New Works for Clarinet, Piano, Violin, and Cello

Eclipse. Antares (Eric Huebner, piano; Garrick Zoeter, clarinet; Vesselin Gellev, violin; Rebecca Patterson, cello). (Innova Records 618)

Olivier Messiaen wrote his Quartet for the End of Time for clarinet, piano, violin, and cello because those were the only instruments available to him in the prisoner-of-war camp where he was held for a year during World War II. The young chamber group Antares had different motivations for exploring this particular grouping of instruments. The ensemble, made up of four friends from New Haven, Conn., wanted to take an active role in commissioning and performing new works for clarinet, piano, violin, and cello. Three of Antares's members studied at Juilliard: pianist Eric Huebner (B.M. '99; M.M. '01), clarinetist Garrick Zoeter (B.M. '94), and violinist Vesselin Gellev (B.M. '99; M.M. '01). The fourth, cellist Rebecca Patterson, received her B.M. from Eastman and M.M. from Yale.

Antares's debut recording, Eclipse, makes a bold statement, featuring six colorful, eclectic, and often jazzy works. Carter Pann's Antares (2004) is a signature piece of sorts, with each of its interior movements named after and featuring a different member of the ensemble. The music shifts through a kaleidoscope of moods and styles, from a manic ragtime number to a lilting cello melody to a tarantella riddled with musical allusions to spider bites.

Other pieces written specifically for the group include Simaku (1996) by Kevin Puts, a shimmering minimalist work influenced by Asian music, and Breakdown Tango (2000) by John Mackey, a former composition student of John Corigliano at Juilliard. Mackey puts Antares through its paces, with two virtuosic, driving sections surrounding a sultry, klezmer-tinged tango.

While most of the composers Antares champions on this CD are under 40, the 53-year-old George Tsontakis, who studied at Juilliard with Roger Sessions, is represented with Eclipse (1995), a piece that includes vivacious Greek dances and some New York-style jazz cacophony. Rounding out the disc are James Matheson's quirky Buzz (2001), and Stefan Freund's dodecaphunphrolic (1997), which shows off Antares's virtuosity and keen sense of rhythm.



Russian Rarities

Tolstoy's Waltz. Lera Auerbach, piano; with Chiyuki Urano, baritone. (BIS CD-1502)

In Toltsoy's Waltz, pianist Lera Auerbach, with baritone Chiyuki Urano, performs music by eight Romantic Russian artists who earned fame in areas other than music. Auerbach received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Juilliard, where she studied piano with Joseph Kalichstein and composition with Milton Babbitt and Robert Beaser. She's also maintained close ties to her native Russia, as reflected in the rare, often interesting music on this album.

What's remarkable is the sheer variety of Russian artists who at least dabbled in composition. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote his salon-inspired Waltz in F Major at age 15, the only extant music by the author better known for his epic novels like War and Peace than for his musical compositions. By contrast, Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), author of Doctor Zhivago, was a fairly prolific composer, patterning much of his musical style after Scriabin. He contributes the meatiest portion of this program—a 13-minute piano sonata and two piano preludes. Other literary figures here include Alexander Griboyedov (1785-1829) and Vladimir Odoyevsky (1804-1869), who between them add four waltzes, a lullaby, and a canon to the program.

Two painters make an appearance—Vasily Polenov (1844-1927) and Pavel Fedotov (1815-1852)—and prove to be picturesque composers. Polenov's "Farewell Song" is a dramatic work depicting the progress of a funeral procession through the Russian countryside. Fedotov's contribution is "My Darling," one of two settings of his own poetry.

Finally, there are two figures strongly associated with 20th-century Russian ballet. The impresario Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) is featured with his love song, "Do You Remember, Maria?" to a text by novelist Alexei Tolstoy. And choreographer George Balanchine (1904-1983) conveys understated charm in his Valse Lente.

Should any of these men have quit their day jobs? Probably not, but there is plenty of pleasant and even interesting music here and Auerbach deserves much credit for bringing it to light.

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Brian Wise is a producer at WNYC radio and writes about music for The New York Times, Time Out New York, Opera News, and other publications.