A special eight-page section focusing on recent recordings from the US and Canada

Brahms . Schubert ‘As the Songbird Sings’ Brahms Six Piano Pieces, Op 118. Albumblatt, Op posth Bendel Improvisation on the Wiegenlied by Johannes Brahms, Op 141 Lassen/Liszt Löse Himmel, meine Seele, S494i Schubert Four Impromptus, D899 Robert Henry pf Muuz F (66’ • DDD)

Although Brahms’s Op 118 Piano Pieces hardly lack for worldclass recordings,

Robert Henry’s generous and big-boned yet lyrically informed pianism enlivens these well-worn works. The first two and final pieces abound with impassioned, long-lined rhetoric and dynamic contrast while Henry honours No 3’s energico directive yet still takes great care over clarifying the textural strands. More than many pianists, Henry allows No 4’s right-hand lines to soar independently from the busy accompanying triplets, and No 5 grows more flexible as it progresses, following a slightly foursquare start. Henry precedes Op 118 with Eduard Lassen’s Löse Himmel, meine Seele as ravishingly retooled by Franz Liszt, and brings far more urgency and sweep to the cascading climaxes than Leslie Howard and Valerie Tryon do in their respective recordings.

The Bohemian composer and pianist Franz Bendel was a short-lived contemporary of Brahms, and a rather workman talent, judging from this premiere recording of his Op 141 fantasy on the famous Cradle Song. The piece goes on too long for what it has to say, yet Henry’s multi-layered interpretation makes the music’s best possible case. By contrast, Brahms’s minute-and-a-half, posthumously published A minor Albumblatt is a minor masterpiece, and here possibly receives its finest recorded performance.

I’m less enamoured by Henry’s stiff execution of the staccato chords in Schubert’s C minor Impromptu, although he imbues the E flat Impromptu’s pearly talks to... Waldland Ensemble The group discuss new music and the importance of their conservation

Clarinet, viola and piano is an unusual combination. How did this come about? This project began with the desire to perform a recital with friends. Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio, scored for this combination, was our starting point, but we needed more to fill out the programme. We loved the instrumental combination but found that there was not much repertoire written for it, which is how we came to commission new music.

You clearly enjoy working with composers and performing new music. We love the standard repertoire, but art continues to evolve and it is thrilling to be a part of that growing legacy. Our first commission quickly expanded to five new works, filling an entire programme. Working with living composers to create new music is an essential part of our musical lives.

Your conservation work is also important. Musical instruments are made from natural resources, some of which are now endangered. The Mpingo tree is prized for the heavy, dark ebony wood that is used to create clarinets. Pernambuco’s strength and flexibility make it an ideal material for string-instrument bows. Both of these trees are on the endangered species list, among many others that are used for musical instruments. As an ensemble, we strive to raise awareness of the link between the environment and our music, and to help support efforts to create sustainable trade practices to preserve these ‘musical trees’ for future generations.

What are your future plans? Our next project has a multimedia component. Watch this space!

passagework and tumultuous middle section with pointed caprice and captivating spontaneity. Although Henry rightly takes the G flat Imprompu at an alla breve tempo, his expansive cantabile and effortless textural control nevertheless manage to convey expansive breadth. Henry’s supple handling of the Fourth Impromptu’s rotary patterns and singing left-hand work also impresses; my only quibble concerns his slight ritards at cadential points, which tend to become predictable as the music unfolds. The depth and range of Henry’s tone is reflected in the recorded ambience’s concert-hall realism. In short, a rewarding follow-up to this pianist’s stimulating 2010 ‘Twelve Nocturnes and a Waltz’ release. Jed Distler

Chase Bhajan Robin Lorentz elec vn Nicholas Chase elecs Cold Blue Music F CB0046 (47’ • DDD)

Over the course of five days on Seattle’s Mercer Island, where the noted billionaire

Paul Allen lives, former California EAR Unit violinist Robin Lorentz taped Bhajan, four movements without pause she had commissioned from composer Nicholas Chase, in which her playing was augmented by his signal processing and gramophone.co.uk

GRAMOPHONE MARCH 2017 I