are monophonic melodies by medieval composers Tuotilo and Notker Balbulus (ca. 1000 C.E.), but the addition of the string trio brings them more into the 20th century with strange (and very unexpected) jazz riffs. (One wonders if Paul Giger is a closet jazz violinist the way Jean-Luc Ponty is a closet classical violinist.) Finally, O Ignis, for choir and string trio, is a long, beautiful lament (with funky Schnittke-like elements sprinkled here and there), based on a very famous hymn by Hildegard Von Bingen. It’s very, very spooky. All of which is to say that this is very captivating music that should appeal to a wide array of listeners. Fans of medieval music will like this; fans of late-20th century polyphony will like it as well. Very highly recommended. –Paul Cook

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