Search - Jindrich Feld, Frigyes Hidas, Bohuslav Martinu :: Chamber Music from Central Europe

Mediocre Modernism

D. Jack Elliot | Omaha, Nebraska | 08/20/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this album for its recording of the Martinu Sonatina for Trumpet and Piano, a mildly interesting recital piece that is difficult to find on disc. The three recorded performances I did manage to find were by trumpeters Edward Tarr, James Watson (formerly of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble), and this one by Jeff Silberschlag. Watson's reading is by far the best of the three, so if it's the Martinu you're looking for, pass this by and get Watson's Trumpet Masterpieces album, either used here at Amazon or on iTunes, where it's available for download.



Silberschlag's playing on this disc is rhythmically uneven, and while he has an attractive tone he strikes me as being far too preoccupied with his instrument: someone who is using music to play the trumpet, rather than using the trumpet to play music. His are poor interpretations, with the Martinu as with the sonatas by Hidas, Perkowski, and Filas also recorded here, and are not of interest in terms of trumpet playing qua trumpet playing, either. He even seems to have been insufficiently practiced in some passages, especially in the Frigyas Hidas Trumpet Fantasy.



As for the compositions on this program, they're likewise mediocre. This is a recital of quirky, dissonant Modernism devoid of much substance. The one exception is the Sonatina for Bassoon and Piano of Otmar Mácha, which is darkly shaded harmonically and emotively and possessed of attractive thematic material and a compelling rhythmic momentum. It's played admirably by Deborah Greitzer, who is a much better bassoonist than Silberschlag is a trumpeter, and Jan Petr, the able pianist for the whole of the album. (You realize just how much Silberschlag's ineptitude sabotages Petr's interpretive efforts in the trumpet pieces when you hear what Petr contributes to the reading of the Mácha.)"