Clement Power, Britten Sinfonia, Mei Yi Foo - ConNotations (2017) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35: I. Allegro moderato
02. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35: II. Lento
03. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35: III. Moderato
04. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35: IV. Allegro con brio
05. Chamber Concerto: I. Thema scherzoso con variazioni, leicht beschwingt
06. Chamber Concerto: II. Adagio
07. Chamber Concerto: III. Rondo. Introdutione - Rondo ritmico
08. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: I. Introduction and Royal March of the Lion
09. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: II. Hens and Cockerels
10. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: III. Wild Asses
11. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: IV. Tortoises
12. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: V. The Elephant
13. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: VI. Kangaroos
14. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: VII. Aquarium
15. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: VIII. People with Long Ears
16. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: IX. The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods
17. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: X. Aviary
18. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: XI. Pianists
19. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: XII. Fossils
20. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: XIII. The Swan
21. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: XIV. Finale



In this recording I salute Shostakovich, Berg and Saint-Saëns for their mastery as weavers of musical codes. I succumb to playing their cryptic game; a musical game of hide-and-seek. They hide, I seek. The notations imply something else; some revealing, some deliberately misleading. By disguising himself within tunes by other creators, Shostakovich’s chameleon-like transformation tricks me as I chase him throughout his first piano concerto. Berg presents three puzzling themes in his Chamber Concerto, and hides them in a mathematical web of variations, Viennese waltzes and atonal codes. “All good things…”, he says of these themes which represent the names of himself and his close friends Schönberg and Webern. Even the purest and friendliest impersonation in Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals has a sardonic message hidden between the “long ears of the donkey”.

“The thread running through this disc, brainchild of pianist Mei Yi Foo, is that all three works are hiding something behind the notes. The idea promises more intrigue than it delivers, yet the pieces still add up to an enjoyable programme...With trumpeter Philipp Hutter and the pleasingly lean-sounding Britten Sinfonia, Foo makes light work of the Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings.” (The Guardian)

Mei Yi Foo, piano
Ashley Wass, piano
Bartosz Woroch, violin
Philipp Hutter, trumpet
Clement Power, conductor

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [Hi-Res]