Album

This Naxos disc, Elliott Carter 100th Anniversary Release, is timed to coincide with Carter's 100th birthday, observed on December 11, 2008. It comes with a menu of 10 relatively short pieces, none written before 1984 and with many dating from the 1990s and 2000s. It confirms that even at Carter's very advanced age, nothing is sapping his imagination or sense of variety and color. Most of these pieces are instrumental solos, and all are performed by members of the New Music Concerts Ensemble, the Toronto-based group led by Robert Aitken that has had a long relationship with Carter. Particularly outstanding is Virgil Blackwell's rendering of the bass clarinet solo Steep Steps (2001), though one wishes the piece itself were just a little longer; likewise noteworthy is Fujiko Imajishi's beautiful and deeply felt performance of Riconoscenza per Goffredo Petrassi (1984), a work that may have touched off the composer's latter-day mania for creating short pieces.

One drawback to this CD is the way the flute is recorded; it's a little too bright, and at certain points its tone is piercing. The CD comes with a bonus in the form of a DVD containing a short documentary, Elliott Carter in Toronto in 2006, which contains a testimonial from Aitken, some excerpts with Carter and Aitken in conversation, and some scenes of Carter working with various musicians involved in this project. The DVD also contains full-length videos of the two larger scale pieces on the program, Mosaic (2005) and Dialogues (2004), and in this respect it's almost more valuable than the CD that is included. Seeing Elliott Carter's music played makes a huge difference in how it is perceived; to be able to watch the expressions of the musicians playing it and what is done with the instruments establishes Carter's music as an exact, sophisticated, and even genteel kind of science, whereas just hearing it might prove, to some listeners, an impenetrably alien experience. Although it may be a "100th Anniversary Release," it is only comprehensive in regard to Carter's late work; nevertheless, it works as a cross section of this period in Carter's long career as a composer.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1
Elliott Carter Composer Mosaic, for harp and 7 instruments Work Recorded 2006 Paul Widner Cello, Fujiko Imajishi Violin, Virginia Barron Viola, Peter Pavlovsky Double Bass, Max Christie Clarinet, Cynthia Steljes Oboe, Erica Goodman Harp, Douglas Stewart Flute
1	Mosaic, for harp and 7 instruments	11:56			$1.99
Elliott Carter Composer Scrivo in Vento, for flute Work Recorded 2006 Robert Aitken Flute
2	Scrivo in Vento, for flute	5:32			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Gra, versions for clarinet or trombone Work Recorded 2007 Max Christie Clarinet
3	Gra, versions for clarinet or trombone	4:18			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Enchanted Preludes, for flute and cello Work Recorded 2007 Robert Aitken Flute, David Hetherington Cello
4	Enchanted Preludes, for flute and cello	6:00			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Steep Steps, for clarinet Work Recorded 2006 Virginia Blackwell Clarinet (Bass)
5	Steep Steps, for clarinet	2:40			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Figment, for cello Work Recorded 2007 David Hetherington Cello
6	Figment, for cello	6:16			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Riconoscenza (Per Goffredo Petrassi), for violin Work Recorded 2007 Fujiko Imajishi Violin
7	Riconoscenza (Per Goffredo Petrassi), for violin	5:51			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Figment II, for cello Work Recorded 2007 David Hetherington Cello
8	Figment II, for cello	3:58			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Rhapsodic Musings, for violin Work Recorded 2007 Fujiko Imajishi Violin
9	Rhapsodic Musings, for violin	3:14			$0.99
Elliott Carter Composer Dialogues for Piano and Chamber Orchestra Work Recorded 2006 Sonia Visante Violin, Joan Watson Horn, Ian Cowie Trombone, Fraser Jackson Bassoon, David Swan Piano, James Gardiner Trumpet, Corey Gemmell Violin, Cynthia Steljes Oboe, Paul Widner Cello, Jeewon Kim Viola, Max Christie Clarinet, Douglas Stewart Flute, Bardhyl Gjevori Horn, Roberto Occhipinti Double Bass, David Hetherington Cello, Peter Pavlovsky Double Bass, Carol Fujino Violin, Fujiko Imajishi Violin, Virginia Barron Viola
10	Dialogues for Piano and Chamber Orchestra	14:14			$2.49