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Album Summary
Performers
Aaron Berofsky (Violin)- Penelope Fischer (Flute)
- Scott Graddy (Piccolo)
Notes & Reviews:
This recording, the first devoted entirely to the music of Paul Fetler, features Ann Arbor poet and attorney Thomas H. Blaske as narrator in the evocative Three Poems by Walt Whitman, written to commemorate the American Bicentennial in 1976. A labor of love, Fetler's Violin Concerto No. 2 mixes spry energy and elegant orchestration with expressively flowing melody into an irresistible tour de force, a perfect example of the 'progressive lyricism' that characterizes his musical style.
Notes & Reviews:Recording information: Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Reviews
Elegance and Eloquence
There is much to like in this Naxos American Classics recording featuring the music of Paul Fetler, which is the first devoted exclusively to his work. Included on this disc are his Violin Concerto No. 2, Capriccio, and Three Poems by Walt Whitman. The concerto for me is the highlight, showcasing his elegant and urgent lyricism throughout all three movements. Fetler’s melodies are full of yearning yet never sound cloying, and are wonderfully embroidered with impressionistic sound colors and accents. Moreover, Fetler maintains perfect balance between the violin and orchestral passages, never letting the latter overwhelm the former, even during the overtly dramatic and propulsive third movement. The composer’s Capriccio is much lighter in tone, marked by balletic rhythms and spirited melodies, and evokes Debussy in its shimmering atmospheres. I’m somewhat less enamored of the Three Poems by Walt Whitman. That’s no knock on Fetler’s evocative musical settings, which effectively complement the emotional and thematic tenor of Whitman’s verse (narrated by the poet Thomas H. Blaske). As much as I like Whitman’s poetry, and as much as I appreciate Fetler’s musical underscore, I’ve never warmed to the combination of spoken poetry and classical music, which to my ear comes off as a little stiff and portentous. (That kind of thing seems to work much better with jazz—Jean Shepherd’s improvised narration on Charles Mingus’ “The Clown,” for example.) All in all, however, this recording is a fine introduction to a composer long deserving of greater recognition.
Submitted on 01/20/10 by Dean Brierly
Submitted on 01/20/10 by Dean Brierly
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Works Details
Paul Fetler : Three Poems by Walt Whitman, for narrator & orchestra - Performer: Aaron Berofsky (Violin)
- Conductor: Arie Lipsky
- Running Time: 22 min. 34 sec.
- Period Time: Contemporary
- Written: 1976
Paul Fetler : Capriccio, for piccolo, flute & orchestra - Performers: Penelope Fischer (Flute); Scott Graddy (Piccolo)
- Conductor: Arie Lipsky
- Running Time: 11 min. 40 sec.
- Period Time: Contemporary
- Written: 1985
Paul Fetler : Concerto for Violin no 2 - Performer: Aaron Berofsky (Violin)
- Conductor: Arie Lipsky
- Running Time: 32 min. 24 sec.
- Period Time: Contemporary
- Written: 1980
