Bates Piano Concerto proves an instant classic in Trifonov’s debut recording
“My American Story.” Daniil Trifonov, pianist. Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Philadelphia Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon, two discs)
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7; Bates: Resurrexit. Manfred Honeck/Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Reference).
Daniil Trifonov’s most recent release, “My American Story” offers a welcome, wide-ranging exploration of American piano music. Anchoring the two-CD set is a pair of homegrown concertos: one celebrated, the other brand-new and affording an opportunity for a timely reevaluation of a contemporary American composer.
When Mason Bates was composer in residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2010-15), I was not a big fan. The DJ-composer churned out a lot of music in his Chicago years, much of it feeling thin and facile, with an over-reliance on predictable, would-be-hip devices.
Bates, now 47, has emerged as a composer of greater depth and discernment. One gets the sense that the California native hit a creative wall and needed to break through it to take his music to the next level. That is certainly the case with Bates’ Concerto for Piano, a new work that shows finer craftsmanship and artistic maturity.
Written for Trifonov, Bates’ concerto is performed live here in its 2023 world premiere performance with Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading the Philadelphia Orchestra. (The Russian pianist gave the concerto’s local debut with the CSO last June.)
Bates’ Piano Concerto runs a tight 28 minutes, cast in the traditional three movements and performed without pause. The first movement begins with shimmering mysterious Impressionism before segueing into an uptempo, indisputably “American”-sounding allegro, amiable in its relaxed momentum and controlled energy. The solo part becomes increasingly virtuosic as the tempo accelerates. Bates’ music here is crafted with undeniable skill, approachable and with an unforced communicative quality.
Movement II is the real thing, a richly lyrical slow movement. The pianist muses reflectively in the opening solo and a single horn introduces a more pensive section. The keyboard rumination returns, becoming darker and more agitated and loud orchestral chords lead to an angular and impassioned section. Cooling high winds calm the waters and the music turns rhapsodic, leading into a lush lyrical climax.
The third and final movement opens with an insistent repeated-note theme, which soon speeds up. The solo part grows more brilliant, complex and exciting as the music works its way to a grand (but not grandiose) conclusion and an emphatic, echt-Rachmaninoffian buh-buh-bum coda.
One can count the great American piano concertos on one hand and still have fingers left over. Mason Bates’ concerto instantly joins that select company with a supremely crafted, melodic and enjoyable work that manages to live in the Romantic concerto tradition while investing it with a fresh and contemporary American sensibility. The playing of the dedicatee Trifonov is as polished and virtuosic as one would expect and Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphians provide their star soloist with exhilarating full-tilt support.
The other great domestic concentrate work in this set is Gershwin’s Concerto in F. Trifonov is just as convincing here, fully in synch with the jazzy and syncopated style, though Nézet-Séguin’s fussy, push-and-pull direction fitfully detracts. (Earl Wild’s classic account with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops remains peerless.)
The two discs are filled out with solo piano works by a variety of American composers. Among the most worthy are a magically cascading performance of John Adams’s China Gates and a revelatory performance of John Corigliano’s Fantasia on an Ostinato. In the latter, Trifonov blends spaciousness with bravura, bringing an entirely new slant on Corigliano’s piece.
Finest of all is his account of Aaron Copland’s gnarly Piano Variations. Trifonov brings out the hard steel and dissonance in a work that is rarely recorded and almost never played live. (Emiko Edwards will tackle it in her Chicago recital for the American Music Project 3 p.m. Sunday at Ganz Hall.)
The first-class recording is in the best DG house style though the puffy, artist-centered notes are light on the music, with Bates’ concerto getting a single superficial paragraph.
Another Mason Bates work, Resurrexit, is the coupling in Manfred Honeck’s recent live CD of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the latest release in his ongoing Bruckner series.
As mentioned, Bates’s populist style has grown weightier and more substantial with a richer canvas. That is clear here with his Resurrexit, a compelling Easter-inspired, 11-minute work that builds to a radiant glowing peak. (Honeck gave the local debut of Resurrexit with the CSO in 2019.)
As shown in his Chicago performance of the Seventh Symphony last May, Honeck is a master Brucknerian, and here leads a magisterial Seventh. As in that CSO performance, Bruckner’s music unfolds naturally with minimal rhetoric and ballast in a long, seamless arc. In addition to a flowing momentum, there is a natural simplicity in Honeck’s Bruckner—much like the composer himself—and a rich humanity yet no lack of excitement with a swinging peroration to the finale.
In this live performance the engineers have captured the excellent Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s wonderful sonority blending lean richness and warmth in a demo-quality recording.
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Posted Oct 30, 2024 at 5:05 pm by Chris Sheahen
I couldn’t agree more about the Bates concerto. I heard the performance with the CSO and came away thinking it was the best new piece of music I’ve heard. Glad you agree. I’m so happy this recording has been released and his work gets wider exposure.