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Danielpour remembers his roots
Dolce Suono plays Danielpour's trio
Tom Purdom
Richard Danielpour's new Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano reminded me of one my favorite 20th Century works, Shostakovich's Second Piano Trio. It delivers the same intense, emotional impact as the Shostakovich, and it combines that impact with the musical inventiveness and moments of sheer beauty that characterize Shostakovich's best works.
Danielpour's opening movement captures you with the same kind of rhythmic wildness that Shostakovich built into many of his scherzos. His later movements include moving, beautiful passages like the two cello solos Yumi Kendall played with notable flair in the premiere performance at the latest Dolce Suono concert.
The big difference between the Shostakovich trio and the Danielpour is Danielpour's openly stated political subject. If you know anything about Shostakovich's life, you know that many of his strongest pieces reflect the tensions of Soviet life under Stalin's tyranny. But there are no direct references to specific events in the labels Shostakovich applied to his Second Piano Trio. Concert programs list it as Trio No. 2 for violin, cello, and piano, and its movements bear standard markings like andante and largo.
Danielpour's trio, on the other hand, is titled Remembering Neda— a direct reference to the death of Neda Agha-Soltan who was shot during the 2009 demonstrations in Teheran. The three movements are labeled Lamentation, Desecration and Benediction.
Iranian blood
As the composer explained in his remarks before the premiere, Remembering Neda is powered by deeply personal feelings. Danielpour's parents immigrated to America from Iran before he was born, and he spent part of his childhood in their native country. This is the first time he has woven his Iranian heritage into his music.
The specific titles attached to the movements work against the trio, to some extent. The first movement didn't sound like a lament to me, effective as it was. The trio is so successful as pure music that the composer could have let it stand on its own, without any guide beyond the overall title, and let his listeners find their own responses. It would succeed if you listened to it merely as a piece that keeps presenting you with interesting new musical effects.
Danielpour works with Middle Eastern rhythms in some sections. In others, he makes good use of contemporary touches, like a sequence in which the pianist plucks the strings of the piano by hand and creates some of the timbre of the harpsichord.
The flute part, played by Mimi Stillman, included passages for the alto flute as well as the standard flute— another contemporary touch that Danielpour uses effectively. In the cello solos, little flute accents added just the right garnish at the right moment, even though they were so subtle that you could hardly hear them.
Slave mother's choice
The trio created a grand climax for a second half that began with Randall Scarlata singing four baritone arias from Margaret Garner, Danielpour's opera based on the true story of an escaped slave who killed her children so they wouldn't be returned to slavery. Musically, the arias fall into the territory that lies somewhere between Broadway and La Scala. But their subject coats them with a power that lifts them into a realm of their own.
The four arias made a fitting companion for the Ravel Chansons Madecasses featured in the first half. The opening and closing movements in Ravel's beautiful song cycle portray a languorous island life, but the middle movement erupts into violence with the coming of the whites and their eventual repulse.
This is the first time I've heard the Chansons Madecasses sung by a male vocalist, even though the text is written from a first-person male viewpoint. Randall Scarlata gave the second movement a fiercer treatment than his female colleagues, but he also captured moments like the quiet evening contentment of the ending.
Chansons Madecasses is one of the great chamber works of the 20th century— a masterpiece of vocal writing and instrumental melody that tells a story and paints scenes. Danielpour's trio entered the world in good company, and proved it could survive the comparison.
Danielpour's opening movement captures you with the same kind of rhythmic wildness that Shostakovich built into many of his scherzos. His later movements include moving, beautiful passages like the two cello solos Yumi Kendall played with notable flair in the premiere performance at the latest Dolce Suono concert.
The big difference between the Shostakovich trio and the Danielpour is Danielpour's openly stated political subject. If you know anything about Shostakovich's life, you know that many of his strongest pieces reflect the tensions of Soviet life under Stalin's tyranny. But there are no direct references to specific events in the labels Shostakovich applied to his Second Piano Trio. Concert programs list it as Trio No. 2 for violin, cello, and piano, and its movements bear standard markings like andante and largo.
Danielpour's trio, on the other hand, is titled Remembering Neda— a direct reference to the death of Neda Agha-Soltan who was shot during the 2009 demonstrations in Teheran. The three movements are labeled Lamentation, Desecration and Benediction.
Iranian blood
As the composer explained in his remarks before the premiere, Remembering Neda is powered by deeply personal feelings. Danielpour's parents immigrated to America from Iran before he was born, and he spent part of his childhood in their native country. This is the first time he has woven his Iranian heritage into his music.
The specific titles attached to the movements work against the trio, to some extent. The first movement didn't sound like a lament to me, effective as it was. The trio is so successful as pure music that the composer could have let it stand on its own, without any guide beyond the overall title, and let his listeners find their own responses. It would succeed if you listened to it merely as a piece that keeps presenting you with interesting new musical effects.
Danielpour works with Middle Eastern rhythms in some sections. In others, he makes good use of contemporary touches, like a sequence in which the pianist plucks the strings of the piano by hand and creates some of the timbre of the harpsichord.
The flute part, played by Mimi Stillman, included passages for the alto flute as well as the standard flute— another contemporary touch that Danielpour uses effectively. In the cello solos, little flute accents added just the right garnish at the right moment, even though they were so subtle that you could hardly hear them.
Slave mother's choice
The trio created a grand climax for a second half that began with Randall Scarlata singing four baritone arias from Margaret Garner, Danielpour's opera based on the true story of an escaped slave who killed her children so they wouldn't be returned to slavery. Musically, the arias fall into the territory that lies somewhere between Broadway and La Scala. But their subject coats them with a power that lifts them into a realm of their own.
The four arias made a fitting companion for the Ravel Chansons Madecasses featured in the first half. The opening and closing movements in Ravel's beautiful song cycle portray a languorous island life, but the middle movement erupts into violence with the coming of the whites and their eventual repulse.
This is the first time I've heard the Chansons Madecasses sung by a male vocalist, even though the text is written from a first-person male viewpoint. Randall Scarlata gave the second movement a fiercer treatment than his female colleagues, but he also captured moments like the quiet evening contentment of the ending.
Chansons Madecasses is one of the great chamber works of the 20th century— a masterpiece of vocal writing and instrumental melody that tells a story and paints scenes. Danielpour's trio entered the world in good company, and proved it could survive the comparison.
What, When, Where
Dolce Suono: Gaubert, Three Watercolors; Ravel, Chansons Madecasses, La flute enchantée; Danielpour, Four Baritone Arias from Margaret Garner, and Remembering Neda: Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano. Mimi Stillman, flute; Yumi Kendall, cello; Charles Abramovic, piano; Randall Scarlata, baritone. October 22, 2010 at Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22nd and Spruce Sts. www.dolcesuono.com.
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