David Wolfson: Seventeen Windows; Cello Sonata / Jenny Lin, Laura Bontrager

Recommendation

Composer David Wolfson studied composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music and has lived in New York City since 1986 working as a conductor, arranger, pianist and music director for a wide variety of projects, especially related to the theatre. This first CD of his music from Albany Records includes the composer's solo piano music and a cello sonata.

Seventeen Windows is a set of seventeen brief piano pieces ranging in length from one to three minutes. The works encompass a wide variety of moods, musical styles and expressive techniques including atonality, bitonality, tone clusters and polyrhythm all the while showing influences as wide-ranging as impressionism and minimalism. Generally built on one or several rhythmic and harmonic musical ideas, each piece has its own distinct character. I found the music to be very interesting, and the brevity and variety of the pieces kept the listening fresh and fascinating.

Mr. Wolfson's Seventeen Windows is performed by pianist Jenny Lin - an excellent pianist who's work on both the BIS and Hänssler Classics labels has been critically acclaimed. Her command of an extraordinary breadth of textural and expressive gradients makes Ms. Lin an ideal proponent of this repertoire. Albany Records provides exceptional sound quality with the instrument positioned perfectly, at just the right distance. In addition to Wolfson's Seventeen Windows, cellist Laura Bontrager joins Ms. Lin for a first-rate reading of the composer's Sonata for Cello and Piano. I think that any listener with an adventurous bent will enjoy this album.

Album Overview

Composer David Wolfson enjoys a particularly eclectic and varied compositional career, which has included chamber music, musical theatre and opera. He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Hunter College and his chamber and solo works have been performed through the United States and Europe. His work Story Salad, a series of stage revues for children, toured the U.S. for 13 consecutive years and was seen by more than a million children, teachers and parents. He has received awards and commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, the Puffin Foundation and the Manhattan Cultural Arts Fund. This first recording devoted to his music includes a work for solo piano and a cello sonata.

Source: Albany Records

David Wolfson	Composer: David Wolfson David Wolfson is an eclectic, versatile composer of songs, concert music and music for theatre, as well as other genres. The New York Times has called his work “musically inventive” and “theatrically forceful.” He has written art songs, theatre songs, comedy songs, 10-minute operas, pop songs and songs for big-headed-costumed-character amusement parks shows.  For more information, please visit davidwolfsonmusic.net.
Jenny Lin, piano	Piano: Jenny Lin Jenny Lin is one of the most respected young pianists today, admired for her adventurous programming and charismatic stage presence. Her ability to combine classical and contemporary literature has brought her to the attention of international critics and audiences. She has been acclaimed for her “remarkable technical command” and “a gift for melodic flow” by The New York Times. For more information, please visit www.jennylin.net.
Laura Bontrager, cello	Cello: Laura Bontrager

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