Elegy…for those we lost

Yolanda Kondonassis, harp, and Michael Sachs, trumpet. Azica, 2021.

I am remiss in not mentioning this exquisite single before now, but there’s no time like the present. When a work captures a timeless quality, its initial purpose becomes, at least a little, irrelevant to the larger place it holds in the repertoire. I speak of the short, elegant and compassionate single Elegy…for those we lost by Aaron Jay Kernis. 

Arranged specifically for the performers, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and her husband, trumpeter Michael Sachs, Kernis composed this profound tribute for those who grieve loved ones lost to Covid. Yet, its deeply personal nature was born from his own experience contracting the virus and managing the myriad emotions surrounding the possibility of death. With a touch of the wide-open spaces of Copland and the grand gestures of Elgar, Kernis remade his piano original for these disparate instruments. 

Like “Taps,” Sachs offers a slow, reflective line that reaches to the furthest edges of the range, often in the stratosphere where Sachs comfortably sings his tender, comforting line. Kondonassis plays with voluminous breadth, in a calming yet searching way, ushering us through the stages of grief. She’s most stunning when she brings us to sublime hope and finally, peace. 

Ballade

Emily Hoile, harp. Ars Produktion, 2021.

In her first recording, Ballade, principal harpist of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne Emily Hoile explores keyboard music in two original transcriptions. She draws out the intricacies of Bach’s Toccata in C Minor with adroitness and finesse, emphasizing the tactile sense of “touch” in the title, each note in this complex counterpoint crisp and clear. As well, Scarlatti’s Sonata in E Major is presented with a silvery glow, its bursts of virtuosity full of lightness and air.  These recording premieres are bookended by two of the greats, Alfredo Casella’s Harp Sonata and Albert Zabel’s less often heard Fantaisie based on music from Gounod’s Faust, which is particularly captivating and dramatic.  Hoile offers up a satisfyingly colorful Debussy Ballade. •