[SACD-R][OF] Lavinia Meijer – Philip Glass – Metamorphosis; The Hours - 2012 (Classical, Instrumental, harp)

01.Opening Piece From Glassworks 06:20
02.Metamorphosis One - Moderate 06:37
03.Metamorphosis Two - Flowing 07:39
04.Metamorphosis Three - Moderately Fast 03:22
05.Metamorphosis Four - Flowing 06:52
06.Metamorphosis Five - Moderate 05:48
07.The Hours - The Poet Acts 03:59
08.The Hours - Something She Has to Do 03:05
09.The Hours - I'm Going to Make a Cake 03:41
10.The Hours - An Unwelcome Friend 04:25
11.The Hours - Choosing Life 03:55
12.The Hours - The Hours 07:13

You can see what Philip Glass liked about the harp in his music. On one hand, it’s a close substitute for a piano, which is involved in the originals of all three of these transcriptions. The excerpts from The Hours (tracks 7-12) were transcribed from a piano version of the original Nicole Kidman film soundtrack score, and unsurprisingly Meijer said that of the three works, that one gave her the most trouble. But the harp is not equivalent to the piano in Glass’ textures. Instead, with its greater variety of sonorities and attacks, it adds a slight elaboration to Glass’ basic structures. And this is where the sound must have caught the composer’s attention: the kind of details Meijer adds to the music is the same as what Glass himself has added to his music over the years. The result is an unusually satisfying way to encounter the music of Philip Glass, even though he, unlike Arvo Pärt, has rarely been subject to transcription. Audiophiles may have their own reasons for acquiring this release; Channel Classics’ Super Audio recording (sampled here on a good conventional stereo) does an astonishingly good job in capturing the tonal subtleties of the harp.

Site review by Geohominid November 9, 2012
Phillip Glass (b. 1937), together with other American musicians such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley and La Monte Young began in the '60s to develop a new style of classical music which has diversified and become very influential. Named "minimalism" (a term which Glass dislikes), it is tonal, centred on consonant harmonies rather than dissonance, has a steady pulse or is immobile, uses repetitive melodic cells, figures or motifs which are simple in structure, and these often gradually change within or between compositions. Glass himself has become one of the most complexly diverse of minimalists, with more than 20 operas, 9 symphonies, 2 piano concertos, various other concertos, film sound tracks, string quartets, and many pieces for piano as well as organ.
Harpist Lavinia Meijer has devised her Glass programme for solo harp, making her own transcriptions from original piano or piano versions of the original instrumental scores. The programme begins appropriately with the 'Opening Piece' from Glassworks (1981), a 6-piece suite for piano and chamber group for Glassworks, Glass' debut record for CBS. This is a good introduction to the style of Glass' music. Written for the piano and thus relatively easy to transcribe for harp, It has all the features of the composer's music; repeated rhythmic cells based on arpeggios in the left hand are the basis for a chordal or octave melodic cell in the right. These melodic cells may be one-in -a-bar or form more complex rhythms with the ostinato accompaniment such as 2 against 3 or syncopation. Despite the near lack of dynamics or other forms of contrast, the result is surprisingly emotional; lyricism with grace and atmosphere. There are no standard modulations from key to key, just gradual shifts in harmony which have a similar effect, generating tension or relaxation.
'Metamorphosis' (1988-9) was composed as a personal illustration of Franz Kafka’s 1915 novel of the same name. There are 5 sections, each of which displays somewhat different combinations or blendings of the rhythmic and melodic elements arrayed in Metamorphosis I, and the developments are continuous, so that mostly the next section carries on from the end of the previous one. Although Metamorphosis is simple, it is haunting, stirring, and emotive. By blending elements of Glass' minimal ideals outlined above, an progressively changing suite develops. The harp offers a wider range of tonal colour than the original piano; for example, a bass octave 'chime' which occurs frequently in each section is darkly sumptuous and full of overtones. The octave chime, melody or arpeggio cell when played instead up in the high treble has a brilliant, gleaming tone which is exciting and beautiful. After several hearings, one can be convinced that there is an overall flow of progress in the work, with the central movement the fastest and brightest, reverting to the more solemn, darker Metamorphosis V at the end. A timeless piece which becomes more lucid and meaningful with each playing.
'The Hours' (2002) is from the score for a film which is the story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Based on Michael Cunningham's 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, the film interweaves the stories of three women - a book editor in New York, a young mother in California and author Virginia Woolf. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a transcendent moment of shared recognition. Glass' score calls for orchestra with harp, string quartet, and piano, but there is a piano reduction by Riesman & Muhly which Meijer used for her transcription - only 6 of the 11 original numbers.
Looking at the track list, you will see that each piece is headed with a typically trite Studio caption such as 'Something She Has to Do' and 'I'm Going to Make a Cake'. If you rush to listen to how music instructs us in bakery, don't bother. Minimalism is just as useless as standard classical music in depicting such things. These beautifully crafted minimalist pieces, however, can carry emotions quite well. 'Choosing Life', for example, is the loudest and most dynamic of the suite, and melodically is very passionate, with brilliant sprays of descant arpeggios in the harp's upper region and a surging melodic line in the tenor region.
Lavinia Meijer is not taxed with technical virtuosity in this programme; only in devising fingering and foot-work for key changes and accidental notes. Interpretation of the simple scoring is the trick. She ably demonstrates consummate musicianship with her warm and compelling playing of these works, sifting the beautiful melodies and presenting them for our delectation. And this despite the potentially fatiguing repetition, sparseness of notation and lack of instructions in the score. She writes in the booklet of her fascination for Glass' music and about how much she valued playing for him and discussing his work. In fact, Lavinia Meijer is such a good ambassador for the composer that this recording may captivate many listeners put off by a misunderstanding of Glass's form of minimalism. Perhaps some will be motivated to explore the Phillip Glass repertoire further.
Technically, we are graced with a gloriously realistic recording of the harp. No pedal-board noises intrude and the instrument sits, almost tangibly, just behind your speakers in an unobtrusive church acoustic. The 5.0 multichannel track gains by the extra speakers adding even more overtones from the plucked strings, so the resonances of the soundboard can be heard decaying until the player stops the strings vibrating with her hands. All this adds to the bloom and lifelike image of the harp and harpist.
A stimulating and enjoyable programme, given a truly committed performance and recorded with immaculate fidelity. What more could you want?
Copyright © 2012 John Miller and SA-CD.net

Lavinia Meijer - harp

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