Hélène Grimaud - Credo - Helene Grimaud
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Artist: Hélène GrimaudComposer: John Corigliano
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Composer: Arvo Part
Conductor: Esa-Pekka Salonen
Orchestra: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Swedish Radio Choir
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-01-13
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
- Fantasia On An Ostinato
- 1. Largo - Allegro (Op.31 No.2 'Tempest')
- 2. Adagio
- 3. Allegretto
- 1. Adagio
- 2. Finale: Allegro - Meno Allegro - Allegro
- Credo For Piano Solo, Mixed Choir And Orchestra
Music reviews of Credo - Helene Grimaud
Music Review: A Study in Stark Philosophic Contrasts
Rating: 4 Stars
I'm of the school of thought that believes it amply demonstrable that with few exceptions the work of modern composers is utterly unlistenable junk, an aesthetic reflection of the philosophic disintegration of the late 20th century. (N.B. - I'm also one who flatly refuses to sugar-coat a review for the populist sake of "helpful" votes...) Like all of my past experiences with "modern" composers, the two here showed up unexpectedly during the course of my partaking of more familiar territory. The lineup of two of Beethoven's less-frequently performed works with two composers I hadn't heard before held the promise of an interesting disc - and in both positive and negative senses "Credo" does not disappoint.
From the first bars of Corigliano's Fantasia I knew I was indeed ingesting the work of A Modern, evident in its creepy foretelling of that horrible piano bit from the Kubrick "Eyes Wide Shut" soundtrack. For its fashionably irrationalist aesthetic it actually retains structure and a kind of brooding theme, though melody is banished as a matter of course. Grimaud performs the piece with as much passion and sensitivity as the composition allows, but after the first fitful third of the piece, in which it nearly rises to the level of conceptual meaning, it evaporates into an extended, yawn-inducing whisper, as if exhausted at the effort.
The abrupt transition to Beethoven's Tempest Sonata comes as an exuberant shock - the emergence from a confused fog into the brilliant art of a master. Here is the beauty of human rationality in one of its highest possible expressions - here is discipline; compositional virtuosity made seemingly effortless; multilayered complexity of structure that is nonetheless uncluttered and agile; powerful melody and harmony - as if to say "THIS is how music is done."
Though the liner notes indicate clearly that it was not Grimaud's conscious intention, the placement of the work of one of the great masters between two moderns provides a veritable textbook lesson on the stark contrast between art and anti-art. To be charitable though, Corigliano's piece does not descend to the militant nihilism of Part's and therefore cannot be placed in the same aesthetic class. With its proximity to Beethoven on this disc it comes across as the work of an apprentice with perhaps good intentions but lacking the ability to translate a promising idea into an accessible and fully realized final form. It's not particularly good, but it is listenable.
Part's "Credo" on the other hand... To call it awful would be superfluous - it is so aggressively horrible that it's actually entertaining. It could be described as the sound you'd hear if the inmate of an asylum for the profoundly insane were to decide abruptly that he had become a classical composer, and were given the tools to act upon the notion. There is a hazard in speculating that the "composer" was consciously aiming at raucous laughter, in that the assumption carries with it the horrifying possibility of the alternative - and after a couple of steps down that road the mind tends to seize up in defense of sanity.
"Credo" is, again, actually enjoyable in that several moments are laugh-out-loud hilarious in their awfulness. I'm at several listens through, and at virtually every turn I expect to hear a Dan Ackroyd voiceover: "This is Leonard Pinth-Garnell with...'Bad Symphony'." Grimaud, conductor Salonen, the choir and orchestra all acquit themselves of the task of reproducing the mess in fine form, but a superbly-done painting of a trash heap for all its craftsmanship cannot escape its subject matter.
Mr. Pinth-Garnell might describe it thusly:
"After a deceptively conventional choral intro which transitions into some impressively bad atonality, poor Ms. Grimaud attempts to play a little simple Bach, but is repeatedly accosted and beaten into silence by a series of cacophonous moans from the choir, each followed immediately by the sound of the orchestra being pushed down a short stairwell. A brief transitional phase, presumably titled 'Generalized Choral Psychosis,' gives way to a dramatic conflict between flatulent tubas and panic-stricken trumpets, followed by an interlude in which all present are evidently instructed to 'insert earplugs and play two minutes of whatever happens to pop into your heads, as loud as you can, simultaneously.' After the mania, the depression - which at this point we in the audience share deeply - is given voice by a sullen and defeated piano passage. The chorus, in triumphant response, chooses for its climax to quote with exquisite awfulness those bald, cave-dwelling cultists from 'The Planet of the Apes' from their classic: 'Mass for the Doomsday Bomb.' This crescendo is capped with a denouement graced with a profound blandness evocative of the closing credits for a Discovery Channel documentary on coastal erosion."
I highly recommend the disc, for the entertainment and educational value of its equally-spectacular highs and lows.
Relevant Quote of the day:
"Waiter...can you stop that noise? What you call 'music.' It sounds like dirty water.
"How can they eat food - and listen to ****? And look out there...the uglification of the world.
The only place we can find beauty is if its persecutors have overlooked it... I can't stand it."
- Sabina (Lena Olin) in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
Description of Credo - Helene Grimaud
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.This surprising program is a joy through and through. It begins with a 1985 work by John Corigliano (Fantasia on an Ostinato) that uses the slow-movement theme from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and then later flies off into wonderfully emotion-filled directions. Next come Beethoven's "Tempest" sonata, played with just the right drama, and his fabulous "Choral Fantasy," op. 80, which is part sonata, part study for the 9th symphony. Pianist Grimaud plays the Fantasy with alternating delicacy and power, and the CD ends with Arvo Pärt's Credo, scored for piano solo, mixed chorus, and orchestra. This last piece is rich and complex, and in some ways encompasses the previous works' emotions and textures; those who think of Pärt as the quiet, holy minimalist, are in for a treat, and perhaps shock. Grimaud is simply magnificent regardless of the century or style; the beauty of her tone is surpassed only by its expressiveness. Esa Pekka Salonen leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir handsomely. This is a very special disc, a must for your collection. --Robert Levine
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