REVIEWS: CD
and Performance: "If you like memorable melodies, accessible
harmonies with a touch of hot dissonance, this CD is for you. Almost
all neo-romantic in scope, the pieces complement each other while retaining
their own flavors and style...Nanette Kaplan Solomon presents each piece
with nuance and indefatigable attention to detail coupled with a bravura
technique that leaves the listener breathless...The recorded sound is
very good, and the piano has a clear and warm sound...Highly recommended."
Women of Note Quarterly. * "Nanette Solomon
performs with the bravura, the lush tone, the variety of colors and
the musical understanding the works demand." Judith Radell, IAWM
Journal (International Alliance for Women in Music). *
Schonthal: "A highly communicative and expressive voice
writing exquisite music." The New Haven Register.
* "The ear is titillated with gorgeous melodies, slightly
askew harmonies, and the mind is challenged to recognize the composers
[to whom 'homage' is paid]... A delightful piece, and a great opener
for this CD." Women of Note Quarterly. *
"Schonthal writes preludes that are concise, effective and, occasionally,
startling." IAWM Journal * "Silver
speaks a musical language of her own, one rich in sonority, lyrical
intensity and poetic feeling." The Chicago Tribune.
* "A haunting piece, Fantasy Quasi Theme and Variation
encourages many hearings." Women of Note Quarterly.
* "lush and lyrical Fantasy" IAWM
Journal * Thome: "Opening with
a Brahmsian theme, the variations pay tribute to the various styles
of Haydn, Schumann, Debussy, Carter, and Copland. Thome etches tender,
fiery, and brilliant variations, while the finale is filled with drama
and flourish. This is a piece that audiences will embrace." Women
of Note Quarterly. * "Thome's quotations are cleverly integrated
into the variations, so that the recognizable phrases of Copland and
Carter are woven into the larger tapestry of Thome's design." IAWM
Journal * de Kenessey: "[There]
are two gorgeous melodies, completely satisfying and completely memorable;
I had them both in my head for days after." The
Music Connoisseur. * "Stefania de Kenessey's Sunburst,
the title piece of the CD, is a pianistic, glamorous work." IAWM
Journal * Adelberg Rudow: "[The
first piece of the set] is a programmatic and impressionistic piece
that soars on gossamer wings of lightness and illumination. A captivating
piece on the first hearing, it is carefully structured, and the atmospheric
and melodic changes complement each other. Calm and reflective, [the
second] creates a different mood, one of acceptance and finality. [There
are] beautiful melodies reminiscent of Brahms with the lush fullness
of post-romantic symphonists." Women of Note
Quarterly. * "Writing in a style that draws on Impressionist
and Romantic traditions, [Rudow] considers herself a 'sound portrait
painter'." IAWM Journal. * Goolkasian
Rahbee: "The first of Three Preludes, Op. 68, (1994),
abounds in fourths, either linearly or stacked into harmonies. Motives
alternate between stark and lyrical forging a rich harmonic tapestry.
More gentle in nature, the second Prelude is calm in mood with searching
and restless chord progressions. Returning to the gregarious mood of
the first Prelude, the last Prelude is compelling with its ostinatos,
arpeggios, and well- placed dissonances." Women
of Note Quarterly. * "Hers is a compositional style in which
neoclassicism and new romanticism meet, along with an ethnic flavor
[Armenian]." Piano & Keyboard. *
"Rahbee's preludes employ a quartile harmonic language and are
written in a powerful style reminiscent of Prokofiev." IAWM
Journal. * Diemer: "She utilizes the entire range of the
keyboard, introduces spicy rhythmic ostinatos and motives, incorporates
unusual technical twists, and merges all these elements into a wholly
satisfying musical unit. Women of Note Quarterly.
* "Emma Lou Diemer's Fantasy
is a free, Romantic work from a composer whose piano music is often
characterized by a driving rhythms and the structured development of
tiny motives… this is perhaps her most pianistic work." IAWM
Journal.
RECORDING: Recorded by Marnie
Hall at Swope Recital Hall, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock,
Pennsylvania, September, 1996. Post Production:
Marnie Hall. DDD. Support: This recording
is made possible with public funds from The New York State Council on
the Arts, a state agency. Additional funding was provided by a major
grant from The Slippery Rock Foundation, Inc. Music
Publishers: Schonthal: Furore Verlag, Kassel, Germany.
Fax +49/561/83472. Silver: Magna Music Baton. Thome:
c/o Thome, University of Washington, phone 206-543-1201. de Kenessey:
Seesaw Music Corp., phone 1-212-874-1200 (New York City). Adelberg
Rudow: Hollins & Park Music, phone 410-889-3939 (Maryland).
Goolkasian Rahbee: Phone 617-489-1848 (Boston area). Diemer:
Colla Voce (Indianapolis, IN 46208) phone 317-823-5805. Cover
Art: "Sun God" (Navaho) © David Paladin, 1968.
The inspiration for "Sun God" was the southwestern Indian
belief that Kokopeli, by playing his flute, helps the sun to rise each
day. Graphic Design: Marnie Hall. ©
Leonarda Productions, Inc., 1998. All rights reserved.
