Search - William Anderson, Oren Fader, Joan Forsyth :: The Guitar Music of Meyer Kupferman, vol. 1: Echoes From Barcelona

Anderson Rocks Kupferman

marsyas | Chicago | 10/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Meyer Kupferman is known in the jazz world as much as the classical world. He is America's most prolific composer, having written dozens of symphonies, ballets, hundreds of chamber music pieces. Less known, to date is that he has written dozens of fabulous pieces with guitar. The performer of this collection of guitar pieces by Meyer Kupferman is William Anderson, who is quite well known for his recordings and concerts in Europe, the U.S., Latin America and Japan. One of the works on this recording, entitled Through a Glass Darkly, was dedicated by Kupferman to Anderson. Anderson has been one of Kupferman's major advocates on the concert stage. My favorite works on this recording are Poetics 3, for two guitars; and Exordium, for guitar and piano. For the guitar duo Anderson is joined by his long-time duo parter and friend Oren Fader (the other guitarist in Anderson's ensemble, Cygnus). Poetics 3 is in two movements, the first movement begins with lush, impressionistic harmonies (Messian-like), followed by a long, bluesy melody. The second movement is electric, with powerful ostinati figures bouncing between the two instruments. In Exordium, for guitar and piano, the piano begins with delicate rapid passages that gradually build to a cataclysm. Pianist Joan Forsyth plays exquisitely, and Anderson is one of the few guitarists who have the dynamic range to match a piano, with its tons of string tension. Through a Glass Darkly, for solo guitar is a deep, and often dark exploration of contrasts. Kupferman wrote it after recovering from major surgery in 1988. Echoes From Barcelona is a 15 minute guitaristic tour de force, taking aspects of spanish guitar music and flamenco and weaving them into a bizarre musical fantasy. The opening track is Strumming--which is rollicking, rock 'n' roll with a quiet interlude in harmonics."

Kupferman the survivor

marsyas | 10/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I regularly return to the music of flamboyant Meyer Kupferman. After thinking that I know what flamboyant gesture he'll do next, that I've heard it all before, I discover a disc like this one, where guitarist William Anderson proves that Kupferman endures. Four of the five pieces stand out as examples of top-drawer Kupf. Through a Glass Darkly (solo guitar) has nothing extraneous; Strumming (solo guitar) consists of 3 miniatures culminating in an epiphany in strumming; Poetics 3 (for 2 guitars) is bluesy and bluegrass--dueling banjos, or like Bela Fleck and the Flecktones; and Exordium (for the unlikely combination of guitar and piano) is almost apocalyptic. Echoes From Barcelona is a bit over the top for me, but I admire his idea of creating a big 15-minute surrealist-flamenco that time-trips to the Spanish Baroque."