ICE Flutist Claire Chase Previews Terrestre, a New CD of “Classical” Flute Repertoire at (Le) Poisson Rouge, Tuesday, January 17, 7:30pm (6:30pm doors), 158 Bleecker St, NYC – with music by Boulez, Saariaho & Fujikura
by Michael Miller
January 16, 2012
newyorkarts.net
original link

ICE Flutist Claire Chase Previews Terrestre, a New CD of “Classical” Flute Repertoire at (Le) Poisson Rouge
Tuesday, January 17, 7:30pm (6:30pm doors), 158 Bleecker St, NYC – with music by Boulez, Saariaho & Fujikura
Claire Chase and the International Contemporary Ensemble, which she founded in 2001, are among the best reasons to be thankful that one is alive and listening to music at the present time. These young musicians have been concentrating their formidable abilities in bringing the “genre-defying work of emerging composers,” as the announcement phrases it to whoever is willing to show up at Lincoln Center, (le) Poisson Rouge, or other sympathetic venues, primarily in New York or Chicago. The notice published by ICE, based primarily on Chase’s own observations, is so compelling that I reprint it here, with a few minor edits.
On her new CD, Terrestre (New Focus), Chase turns her attention to more established repertoire, presenting a collection of 20th century works that “celebrate and invigorate” the flute canon.
“The flute had its heyday as a solo instrument in the baroque era,” says Chase, “but it became an orchestral instrument in the 19th century, and we’ve spent the last 100 years trying to rediscover a solo identity for the flute—trying to put its repertoire on comparable footing with that of the violin, piano, and human voice.”
In support of her thesis, Chase presents listeners with five thoughtfully recorded selections: the title track, Kaija Saariaho’s Terrestre (the world premiere recording, supervised by the composer); Franco Donatoni’s playful “Fili”; Elliott Carter’s classic Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux; and Pierre Boulez’s tour de force masterpiece from 1947, the Sonatine. Dai Fujikura’s Glacier, a wistful bass flute solo that the composer wrote for Chase in 2010, is the only exception on the recording to Chase’s self-imposed no-brand-new-music rule.
“Terrestre is an album of classical music,” says Chase with a sly smile. “These are among the most important contributions to 20th century flute literature, written for the great flutists of the past century, so I think it’s important to view these works not as “new music” but as “classical music,” and to honor them as such.”
Chase will play a selection from the new CD on Tuesday, January 17 at 7:30pm (doors at 6:30 pm) at (le) Poisson Rouge. New Focus Recordings will release the disc on iTunes and in stores in March; preview copies will be available at the show and for purchase at newfocusrecordings.com.
Collaboration, a source of inspiration throughout Chase’s career, proved key to the genesis and evolution of her second solo recording. Jacob Greenberg, a classmate at Oberlin and a member of ICE since 2003, produced the disc and lends his prodigious talents as a pianist on two tracks. ICE members Erik Carlson (violin), Kivie Cahn-Lipman (cello), Nuiko Wadden (harp), Nathan Davis (percussion), and Joshua Rubin (clarinet) also appear. The disc is being released through New Focus, a label founded by ICE guitarist Daniel Lippel, now in a distribution partnership with Naxos Records.
Terrestre includes a hidden sixth track: Chase’s reading of Was O, a poem by the writer Laura Mullen, a National Poetry Series winner, that appears in place of liner notes on the CD jacket. “Laura listened to all of the material on the record, including all of the outtakes, the retakes, the work-in-progress tracks, over the last six months, and came out with this glorious poem. My reading of her “graphic score” is just one interpretation; listeners can explore the poem on the jacket, assembling phrases in any order, finding connections between the recorded material or not. For me, Was O became a sixth piece on the record.”
Mullen will read Was O as part of the performance at (le) Poisson Rouge.
Renowned New York artist David Michalek shot the cover image of Chase for the CD jacket.
Terrestre: Track by track:
1. Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952), “Terrestre” (2003) world premiere recording
L’oiseau dansant
Oiseau, un satellite infime
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
Erik Carlson, violin
Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello
Nuiko Wadden, harp
Nathan Davis, percussion
Chase: “Terrestre is inspired by an aboriginal tale described in a poem by the early 20th century poet Saint-Jean Perse about a bird that sings so brilliantly that it teaches an entire village to dance. I love this image and return again and again to it as a metaphor for the flute playing throughout the ages.”
2. Franco Donatoni (1927-2000), “Fili” (1981)
Jacob Greenberg, piano
Chase: “It’s flirtatious, ridiculous, funny in every way – there is not one serious moment in the piece. I think of the bird in the Saariaho (which at the end of the previous track drifts up into the stratosphere) finding flight again in a fantastical fashion, perhaps recast as some kind cartoon character. Think 20th century Paganini!”
3. Elliott Carter (b. 1908), “Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux” (1985)
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Chase: “This classic mid-80’s piece by our youngest-hearted New York composer explores “rough breathing” and “smooth breathing” – in a playful chase between flute and clarinet, who utter in very close but almost never synonymous rhythms together, until the very end when we at last land on a satisfying unison. It was written for the occasion of Pierre Boulez’s 60th birthday.”
4. Pierre Boulez (b. 1925), “Sonatine” (1947)
Jacob Greenberg, piano
Chase: “The single greatest sonata written for the flute in the 20th century (and thus far, in the 21st, too). It’s violent, it’s aggressive, it’s militantly virtuoso through and through, but I also feel that more than half a century later, the piece is more and more classic, more lyrical, more poetically understated in places, with undeniable nods to Debussy and Ravel. Jacob and I tried to bring out the lushness in this music, took languorous tempi in the slow sections and even – oh, the horror! – played with rubato in places.”
5. Dai Fujikura (b. 1977), “Glacier” (2010) for solo bass flute world premiere recording
Chase: “I wanted to include this piece that Dai wrote for me last year, the newest work in my repertoire and certainly the most personal work on the album, as an epilogue of sorts. It follows Sonatine – the oldest and most ‘canonized’ work on the record. I’m very intrigued by the dialogue here. Boulez has mentored Dai, and they have a very close bond artistically, even though their languages and their musical personalities are so wonderfully different. As are the centuries in which they are situated.”
About Claire Chase
Flutist Claire Chase is active as a soloist, collaborative artist and arts entrepreneur. Over the past decade Claire has given the world premieres of more than 100 new works for flute, many of them tailor-made for her, and she has played, produced and curated more than 500 concerts of contemporary music.
First Prize Winner of the 2008 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Claire has given solo recitals this season at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and throughout the US.
She released her debut solo album, Aliento, in October 2009 (New Focus) featuring six world premiere recordings by emerging composers.
In 2001, Claire founded the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). She has served as executive director of ICE since its inception. Under Claire’ s leadership, ICE was awarded the 2010 Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center, and the organization has won two ASCAP/Chamber Music America Awards for Adventurous Programming, in 2005 and 2010.
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