Games of the Night Wind is a record of nocturnally inspired piano music played by Christina Petrowska Quilico. Much of the record is taken up by twelve nocturnes from Ontario composer David Jaeger. They are interspersed with pieces in similar mood by Polish composers Alexandre Tansman and Henryk Górecki and there is also a solitary piece by Tōru Takemitsu.
The Jaeger pieces were each inspired by a different piece of poetry dealing with some aspect of nocturnal experience. What they have in common is an abstracted, dreamy quality. Some are darker than others, some gentler and more lyrical and they are all interesting. Listening I was reminded of a comment of Brian Current’s to the effect that sometimes listening for things like melody, harmony and rhythm is less useful than listening for texture and I think that’s true of these pieces. They are all deeply textured but in different ways. They are played with great sensitivity.
Last night’s Soundstreams Koerner Hall presentation; Magic Flutes was an interesting experience. Aside from interesting (mostly) contemporary flute pieces it was very much an experiment in different ways of staging a concert. I’m all for breaking down the conventions of Mahlerian solemnity and I think experimentation is great. It’s in the nature of taking risks though that some things don’t quite work.
operaramblings 